Green Checks on Win 11 Desktop Icons

Question

Green Checks on Win 11 Desktop Icons

Cliff Gottberg 0

Suddenly, my Windows 11 desktop icons all have green check marks. Why? And how do I remove them?

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3 answers

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Answer 1

Ryezen 0

I had this same issue after a recent reboot, even though I had previously disabled one-drive (in the app and from the list of startup apps). Yet, for some random reason on this particular reboot, green checkmarks appeared. Opening Onedrive and then exiting it (still keeping it disabled) made the checkmarks go away.

So, what does this tell me? That even though Onedrive has been disabled on my system, it's doing something on startup, still. Not cool, MS. Not cool.

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Answer 2

Sin-D 12,265 Microsoft External Staff Moderator

Hi Cliff,

Thanks for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A. Green check marks on desktop icons usually appear when OneDrive marks files as synced and up to date. This happens when your Desktop folder is backed up by OneDrive.

Additionally, to remove the green check marks, you can turn off Desktop backup:

Open OneDrive > click the gear icon > Settings > Sync and back up > Manage back up > turn Desktop off.
If you want to keep backup but remove overlays, please make sure you already tried right‑click the OneDrive icon > Settings > Account > Unlink this PC.
If your icons come from another cloud app (Dropbox, Google Drive), open that app’s settings and disable icon overlays.

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Sin-D 12,265 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-01-06T07:46:56.26+00:00

Hi,

I just wanted to check in and see if the steps worked for you. If you need any further assistance, don’t hesitate to reach out by clicking "Add Comment" or "Post Answer" (If you cannot add comment)! This helps me can read your follow up! Thank you.
mumia76 0 Reputation points

2026-01-10T18:59:08.09+00:00

I have the same issue but I've never used onedrive, it is not running, and the checkmarks are still there.
Sin-D 12,265 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator

2026-01-11T07:36:35.9766667+00:00

Hi mumia76,

Thanks for reaching out. Please re‑check your OneDrive, as it is usually created automatically when setting up Windows.

Answer 3

DaveM121 931.2K Independent Advisor

If the green check marks on your icons on the Desktop look like one of the icons indicated further down on this link, than that indicates you have OneDrive enabled on your system to sync your files to the cloud, and the green check mark indicates the files are successfully synced, by default OneDrive syncs the Desktop, Documents and Pictures folders.

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/what-do-the-onedrive-icons-mean-11143026-8000-44f8-aaa9-67c985aa49b3

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