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. Charles Kenyon 170.9K Reputation points Volunteer Moderator
    2022-03-16T10:45:48+00:00

    I have the same issue, but luckily not as many files. It does not really matter to me what the icon looks like or came from, rather how do I open my file(s) now? It is since the upgrade to Windows 11. It is definitely the same icon - word with a small brown box overlay in the left bottom corner. Again, how to get into my file please. Thank you.

    what happens when you try to o pen the messages?

    Are you signed into the cloud service they are stored in? The messages are online-only, so you do need to be signed into the service that synced them, to your computer.

    Messages?

    Files?

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  2. Anonymous
    2022-05-02T21:11:23+00:00

    Wow! Insane! I read through this entire 4-page thread and THERE IS NO CLEAR ANSWER GIVEN on how to resolve this issue. Unbelievable. I hate seeing stuff like "send us the file" or "try changing the registry"... holy freak!!!! Can someone from MS please just tell us what is the problem and what button to push to fix it???? Seriously - MS should know what that stupid little box is there and how to get rid of it. I was using a 2014 laptop with windows 10 and office 2013 and everything worked fine. I then upgrade to 365 and start monthly payments because i essentially have to and everything goes to heck. Shouldn't MS have figured out how to make things work in the last 8 years???? So frustrating. WHAT'S THE ANSWER??? I CAN'T ACCESS MY WORD DOCS AND I WANT SOMEONE TO TELL ME HOW TO FIX IT!!! preferably in 20 words or less and without having to go into the registry and muck around where I don't belong.

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  3. Doug Robbins - MVP - Office Apps and Services 323.6K Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2022-05-02T22:26:54+00:00

    Assuming that this is the icon that you see

    If you right click on the file and then on Properties, you will probably see something like

    that will show you where the actual file is located, with the Size on disk: of 0 bytes indicating that the icon that you see is only a "shortcut" to the file. That you cannot open it indicates that you do not have access to the actual location of the file and that is probably because you are not signed into the remote service.

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  4. Anonymous
    2022-05-27T22:33:10+00:00

    I'm having the same issue with Adobe Illustrator files.

    -Kya

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  5. Anonymous
    2022-06-01T22:57:23+00:00

    i found the solution for it. it is because your files are locked with OneDrive personal vault. sign in to your OneDrive and unlock the personal vault. as soon as the files start synching with OneDrive you will be able to access and open them.

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