Windows has a lot of great things from the Microsoft ecosystem working for it, including Microsoft’s cloud storage solution, OneDrive. The storage’s integration into Windows works rather well and lets users back up their files to the cloud without hassle.

However, this also enabled check marks on your folders showing their online status. In this article, we’re talking about green checkmarks in Windows.

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What are these checkmarks?

These checkmarks are simply Windows’ way of telling you whether or not a file has been synced with your logged-in OneDrive account. 

There are four primary checkboxes:

• Green outline checkbox: These appear on files backed up online and available locally.
• Green filled checkbox: These appear when the file has successfully been transferred to the cloud.

There are two other related icons as well:

• Blue cloud: Indicates that the file is available online only.
• Red Cross: Shown on files that cannot sync with the cloud. 

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How to hide these checkboxes?

If you don’t prefer these checkboxes look, you can always get rid of them. Here’s how

Pause sync

Pausing OneDrive data sync can remove the checkboxes. Just follow these steps:

Step 1: Open the icon bar and click the OneDrive icon. 

Step 2: Click Pause syncing and select the duration you want. 

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Remove the folder from backup locations

Another thing you can do is remove the backup locations where you want the checkboxes removed. 

Step 1: Open the icon bar and click the OneDrive icon. 

Step 2: Click the settings gear icon and click Settings.

Step 3: Head over to the Backup tab and click Manage backup

Step 4: Remove the folder you want from the backup. 

And that’s all you need to do to get rid of the checkmark.

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Use Task Manager

If nothing else works, use the Task Manager to kill the OneDrive process and close any sub-processes running in the background. This will stop any syncs or backups in place and remove the checkboxes. 

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