Windows 10: Gray X's on Desktop files appearing

Gray X's have recently started appearing on all of the files and folders I have placed on my Windows 10 desktop.





The X's are in the lower left corner of the icon.. They only appear on icons belonging to actual files or folders saved on the desktop. (Not on shortcuts to other locations.)

Examples would include: Excel files, PDF files, JPG files, folders actually residing on the desktop, text files, etc. The appearance of the "X's" have not interfered with my ability to access the files. This does NOT occur any place else (other folders on my hard drive, etc.) other than on the desktop.

Logging out as a User or rebooting does solve the issue for 1-2 minutes once I am logged back in, but then they reappear.

Doing a screen refresh does nothing. Right-clicking on the file (or folder) and resetting the default program to open the file (or folder) does nothing.

I have not recently installed any new back-up programs.

Deleting the Desktop DataBase in the Registry does not help.

Any suggestions or known solutions would be most appreciated!

:)

 

Windows 10 - Gray x's on some desktop icons

No matter I do . Still the Gray 'x' icon is not going . its annoying to see the Gray 'X' on my desktop.

Does any one know how to remove it.

 

Windows 10 - Gray x's on some desktop icons

Right click on desktop; select refresh.... This is a temporary fix, but they will come back because there are multiple applications using the same table. When there is a conflict, the gray X's appear. In my situation, I discontinued using OneDrive to permanently
resolve the issue.

 

Welcome to the forum. Do the files open ok i was wondering if the have been encrypted by ransom ware

 

The files and folders affected by this open and work just fine. This is only a visual annoyance, but nonetheless, something isn't right here.

 

Which version of Win10 are you seeing it on? Are the files on removable media such as a USB drive?

I'm running both Win10 RTM Version 1607 Build 14393.693 and Win10 IP/Insider Preview Version 1607 Build 15007 and don't see the same issue.

 

As I had indicated initially, these are files and folders actually stored on the desktop - not shortcuts to other locations on removable media or on my hard drive.

I have Windows 10 Pro, Version 1607, Build 14393.693

 

Are your files being synced or archived to the cloud or some other location.

 

I guess that's why forums are great... 2 heads are better than one! In this case, philc43, you figured it out.

I am syncing my desktop (and other folders) with a program called "SugarSync." When I turned off the sync to the desktop and rebooted, the X's went away and stayed away. As soon as I tried to resync the desktop, they reappeared.

Good to know... and I'll now go to them for a fix.

Thanks all..