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Windows has checkboxes in File Explorer for selecting multiple items. If you find them annoying, heres how to get rid of them.
One of the more annoying things I find when I work on peoples computers is all the checkboxes for selecting icons and other items. I prefer to hold down the Ctrl key and select multiple items. If youre not a fan of the boxes, heres how to get rid of them.
Note: This article has been updated to include instructions on removing the checkboxes in Windows 10, which you can find below.
Remove Check Boxes from Folders and Files on Windows 7
- Open Control Panel and select Folder Options.
2. When the Folder Options window opens, choose the View tab, scroll down and uncheck Use check boxes to select items, and click OK.
Thats itno more boxes. Now you can use Ctrl or Shift and click or hit Ctrl + A to select all items. If you do like checkboxes for some reason, you can always enable them again.
Disable Item Check Boxes in Windows 10
If youve upgraded to Windows 10, you can remove the checkbox from icons, too. While you can still do it by opening Folder Options as shown above, now the process is a lot easier.
Launch File Explorer and select the View tab on the Ribbon. In the Show/Hide section, uncheck the Item check boxes box.
Thats all there is to it. Of course, if you want to re-enable them again for any reason, just recheck the Item check boxes option on the File Explorer ribbon.
31 Comments
Rolo
Thaks it was easy and useful
ReplySandra
I still have the checks
Reply
Raised on Unix
Thanks, that checkbox is so annoying!
Replydapz
thanks..
ReplyJulia
Thank you, really, thank you!
ReplyLou
thanks
ReplyHayden C
thanks a lot!!
ReplySandeep Kumar
Thank you so much
ReplyRambo
thanks a lot!!
ReplyJoaquin
Thank you!
ReplyCarlos Nani
Thanks. It was so helpful :]
ReplyTML
Perfect! Thank You.
ReplyTeresa L Hoagland
Thank you very much! I dont know when on of my grandchildren change the settings but I was so frustrated I had to Google the answer . and you came to the rescue.
ReplyZoomwe
Thank you :]
ReplyBamboo Man
Thank you so much!
ReplySUnil Singh
Thanks for help
Replywes
GOD BLESS YOU!!!, this has been terrorizing me for weeks now
ReplyLydia
Followed all steps and still have the checkmarks on folders, plus now there are double check marks on folders.
ReplyJoe Horenkamp
Win 10
I tried everything to get rid of the icon overlay characters and nothing worked until I found found this: ShellExView
Down load it, run it, then sort on type.
I highlighted all of the icon over lay entries about a dozen all together.
Right clicked and disabled the entries.
Pay close attention to what lines you are disabling because you are changing the registry and may wish to re-enable the overlays.
This FINALLY fixed the overlay problem
ReplySteve Krause
Thats great Joe. Thank you for the details on that.
ReplyAlanMintaka
That took care of the check marks OK, but those annoying shield overlays still appear for programs set to Run as Administrator.
However, given what ShellExView did to the checkmark overlays, I have a feeling that theres some other extension[s] shown in ShellExView causing the shield nonsense, just a matter of figuring out which one[s].
If I can figure it out, Ill post here. Great catch on ShellExView!!!
In fact, great catch on anything that can get this CF operating system to work, especially anything that also makes sense. Nice work!
Reply
larry
followed instructions, check marks still there.
Also have blue check marks on photosReplyManuel
Thank you for your help. Well done! All good now
ReplyDee Drew
I wish I were among those who have successfully removed those annoying check marks. I follow the instructions closely. In fact the boxes that need to be unchecked have already been unchecked. Nothing changed. I tried again by enable and disable the boxes. Still nothing has changed.
ReplyeLaReF
I have similar boxes all unchcked already
Used ShellexView as above same non-resultReply
Dee
Still there and I even uninstalled One Drive!
ReplyLinda
Ask Leo suggested the check boxes, but they are the greatest annoyance I ever encountered. Thank you so much for making it easy for me to undo the damage.
Replypatti
I still have all the checkboxes. I tried both methods. Neither box was checked to begin with, but I have all the green checkmarks that clutter up the screen.
ReplyPaul
Thank you for this tip! [How to remove windows icon check boxes]!
ReplySscoootzZ
Perfect. Thanks ^_^
ReplyKosetta Woodfork
Now you just need a guide to remove the annoying green google drive checkmarks.
Reply
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