How To Remove Black Boxes On Desktop Icons In Windows 11/10

If you’ve suddenly started seeing black squares behind some of the icons for your folders on your Windows 11/10 computer, don’t worry as there is nothing wrong with your eyesight. In fact, this is an issue that many Windows 11/10 users have been affected by in the past and continue to fall prey to. The black squares that appear behind some of the folder icons on an affected user’s computer don’t really do anything other than crumple the overall look of the icons and be extremely annoying as the functionality of any and all affected folder icons remains intact.

Fix 1. Remove the Black Background of the folder individually

1. Right click on folder and click Properties

2. Click Customize Tab

3. Now, click on Change Icon

4. Now, select Folder icon from the list and click OK.

If you are having this issue with multiple folders , proceed with the methods given below.

Fix 2. Perform a Disk Cleanup to delete thumbnails

1. Search Disk cleanup in Taskbar search box and click on Disk cleanup

2. Select C Drive and click OK

3. Under the general tab, click on the Disk Cleanup button.

4. Under the Files to delete section, Make sure Thumbnails Options is selected

5. You will see a Dialog, Are you sure you want to permanently delete these files? Click on Delete Files.

Fix 3. Restore the Settings to default

1. Locate the folder with a black square behind the folder and right-click on it.

2. From the context menu, choose Properties.

3. Click on the Customize tab.

4. Under the Folder pictures section, click on Restore Default.

5. Click on Apply and then click on OK.

6. Check if this removes the black square behind the Folder icon. If not, try the next fix.

Fix 4. Delete the Icon Cache

First of all make sure Files are unhidden on your PC. Once , you are sure , files are not hidden, Proceed with steps

1. Open the Run Dialog using Windows+R.

2. In the opening dialog, enter the below path and press Enter.

C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local

3. In this folder, check for the file named IconCache.

4. Once found, delete the file.

5. Now, open the Run Dialog again.

6. Enter the below location and press Enter.

C:\Users\%username%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Windows\Explorer

7. In the opening window, delete all the files and folders.

Note: If you see a prompt saying the files are in use and cannot be deleted, select Do this for all current items and Try Again.

9. Restart your System.

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