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One of our readers wrote telling that in Windows Explorer some files are shown with tick mark in a green box and some with chevron in a blue box regardless of the file type. Here is a screenshot explaining the situation.
I inspected the ShellIconOverlayIdentifiers registry key which is located at:
(Note that the Icon Overlay handlers are registered under the ShellIconOverlayIdentifiers registry key.)
It showed the following GUIDs registered under it.
Subkey : OverlayExcluded
GUID : {4433A54A-1AC8-432F-90FC-85F045CF383C}
Subkey : OverlayPending
GUID : {F17C0B1E-EF8E-4AD4-8E1B-7D7E8CB23225}
Subkey : OverlayProtected
GUID : {476D0EA3-80F9-48B5-B70B-05E677C9C148}
After Googling the GUIDs, it was noted that the entries were added by Norton 360. Norton 360 v2 adds a feature called "Backup Status Indicators" which clearly identifies which files have been backed up, which files are pending backup and which are excluded from backup. This feature is responsible for the Tick mark (green box) and double arrow (blue box) overlay icons.
Quoting PCMag:
A check in a green box means the file’s backup is current, while a chevron (ยป) character in a blue box indicates a file that’s been changed since its last backup. Files excluded from the backup set display a slash in a gray box.
If you don’t need the backup indicators feature you can turn it off by clicking Settings in the Norton 360 main window, disabling the Backup Status Indicators check box and clicking Close.
Norton 360 Main window
No Norton 360, but have MozyHome Backup installed?
MozyHome Backup program adds a green checkmark overlay icon for files which are included in your backup list. To disable the overlay, select the following checkbox in Mozy Options:
Enabling this option hides the icons that displays next to files and folders in Windows Explorer when a file is included in your backup list.
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I got all excited when I found your post however, that does not resolve my issue. Each of these icons/thumnails (green/blue) have different functions on my Windows 7 platform: The green check mark indicates a file that WILL BE LOCATED IN THE WINDOWS 7 SEARCH FUNCTION. If a blue chevron is on the icon, THAT FILL IS INVISIBLE TO THE SEARCH ENGINE! Most notably, all the PDF documents i create on Window’s 7 ALL have the blue chevron, hence ALL MY CREATED PDF DOCUMENTS ARE INVISIBLE TO WINDOWS 7 SEARCH!!! No one can seem to tell me why and how to correct it. By the way, those icons don’t disappear when I change the setting in Norton 360.
once again proving that online questions and especially computer questions asking GOOGLE usually resolve the issue, takes patience and reading all the information but………usually works so THANK YOU ( I had the annoying blue arrows and didn’t know why or how to remove them )
Thanks alot, I thought this was part of the program Irfanview and had been pulling hair out trying to remove them while keeping the critical program for my work.
THANK YOU!!! I have been suffering with the huge intrusive marks and had NO idea where they came from or how to get rid of them. It’s been awful! Now I am happy and stress free and can work with my graphics files easily. THanks!
Thanks so much for this infomation, I have windows XP at work. Installed is norton 360, I know why now blue Blue arrows apear in microsoft files.
Thanks so much for sharing this!
I have been trying to help a member on our computer support forum with the same symptoms on his vista pc, but was completely baffled as he was only mentioning picture files with the blue or green overlays.
Obviously he must have only chosen these file types to be backed up with his Norton 360 program.
He had recently upgraded to version 3 of Norton 360 and seen these icons for the first time so perhaps the box is checked by default in that version. ?
Anyway .. thanks again … a good clear article ;-)