Do you have Green check marks on your desktop icons? Fear not! It is not due to any sort of malicious activity but is a sign that you are connected to a cloud service like Microsoft’s OneDrive. The green check mark signifies the status of your cloud backup. We have explained all about these green tick marks in this article including the steps to remove them.
Why Are There Green Checks On Desktop Icons
The green checkmarks are an indication of which files and folders are synced with the Microsoft OneDrive cloud storage. If you see a green checkmark on a folder, you can be rest assured that it is synced to the cloud and can be accessed across all devices using your Microsoft account.
What Are The Types Of Check Marks On Desktop Icons
Solid Green Check Mark
A check mark that appears to be Solid Green in color means two things. First, it is backed up on your OneDrive account and second, it is available for offline use as it is stored on your PC as well. This status is obtained if you have chosen the “Always keep on this device” option for a file or folder.
Outlined Green Check Mark
If you see an outlined green check mark then your file or folder is not available on your PC but can be downloaded from the online storage it has been uploaded to. This helps save space on your current device as there is no copy available offline.
There are two more types of marks when using the One Drive and it is good-to-know information.
Blue Mark
If your file or folder has a blue mark then it means that this file is being uploaded to OneDrive.
Red Mark
A red mark implies that an error has occurred during the synchronization of your files to One Drive. It could be due to network issues or misconfigured settings.
How To Remove Green/Red/Blue Checks On Desktop Icons
Here are a few expert-recommended methods to remove green checks from Desktop Icons.
Method 1 – Pause The Synchronization In OneDrive
The first step you need to take is to pause the sync of files between the OneDrive and your PC. This pause of sync will not affect any data that has already been uploaded to OneDrive cloud storage but will not facilitate any further uploads. Here’s how to pause syncing in OneDrive:
1. Press Win + S to open the Search box and type OneDrive. Click on the app with the same name.
2. Click the Gear icon to open the Settings menu.
3. Select “Pause syncing” and choose the desired pause duration.
Method 2 – Close OneDrive
If you do not want to temporarily pause the OneDrive Sync but rather close the app until the next reboot then follow these steps.
1. Click on the OneDrive icon in the right bottom corner of the System tray.
2. Click the Gear icon in the top-right corner.
3. Expand the “Pause Syncing” menu.
4. Select “Quit OneDrive.”
Method 3 – Unlink OneDrive
If you do not want to use OneDrive on your PC for good, then you must unlink your Windows account from OneDrive. This will fully disable the service until you sign back into the OneDrive app and re-enable syncing.
Method 4 – Use the Registry Editor to Modify Icon Overlay Settings
Some users have claimed that the above methods did not help remove the green check marks from the desktop icons. In that case, we have a method that involves editing the Windows Registry to remove the green check marks. Here is what you need to do –
1. Press Win + R, type regedit, and hit Enter to open the Registry Editor.
2. In the address bar, copy and paste the following path and press Enter:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ShellIconOverlayIdentifiers
3. To remove the overlay icons, delete or rename the entries related to your cloud service. For example, if you’re using OneDrive, you can rename Registry subkeys like OneDrive1 and OneDrive2 to move them to the bottom of the list. You could rename them to something like “z_OneDrive1,” “z_OneDrive2,” etc.
4. After renaming or deleting the subkeys, restart your computer to apply the changes.
Editor’s Tip: Use Advanced System Optimizer To Maintain Your Windows RegistryAdvanced System Optimizer is a complete optimization tool that helps maintain your PC and keeps it running optimally. Many modules are associated with this app, like system cleaner, disk optimizer, duplicate file remover, driver updater, and many more. But today’s highlight is the Registry Optimizer module. There are two features under this app namely – Registry Cleaner and Registry Optimizer. The first feature will help users to repair Registry issues and stop app crashes whereas the second feature optimizes and reduces the size of the registry by deleting unwanted entries and ensuring better PC performance. Moreover, using the Registry Cleaner module, you can back up the registry before making any changes to it. |
Method 5 – Rebuild Icon Cache
After you have stopped the sync of your files to One Drive or disabled One Drive completely, the green check mark may remain on your desktop. Experts suggest that rebuilding the icon cache can help fix this issue. Here are the steps –
1. Press Win + R to open the RUN dialog box and type “cmd”.
2. Next, press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open the command prompt app in admin mode.
3. Copy and paste the following command in the command prompt window, each followed by the Enter key.
exe-show
taskkill /IM explorer.exe /F (note:- your desktop will go blank)
DEL /A /Q “%localappdata%IconCache.db”
DEL /A /F /Q “%localappdata%MicrosoftWindowsExplorericoncache*”
Shutdown /p
4. The PC will shut down after the execution of the last command. Wait for some time, restart your computer, and check if the green check marks have gone for good.
[Resolved]
The green check marks that appear on your desktop icons are an indication of the sync status of a file or folder with a cloud service like Microsoft OneDrive. There is no need to worry about these checkmarks and can be easily removed using the methods mentioned above in this article.
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