Suddenly you may find green checkmarks on desktop icons.
There is nothing to worry about as these are not going to cause any harm to your device.
Green checkmarks on the desktop icons indicate that your files are successfully backed up to the OneDrive Cloud.
Not clear yet? Follow this article and find out why desktop icons have green checkboxes and how to get rid of them in detail.
Why Are Green Checkmarks On My Desktop Icons?
So, why do my desktop icons have green checkboxes? The green checkmarks on your desktop icons appear after OneDrive has backed up the files to Cloud.
You see these checkmarks only when you are signed in to the OneDrive account.
So, all the selected folders and files that are successfully backed up to the Cloud show green checkmarks right beside them. Thus, this is a good way to restore all your files.
But if you want to get rid of these green checkmarks on desktop icons, we have shown the steps below.
Also know how to remove checkbox icons from Windows 10.
How To Erase The Green Checkmarks On The Desktop Icons?
Now, if you want to get rid of all those green check-marks, here are some methods you need to follow:
1) Pause Syncing
If you want to get rid of the green checkmarks on your desktop icons, then this is the easiest way.
Here is how you can pause syncing files on OneDrive:
- Go to your system tray and click on the OneDrive icon.
- Select Pause Syncing from the menu. Now choose a preferable time from the provided options.
2) Disable Keep On This Device Option
You will be able to access the OneDrive files offline by turning off the keep on this device option.
But as you turn this option off, the files will not be available on your device.
Follow the process given below to do so:
- Click on the icon having the green checkmark and right-click on it.
- Turn off the Always Keep On This Device option. Repeat the process to erase the green mark for all the icons.
3) Stop Backing Up The Desktop Folder
To get rid of the green checkmarks, you can stop backing up your Desktop files to OneDrive.
The current desktop files will not get affected this way and the files in the OneDrive will not be deleted.
Now follow the steps to remove the desktop folder from the backup location:
- Open OneDrive Settings and click on the backup tab.
- Click on the Manage Backup button as shown in the picture below.
- Now under the desktop option slick on the Stop syncing button. Follow the on-screen prompts and confirm your action.
4) Free Up Some Space
OneDrive provides a good option to free up space. After syncing, you can choose to remove the local files with the help of this feature.
After cleaning up, you will not see the green checkmarks next to the files.
To free up space, follow the steps given below:
- Right-click on the icon that has a green checkmark.
- Choose the free-up space option.
Repeat the process for all the icons with a green checkmark.
5) Disable OneDrive
One drive is your Windows 10 default app. But if the above processes did not help you to remove green checkmarks on desktop icons, then you can disable OneDrive.
To do that follow the process described below:
- Right-click on the Taskbar and select Task Manager.
- From the Startup Tab and click on Microsoft OneDrive. Select the Disable option.
After you disable OneDrive, Windows will not show you the green checkmarks.
Closing Up
After going through the above article, hope you understood what the green checkmarks on desktop icons are and how to get rid of them.
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