Office documents appear with an orange/yellow box in front of them. They won't open

Anonymous
2021-12-15T15:12:22+00:00

I recently upgraded to Windows 11 pro. I reviewing my locally stored documents, several of them have an altered ICON with what looks like a file storage box to the left of the standard application ICON. None of these files will open by double-clicking. I chatted with MS support this morning and the agent couldn't figure it out either. Fortunately, most of these documents are also on OneDrive, but I have >100 with this issue and it will take time to find and restore a working copy.

Has anyone seen this?

Thanks,

Tom

[Moved from Word / For business / Windows]

Microsoft 365 and Office | Word | For home | Windows

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  1. Anonymous
    2021-12-17T00:10:07+00:00

    Doug - it won’t attach. Clicking on it won’t highlight it nor will dragging it attach it..

    Tom

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  2. Doug Robbins - MVP - Office Apps and Services 323.6K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2021-12-16T23:59:43+00:00

    Doug:

    Thanks for your note. Unfortunately, since the files won't actually open, I cannot attach them (only an image of them). Fortunately, I do have them on OneDrive, so I'm systematically matching file names/extensions and downloading them onto my desktop.

    I was hoping someone on the MS Office team would recognize this image and comment on same.

    Tom

    Image

    You do not need to open the file to send it to me. Simply attach it to an email message.

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  3. Charles Kenyon 170.9K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2021-12-16T13:04:47+00:00

    Doug:

    Thanks for your note. Unfortunately, since the files won't actually open, I cannot attach them (only an image of them). Fortunately, I do have them on OneDrive, so I'm systematically matching file names/extensions and downloading them onto my desktop.

    I was hoping someone on the MS Office team would recognize this image and comment on same.

    Tom

    Image

    If they are on OneDrive, you should be able to post or email a view link.

    Why a sample file is important for troubleshooting. How to do it.

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  4. Anonymous
    2021-12-16T12:45:32+00:00

    Chitrahaas:

    Thanks for your reply. The files are a mix of Word, Excel and Powerpoint. No pdf's or other program file types that I've discovered. I will forward the ticket number to you, but I cannot forward a copy of the file since none of them open - only an image of the file name/extension and Icon are shown in the directories affected. The agent took control of my system and tried everything possible on her end, but nothing worked. Fortunately, I have these as reference points so I can locate them on One Drive and pull down the file(s) stored there.

    Thanks again for your help. Watch for the ticket number in your private message.

    Tom

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  5. Anonymous
    2021-12-16T12:40:20+00:00

    It's possible there may be other file types that exhibit similar characteristics, but I have yet to come across one like mine. I just have a lot of downloading to do to get local documents from OneDrive. Thankfully, they are all there. It's just very time consuming.

    Thanks again for your reply.

    Tom

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