Green Tick or Blue Arrows Icon Overlay Displayed for Files in Windows Explorer

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 (») 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.

Copyright © 2008 Ramesh Srinivasan. All rights reserved.