Icons Do Not Appear In Box Drive or Box Sync Folder on Windows

In order to help you track the syncing status of your files, Box Sync puts icons on folders and files in Windows Explorer showing "Synced", "In Process", and "Problem File". However, you may run into an instance where these icons are not appearing as expected. This article will take you through the steps to resolve this problem.

Environment

All Windows devices with Box Sync Installed

Resolution Steps

1. Make sure that Box Sync is running on your computer. These icons will only appear if the program is active. You can check this in your System Tray if the Box icon is blue.
2. Ensure that you are looking at the correct folder. Double-check this by:
   1. Right-click on the Box icon in your System Tray to open the menu.
   2. Select Preferences.
   3. In the Preferences Menu, select Settings.
   4. Click Open Folder.
3. Restart Box Sync to attempt to restart the Icon Service.
4. Ensure that the Box Sync Icon Registry Keys are in the proper place.
   1. Open the Registry Editor by entering regedit into your Start Menu and press Enter.
   2. In the Registry Editor, navigate to

      HKey_Local_Machine\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ShellIconOverlayIdentifiers in the navigator on the left-hand side.

   3. In the list at the above location, you should see the following values: BoxSyncFileLocked, BoxSyncNotSynced, BoxSyncProblem, BoxSyncFileSynced.
5. The Registry Editor allows for 15 values in the ShellIconOverlayIdentifiers location. If there are too many subkeys in this section, Windows may not prioritize the Box Sync subkeys. Consider uninstalling any unused apps to reduce the number of extraneous subkeys.
6. If the values are not present, please uninstall and reinstall Box Sync.