Steps to Solve Brown Box Icons in Windows 11

If you are a Windows 11 user, you may have noticed brown box icons in the left bottom corner of your files or folders. These icons can be confusing and may make you wonder what they mean. In this article, we will provide some facts about this issue, steps to solve it, and some related questions and their answers.

Facts

The brown box icons in the left bottom corner of your files or folders indicate that the thumbnail is a pointer or shortcut to a file synchronized using a cloud service such as OneDrive or Dropbox. It is used when the FILE_ATTRIBUTE_OFFLINE flag is set, which means that the offline file is just a link to the online file. The actual file is archived in the cloud, so when you double-click the thumbnail, your system downloads the file locally and then opens it. So opening the file takes slightly longer than usual. If you can’t open the file, it means that you don’t have access to its actual location.

Steps to solve brown box icons in Windows 11

Here are some steps to solve brown box icons in Windows 11:

  1. Check if you are using OneDrive or Dropbox. If you are using either of these cloud services, the brown box icons may appear on your files or folders.
  2. Log out and log back in to your cloud service. Sometimes, logging out and logging back in to your cloud service can help solve the issue.
  3. Check your OneDrive settings. If you are using OneDrive, check your settings to see if Files On-Demand is enabled. If it is enabled, you may see these brown box icons in the left bottom corner of your files.
  4. Uninstall OneDrive. If you don't use OneDrive, you can uninstall it from your system to get rid of the brown box icons.

Related questions and answers

Q. What do brown box icons in Windows 11 mean?

A. Brown box icons in Windows 11 indicate that the thumbnail is a pointer or shortcut to a file synchronized using a cloud service such as OneDrive or Dropbox.

Q. How do I get rid of brown box icons in Windows 11?

A. To get rid of brown box icons in Windows 11, you can log out and log back in to your cloud service, check your OneDrive settings, or uninstall OneDrive if you don't use it.

Q. Why do I see brown box icons on my files in Windows 11?

A. You may see brown box icons on your files in Windows 11 if you are using a cloud service such as OneDrive or Dropbox.

Conclusion

Brown box icons in the left bottom corner of your files or folders in Windows 11 indicate that the thumbnail is a pointer or shortcut to a file synchronized using a cloud service such as OneDrive or Dropbox. To solve this issue, you can log out and log back in to your cloud service, check your OneDrive settings, or uninstall OneDrive if you don't use it. By following these steps, you can get rid of the brown box icons and improve your Windows 11 experience.