Windows – Shell extension to unblock downloaded files

context menuSecurityshell-extensionswindowswindows-explorer

Is there a shell extension for Windows Explorer that adds a new context menu item, which allows to unblock the downloaded file? It should work exactly as I would open the file properties and click the Unblock button.

Ideally, such a shell extension should also display an overlay icon to indicate that the file is still blocked.

Best Answer

There's a tool from Sysinternals called streams.

This page describes how to use it. It doesn't add an option to the context menu, but does allow you to unblock a number of files at once.

I've also found this post which gives a registry file that will do the trick:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\runas]
@="Take Ownership"
"NoWorkingDirectory"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\*\shell\runas\command]
@="cmd.exe /c takeown /f \"%1\" && icacls \"%1\" /grant administrators:F"
"IsolatedCommand"="cmd.exe /c takeown /f \"%1\" && icacls \"%1\" /grant administrators:F"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\runas]
@="Take Ownership"
"NoWorkingDirectory"=""

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Directory\shell\runas\command]
@="cmd.exe /c takeown /f \"%1\" /r /d y && icacls \"%1\" /grant administrators:F /t"
"IsolatedCommand"="cmd.exe /c takeown /f \"%1\" /r /d y && icacls \"%1\" /grant administrators:F /t"

which is probably closer to what you want. Copy it into Notepad, save it as something.reg on your desktop, and double click to add it to your registry.

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