-sns (Store NTFS alternate Streams) switch

Syntax

-sns[-]

Switch	Description
-sns	Enable "Store NTFS alternate streams" mode. It's default option, if you extract archive.
-sns-	Disable "Store NTFS alternate streams" mode. It's default option, if you create archive or call "list" command.

If -sns mode is enabled, 7-Zip processes NTFS Alternate Data Streams for files and folders.

Current version of 7-Zip can store NTFS alternate streams only to WIM archives.

Note: 7-Zip can't include alternate streams to archives on 32-bit Windows XP and older systems.

Examples

7z a a.wim -sns *.txt

stores txt files including alternate data streams.

7z x a.wim

unpacks a.wim including alternate data streams.

7z x a.wim -sns-

unpacks a.wim without alternate data streams.

7z l a.wim -sns

lists files in a.wim including alternate data streams.

Commands that can be used with this switch

a (Add), d (Delete), e (Extract), h (Hash), l (List), t (Test), u (Update), x (Extract with full paths)

Notes from this site

Not part of the 7-Zip manual. Written by this site; examples checked with 7-Zip 26.04.

Does -sns remove the Mark of the Web?

Not for ordinary archives. An NTFS file can carry extra named data besides its normal content. The best-known example is the Zone.Identifier stream Windows adds to files downloaded from the internet (the "Mark of the Web"). But -sns only matters for WIM archives; .zip and .7z hold no streams. To control whether extracted files get the mark, use -snz (listed in the switch list as "propagate Zone.Identifier stream for extracted files (Windows)"). In the File Manager, use Tools > Options > 7-Zip > "Propagate Zone.Id stream" (No, Yes, or For Office files; see Options). On macOS, 7zz 26.04 accepts -snz on extract and does nothing visible; -snz- is rejected.

Quick examples

The official Linux/macOS console binary is 7zz; on Windows use 7z.

7z a backup.wim C:\Data\* -sns
7z x backup.wim -sns-
7z l backup.wim -sns

The first command stores the files with their streams, the second unpacks without them, the third lists the streams too. On Windows, dir /r or PowerShell Get-Item file.txt -Stream * shows a file's streams.

Why does -sns fail on 7z and zip?

When creating, 7zz on macOS stopped with E_NOTIMPL : Not implemented and exit code 2 for a a.7z a.txt -sns (same for zip), creating no archive. Use -sns with a .wim only.
Extracting, listing and testing 7z or zip with -sns or -sns- is accepted; there are no streams to process.

-sns (Store NTFS alternate Streams) switch

Syntax

Examples

Commands that can be used with this switch

See also