How to Remove Green Checkmark from OneDrive Windows

If you’re a OneDrive user, you may have noticed a green checkmark next to the OneDrive icon in your system tray. This checkmark indicates that your files are synced and up-to-date. In this onedrive tutorial, we will discuss how to remove green checkmarks from onedrive windows 10/11.

We live in the digital age, where we want our devices to work on auto-sync, provide remote storage, and perform seamlessly. To satisfy customer needs, Microsoft has launched Windows 10 and 11, which have modern designs and functionality.

You can sync your work and retrieve the file from any other PC using it. The pre-eminent function of this technology is that you can work without storing files at the local location at any point.

This major feature in Microsoft Windows is available in the form of its cloud service OneDrive. In Windows 10 and 11, OneDrive is part of the operating system. It automatically syncs your data to Microsoft cloud service. Using it, you can access your file and folder from any place if you have an internet connection. Your OneDrive data is represented with a green check mark.

What does the Green check on Desktop Icons represent?

If you are wondering why a green check mark is present on your desktop, You will get your answer in this tutorial.

People’s response to these unknown checkmarks is usually negative because they think their computers or files are being attacked by malware or viruses. The truth is the absolute opposite.

On the internet, the green color delineates that person is online. You must have noticed a similar green mark on the social messaging platform. By this example, you can make a connection yourself.

Here the green check mark denotes that Microsoft’s OneDrive has successfully created a backup of your data and is now available online. So even if you lose your PC, you can still find your data.

Another significance of these green check marks is that you can access all data stored on the cloud from another PC. It will benefit you if your PC or Laptop is damaged or stolen. You can also recover your desktop icon. Although these check marks are features of OneDrive, these green check marks only appear on Windows PCs.

As you can see, these green check marks are nothing to panic about. But it is still better to know the subject before dealing with the problem. Therefore, you need to understand the variety of green check marks.

Read How to Delete All Photos from OneDrive

Types of Check Marks

There are two different types of green checkmarks. Even if their color is the same, the shade and working are different. The following are:

1. Green outlined checkmark

The green outline checkmark on your desktop signifies that the file with the highlighted icon is only available for online use. You can not download files with a green checkmark when you need them.

2. Solid green filled checkmark

If your file is denoted with a solid green checkmark, it indicates that this highlighted file is available for both online and offline purposes. You can download them on your local storage whenever you need them for work.

Other than these two, there are different colors of mark that OneDrive generate. So before moving to solutions, let’s briefly look at them:

3. Blue Mark

On the internet, the blue color symbolizes the uploading and downloading of data. Similarly, in OneDrive, the blue mark means that the file is in the process of uploading or downloading.

4. Red Mark

Red is the color that most represents the fault. So if your OneDrive files are highlighted with a red mark, either the file cannot synchronize with the cloud, or there is network interference during synchronization.

Now you are ready to tackle the problem of removing the green checkmark from the desktop.

Read How to Access OneDrive Recycle Bin

How to Remove the Green Checkmark from OneDrive Windows

There are various methods to solve this problem. You can get rid of green checkmarks using any of the methods given below.

• Stop your OneDrive from Syncing.
• Prohibit your OneDrive from working.
• Remake your icon cache
• Use Free-up Space.

So let’s discuss them in detail.

1. Stop your OneDrive from Syncing:

Removing the green checkmark can never be easier than your OneDrive from Syncing. You can easily do that from the following steps.

• Find the OneDrive icon in the system tray and click on it.

• You will get a pop-up menu. Here, click on the gear icon.

• Click on the option to pause syncing and choose the duration from the offered option. 2,8 or 24 hours. That is up to you to decide.

2. Prohibit your OneDrive from working

There is no simplest way other than eliminating the root cause. If you disable your OneDrive, it will also stop its green checkmarks from appearing on your OneDrive window. It is how you can prevent your OneDrive.

• Find the OneDrive icon inside the system tray or taskbar and click on it.
• Select the Gear icon from the pop-up menu.

• Select Quit Drive to stop it from functioning.

Later, you can get the notification to enable OneDrive. Remember that some people find it more annoying than the green check mark of the OneDrive window.

3. Rebuild your icon cache

Try rebuilding the icon cache if you need help with turning off and disabling OneDrive. In the window, Icon Cache is a database that holds copies of every desktop icon. By refreshing it, you can fix the issue of the green check mark and restore the previous icon. To refresh the Icon Cache, follow the:

• Search ‘cmd’ in the window search
• When the command prompt appears in the search result, choose the option Run as administrator from the right panel.

• When it launches, you must enter the given command. After each command, you need to press enter. You can copy and paste the command or type it. The commands are as follows:
  • cd /d %userprofile%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer
  • attrib –h iconcache_*.db
  • del iconcache_*.db start explorer

After executing the last command, your PC will shut down. Restart it after waiting for a few minutes. Now the issue is resolved.

4. Use Free-up Space

Fix the issue using the “Free-up Space” feature offered by OneDrive. This feature can help you clean the copies file from the OneDrive window. When you delete copies, the green check mark will disappear. So if you want to get remove the green check mark, follow the step.

• Locate the green check mark on the OneDrive window and right-click on it. Then select the “free up space” option in the pop-up menu.
•  Repeat this process for all green checkmarks present.

Read How to Share a OneDrive Folder via Email

Frequently Asked Questions

Bottom Line

These are the methods to remove the green checkmark from the OneDrive window. Surely one of the methods will work for you. If it does not, try deleting and reinstalling the OneDrive and stop the sync. It will resolve the problem.

You may like the following onedrive tutorials:

• How to Sync Documents to OneDrive
• How to Send A OneDrive Link to Different People
• How to Stop Sharing Files on OneDrive
• How to Backup OneDrive to an External Drive