Windows 10: OneDrive Steals Icon Overlays

I use TortoiseGit which uses shell overlays for indicating file status. It is the most important application for me which uses overlays. OneDrive is constantly stealing the priority by adding spaces in front of the OneDrive ShellIconOverlayIdentifiers registry keys. Is there any way to prevent this? I've tried changing the permissions on those keys to deny all, but they still end up getting changed.It is so frustrating to have to edit the keys and restart so frequently. I'm not sure when OneDrive steals the overlays, but it is very frequently. Maybe on restarts or windows updates? Since

:)

 

OneDrive for Business Icon Overlays in Windows Server 2016 Not Working

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for your reply.

The issue may not be related with the Windows Server 2016.

Here is an article for your reference: Sync icon overlays are missing from OneDrive and OneDrive
for Business.

Please check the workarounds in the article and I would suggest you first download the wizard and follow the steps to see the result.

Best Regards,

Gloria

 

Icon Overlays less than 15

Hi fantasiom,

I read from an article on ghacks (link below) that there are two places in the registry that the overlays are being "loaded" from.

• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ShellIcon‌OverlayIdentifiers
• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explor‌er\ShellIconOverlayIdentifiers

https://www.ghacks.net/2016/07/24/fix-sync-icons-not-showing-explorer/

The second location is for 32-bit applications running on 64-bit windows. OneDrive is storing the same 6 ShellIconOverlayIdentifiers in both locations. I suspect this is because the OneDrive client is 32-bit, and windows explorer is 64-bit. It appears that
the six overlays in the Wow6432Node are loaded first leaving 9 in the other location.

OneDrive will ask to "install icons" if it not all it's icons are not in the top 15. Installing icons means adding spaces in front of the name in the registry so it appears first alphabetically.

I would suggest adding spaces in front of the "BoxSyncNotSynced", "BoxSyncProblem", and "BoxSyncSynced" registry keys so they appear ahead of or next after the six OneDrive overlay icons. I don't use file locking so I don't feel the other two BoxSync icons
are useful.

Essentially the problem is that the ShellIconOverlayIdentifiers is limited to 15 and One Drive is setup to use 12 of them currently. OneDrive has introduced a new status column instead of overlay icons, but it seems for now this is limited to files-on-demand
functionality.

 

OneDrive overlay on desktop icons

I have some - not all - desktop icons that have what I think is the OneDrive overlay on them, a white circle with a tick. And, I'd like to remove the overlay. I know there are techniques for doing that, I'm just wondering why they're so hard to get rid of. The icons are all used as changed icons in the Customise section. I've tried moving the icons from where they were, in Pictures, to other folders that aren't connected to OneDrive, to different filesystems, different drives, even emailed them to myself, but the overlay remains. Maybe some flag in the file itself to indicate it should be saved, but I can't find it.

TIA
Rob

(Win10 Home 2004 all up to date)