diff --git a/docs/modules/components/pages/outputs/file.adoc b/docs/modules/components/pages/outputs/file.adoc
index 767a421a10..d2ead8808d 100644
--- a/docs/modules/components/pages/outputs/file.adoc
+++ b/docs/modules/components/pages/outputs/file.adoc
@@ -75,10 +75,10 @@ Requires version 3.33.0 or newer
 | Only applicable to file based outputs. Writes each message to a file in full, if the file already exists the old content is deleted.
 | `append`
 | Append each message to the output stream without any delimiter or special encoding.
-| `lines`
-| Append each message to the output stream followed by a line break.
 | `delim:x`
 | Append each message to the output stream followed by a custom delimiter.
+| `lines`
+| Append each message to the output stream followed by a line break.
 
 |===
 
diff --git a/internal/impl/io/output_file.go b/internal/impl/io/output_file.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6af19c9b86
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/impl/io/output_file.go
@@ -0,0 +1,336 @@
+// Copyright 2026 Redpanda Data, Inc.
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package io
+
+import (
+	"bytes"
+	"context"
+	"errors"
+	"fmt"
+	"io"
+	"io/fs"
+	"os"
+	"path/filepath"
+	"runtime"
+	"strings"
+	"sync"
+
+	"github.com/redpanda-data/benthos/v4/public/service"
+)
+
+const (
+	foFieldPath  = "path"
+	foFieldCodec = "codec"
+)
+
+func fileOutputSpec() *service.ConfigSpec {
+	return service.NewConfigSpec().
+		Stable().
+		Categories("Local").
+		Summary(`Writes messages to files on disk based on a chosen codec.`).
+		Description(`Messages can be written to different files by using xref:configuration:interpolation.adoc#bloblang-queries[interpolation functions] in the path field. However, only one file is ever open at a given time, and therefore when the path changes the previously open file is closed.`).
+		Fields(
+			service.NewInterpolatedStringField(foFieldPath).
+				Description("The file to write to, if the file does not yet exist it will be created.").
+				Examples(
+					"/tmp/data.txt",
+					"/tmp/${! timestamp_unix() }.txt",
+					`/tmp/${! json("document.id") }.json`,
+				).
+				Version("3.33.0"),
+			service.NewStringAnnotatedEnumField(foFieldCodec, map[string]string{
+				"all-bytes": "Only applicable to file based outputs. Writes each message to a file in full, if the file already exists the old content is deleted.",
+				"append":    "Append each message to the output stream without any delimiter or special encoding.",
+				"lines":     "Append each message to the output stream followed by a line break.",
+				"delim:x":   "Append each message to the output stream followed by a custom delimiter.",
+			}).
+				Description("The way in which the bytes of messages should be written out into the output data stream. It's possible to write lines using a custom delimiter with the `delim:x` codec, where x is the character sequence custom delimiter.").
+				LintRule("").
+				Examples("lines", "delim:\t", "delim:foobar").
+				Default("lines").
+				Version("3.33.0"),
+		)
+}
+
+func init() {
+	service.MustRegisterOutput("file", fileOutputSpec(),
+		func(pConf *service.ParsedConfig, res *service.Resources) (out service.Output, mif int, err error) {
+			var conf fileOutputConfig
+			if conf, err = fileOutputConfigFromParsed(pConf); err != nil {
+				return
+			}
+			mif = 1
+			out, err = newFileWriter(conf.Path, conf.Codec, res)
+			return
+		})
+}
+
+//------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+type fileOutputConfig struct {
+	Path  *service.InterpolatedString
+	Codec string
+}
+
+func fileOutputConfigFromParsed(pConf *service.ParsedConfig) (conf fileOutputConfig, err error) {
+	if conf.Path, err = pConf.FieldInterpolatedString(foFieldPath); err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+	if conf.Codec, err = pConf.FieldString(foFieldCodec); err != nil {
+		return
+	}
+	return
+}
+
+//------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+type suffixFn func(data []byte) ([]byte, bool)
+
+func getWriterCodec(codec string) (sFn suffixFn, appendMode bool, err error) {
+	switch codec {
+	case "all-bytes":
+		return func([]byte) ([]byte, bool) { return nil, false }, false, nil
+	case "append":
+		return customDelimSuffix(""), true, nil
+	case "lines":
+		return customDelimSuffix("\n"), true, nil
+	}
+	if after, ok := strings.CutPrefix(codec, "delim:"); ok {
+		if after == "" {
+			return nil, false, errors.New("custom delimiter codec requires a non-empty delimiter")
+		}
+		return customDelimSuffix(after), true, nil
+	}
+	return nil, false, fmt.Errorf("codec was not recognised: %v", codec)
+}
+
+func customDelimSuffix(suffix string) suffixFn {
+	suffixB := []byte(suffix)
+	return func(data []byte) ([]byte, bool) {
+		if len(suffixB) == 0 {
+			return nil, false
+		}
+		if !bytes.HasSuffix(data, suffixB) {
+			return suffixB, true
+		}
+		return nil, false
+	}
+}
+
+//------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+type fileWriter struct {
+	log *service.Logger
+	nm  *service.Resources
+
+	path       *service.InterpolatedString
+	suffixFn   suffixFn
+	appendMode bool
+
+	handleMut  sync.Mutex
+	handlePath string
+	handle     io.WriteCloser
+}
+
+func newFileWriter(path *service.InterpolatedString, codecStr string, mgr *service.Resources) (*fileWriter, error) {
+	codec, appendMode, err := getWriterCodec(codecStr)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+	return &fileWriter{
+		suffixFn:   codec,
+		appendMode: appendMode,
+		path:       path,
+		log:        mgr.Logger(),
+		nm:         mgr,
+	}, nil
+}
+
+func (*fileWriter) Connect(_ context.Context) error {
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (w *fileWriter) writeTo(wtr io.Writer, p *service.Message) error {
+	mBytes, err := p.AsBytes()
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	suffix, addSuffix := w.suffixFn(mBytes)
+
+	if _, err := wtr.Write(mBytes); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	if addSuffix {
+		if _, err := wtr.Write(suffix); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (w *fileWriter) Write(_ context.Context, msg *service.Message) error {
+	path, err := w.path.TryString(msg)
+	if err != nil {
+		return fmt.Errorf("interpolating path: %w", err)
+	}
+	path = filepath.Clean(path)
+
+	if err := validateFilePath(path, runtime.GOOS); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	w.handleMut.Lock()
+	defer w.handleMut.Unlock()
+
+	if w.handle != nil && path == w.handlePath {
+		return w.writeTo(w.handle, msg)
+	}
+	if w.handle != nil {
+		if err := w.handle.Close(); err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		w.handle = nil
+	}
+
+	flag := os.O_CREATE | os.O_RDWR
+	if w.appendMode {
+		flag |= os.O_APPEND
+	} else {
+		flag |= os.O_TRUNC
+	}
+
+	if err := w.nm.FS().MkdirAll(filepath.Dir(path), fs.FileMode(0o777)); err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	file, err := w.nm.FS().OpenFile(path, flag, fs.FileMode(0o666))
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+
+	handle, ok := file.(io.WriteCloser)
+	if !ok {
+		_ = file.Close()
+		return errors.New("opening file for writing")
+	}
+
+	w.handlePath = path
+	if err := w.writeTo(handle, msg); err != nil {
+		_ = handle.Close()
+		return err
+	}
+
+	if w.appendMode {
+		w.handle = handle
+	} else {
+		_ = handle.Close()
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func (w *fileWriter) Close(_ context.Context) error {
+	w.handleMut.Lock()
+	defer w.handleMut.Unlock()
+
+	var err error
+	if w.handle != nil {
+		err = w.handle.Close()
+		w.handle = nil
+	}
+	return err
+}
+
+//------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+// validateFilePath checks that the base file name component of path does not
+// contain characters that would cause silent data loss or confusing behavior on
+// the target operating system.
+//
+// The goos parameter mirrors runtime.GOOS and is accepted explicitly so that
+// tests can exercise all platform branches regardless of the build host.
+//
+// Rules:
+//   - All platforms: NUL bytes are rejected in any path component.
+//   - Windows: <, >, :, ", |, ?, * and control characters 0x01–0x1F are rejected
+//     in the base file name. The drive-letter colon (C:) is not part of the base
+//     name and is therefore not rejected.
+//   - macOS/Darwin: colons are rejected in the base file name because HFS+/APFS
+//     maps ':' to '/', silently placing the file in a different directory.
+func validateFilePath(path, goos string) error {
+	if strings.ContainsRune(path, '\x00') {
+		return fmt.Errorf(
+			"file name %q in path %q contains a NUL byte which is invalid on all platforms",
+			crossPlatformBase(path), path,
+		)
+	}
+
+	base := crossPlatformBase(path)
+
+	switch goos {
+	case "windows":
+		return validateWindowsFileName(base, path)
+	case "darwin":
+		return validateDarwinFileName(base, path)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+// crossPlatformBase returns the last element of path, considering both forward
+// and back slashes as separators. This is necessary because filepath.Base only
+// recognises the build-host separator, but validateFilePath must correctly
+// extract the base name for any target OS.
+func crossPlatformBase(path string) string {
+	// Find the last separator (either / or \).
+	i := strings.LastIndexAny(path, `/\`)
+	if i >= 0 {
+		path = path[i+1:]
+	}
+	if path == "" {
+		return "."
+	}
+	return path
+}
+
+func validateWindowsFileName(base, fullPath string) error {
+	const badChars = `<>:"|?*`
+	var found []string
+	for i, r := range base {
+		switch {
+		case r >= '\x01' && r <= '\x1F':
+			found = append(found, fmt.Sprintf("control character 0x%02X at position %d", r, i))
+		case strings.ContainsRune(badChars, r):
+			found = append(found, fmt.Sprintf("%q at position %d", string(r), i))
+		}
+	}
+	if len(found) > 0 {
+		return fmt.Errorf(
+			"file name %q in path %q contains characters invalid on windows: %s",
+			base, fullPath, strings.Join(found, ", "),
+		)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
+
+func validateDarwinFileName(base, fullPath string) error {
+	if strings.ContainsRune(base, ':') {
+		return fmt.Errorf(
+			"file name %q in path %q contains a colon which is invalid on macOS "+
+				"(HFS+/APFS maps ':' to '/', creating a file in the wrong directory)",
+			base, fullPath,
+		)
+	}
+	return nil
+}
diff --git a/internal/impl/io/output_file_test.go b/internal/impl/io/output_file_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..be275e664d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/internal/impl/io/output_file_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,159 @@
+// Copyright 2026 Redpanda Data, Inc.
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//    http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package io
+
+import (
+	"testing"
+
+	"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
+)
+
+func TestValidateFilePath(t *testing.T) {
+	tests := []struct {
+		name        string
+		path        string
+		goos        string
+		errContains string
+	}{
+		// NUL bytes rejected on every platform.
+		{
+			name:        "NUL byte rejected on linux",
+			path:        "/tmp/foo\x00bar.txt",
+			goos:        "linux",
+			errContains: "NUL byte",
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "NUL byte rejected on windows",
+			path:        `C:\tmp\foo` + "\x00" + `bar.txt`,
+			goos:        "windows",
+			errContains: "NUL byte",
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "NUL byte rejected on darwin",
+			path:        "/tmp/foo\x00bar.txt",
+			goos:        "darwin",
+			errContains: "NUL byte",
+		},
+
+		// Valid paths across platforms.
+		{
+			name: "simple path valid on linux",
+			path: "/tmp/data.txt",
+			goos: "linux",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "simple path valid on darwin",
+			path: "/tmp/data.txt",
+			goos: "darwin",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "simple path valid on windows",
+			path: `C:\tmp\data.txt`,
+			goos: "windows",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "deep nested path valid on linux",
+			path: "/var/log/app/2024/01/data.log",
+			goos: "linux",
+		},
+
+		// Linux allows colons in file names.
+		{
+			name: "colon in name valid on linux",
+			path: "/tmp/sample_2021-10-10T23:45.json",
+			goos: "linux",
+		},
+
+		// macOS rejects colons in the base file name.
+		{
+			name:        "colon in name rejected on darwin",
+			path:        "/tmp/sample_2021-10-10T23:45.json",
+			goos:        "darwin",
+			errContains: "colon",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "no colon in base name valid on darwin",
+			path: "/tmp/mydir/data.log",
+			goos: "darwin",
+		},
+
+		// Windows rejects several characters in the base file name.
+		{
+			name:        "colon in base name rejected on windows",
+			path:        `C:\tmp\12:00:00.log`,
+			goos:        "windows",
+			errContains: "invalid on windows",
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "angle brackets rejected on windows",
+			path:        `C:\tmp\foo<bar>.txt`,
+			goos:        "windows",
+			errContains: "invalid on windows",
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "pipe rejected on windows",
+			path:        `C:\tmp\foo|bar.txt`,
+			goos:        "windows",
+			errContains: "invalid on windows",
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "question mark rejected on windows",
+			path:        `C:\tmp\foo?.txt`,
+			goos:        "windows",
+			errContains: "invalid on windows",
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "asterisk rejected on windows",
+			path:        `C:\tmp\foo*.txt`,
+			goos:        "windows",
+			errContains: "invalid on windows",
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "double quote rejected on windows",
+			path:        `C:\tmp\foo"bar.txt`,
+			goos:        "windows",
+			errContains: "invalid on windows",
+		},
+		{
+			name:        "control character rejected on windows",
+			path:        "C:\\tmp\\foo\x01bar.txt",
+			goos:        "windows",
+			errContains: "invalid on windows",
+		},
+
+		// Windows drive-letter colon is valid (it's not in the base name).
+		{
+			name: "drive letter colon valid on windows",
+			path: `C:\Users\data.txt`,
+			goos: "windows",
+		},
+		{
+			name: "relative path valid on windows",
+			path: `tmp\data.txt`,
+			goos: "windows",
+		},
+	}
+
+	for _, test := range tests {
+		t.Run(test.name, func(t *testing.T) {
+			err := validateFilePath(test.path, test.goos)
+			if test.errContains != "" {
+				require.ErrorContains(t, err, test.errContains)
+			} else {
+				require.NoError(t, err)
+			}
+		})
+	}
+}
diff --git a/public/components/io/package.go b/public/components/io/package.go
index 6bbc59caee..b515512eba 100644
--- a/public/components/io/package.go
+++ b/public/components/io/package.go
@@ -25,4 +25,7 @@ package io
 import (
 	// Import only io packages.
 	_ "github.com/redpanda-data/benthos/v4/public/components/io"
+
+	// Override benthos file output with path validation (issue #1005).
+	_ "github.com/redpanda-data/connect/v4/internal/impl/io"
 )