Fix Black Squares Behind Folder Icons

Fix Black Squares Behind Folder Icons: If you have started seeing black square behind folders icons then don’t worry it’s not a big issue and is generally caused because of icon compatibility issue. It doesn’t harm your computer in any way and it’s definitely not a virus, what it does is that it just disturb the overall look of your icons. A number of users have reported this issue after copying content from a Windows 7 PC or downloading the content from the system which has an earlier version of Windows over a network which creates an icon compatibility issue.

Fix Black Squares Behind Folder Icons Issue in Windows 10

The issue is easily fixable by either clearing Thumbnails cache or manually resetting the thumbnail back to Windows 10 default for the affected folders. So without wasting time let’s see how to actually Fix Black Squares Behind Folder Icons issue in Windows 10 with the below-listed steps.

Fix Black Squares Behind Folder Icons

Make sure to create a restore point just in case something goes wrong.

Method 1: Clear Thumbnails cache

Run Disk Cleanup on the disk where the folder with the black square appears.

Note: This would reset all your customization on Folder, so if you don’t want that then try this method at last as this will definitely fix the issue.

1.Go to This PC or My PC and right click on the C: drive to select Properties.

right click on C: drive and select properties

3.Now from the Properties window click on Disk Cleanup under capacity.

click Disk Cleanup in Properties window of the C drive

4.It will take some time in order to calculate how much space Disk Cleanup will be able to free.

disk cleanup calculating how much space it will be able to free

5.Wait until Disk Cleanup analyzes the drive and provides you with a list of all the files that can be removed.

6.Check mark Thumbnails from the list and click Clean up system files in the bottom under Description.

Check mark Thumbnails from the list and click Clean up system files

7.Wait for Disk Cleanup to complete and see if you are able to Fix Black Squares Behind Folder Icons issue.

Method 2: Manually Set the icons

1.Right-click on the Folder with the issue and select Properties.

2.Switch to Customize tab and click Change under Folder icons.

Click Change Icon under Folder icons in Customize tab

3.Select any other icon from the list and then click Ok.

Select any other icon from the list and then click OK

4.Click Apply followed by OK.

5.Then again open the Change icon window and click Restore Defaults.

Click Restore Defaults under Change Icon

6.Click Apply then click Ok to save changes.

7.Reboot your PC and see if you’re able to Fix Black Squares Behind Folder Icons issue in Windows 10.

Method 3: Uncheck Read-only Attribute

1.Right-click on the folder which has Black Squares behind its icon and select Properties.

2.Uncheck “Read-only (Only applied to files in folder)” under Attributes.

Uncheck Read-only (Only applied to files in folder) under Attributes

3.Click Apply followed by OK.

4.Reboot your PC to save changes.

Method 5: Run DISM Tool

1.Press Windows Key + X then select Command Prompt (Admin).

command prompt with admin rights

2.Try these command sin sequence:

Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /StartComponentCleanup
Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

cmd restore health system

3.If the above command doesn’t work then try on the below:

Dism /Image:C:\offline /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth /Source:c:\test\mount\windows
Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth /Source:c:\test\mount\windows /LimitAccess

Note: Replace the C:\RepairSource\Windows with the location of your repair source (Windows Installation or Recovery Disc).

4.Reboot your PC to save changes and see if you are able to Fix Black Squares Behind Folder Icons issue.

Method 6: Rebuild Icon Cache

Rebuilding Icon Cache can fix the issue the Folder Icons, so read this post here on How to Repair Icon Cache in Windows 10.

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That’s it you have successfully Fix Black Squares Behind Folder Icons in Windows 10 but if you still have any questions regarding this guide then feel free to ask them in the comment’s section.

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