In case you suddenly see a cross as those mentioned in some folder or file of windowsWe don’t need to panic, let’s see how we can correct it.
There is no doubt that this is a bug in Windows that if it appears suddenly we should take it into consideration. While there are some bugs in Microsoft’s operating system that we can ignore as they don’t directly affect how the software works, this bug could be important. And it is that it directly and negatively affects certain contents that we have stored in the computer disk drives.
At the same time, we must bear in mind that these failures in certain contents can occur both in local folders and files, as well as on the network. This means that the failure that we are talking about in these lines can occur in a drive on our PC, or in those that we share corresponding to other computers on the local network that we have installed. In fact, then the first thing we are going to see will be how to solve the problems derived from this network and that are reflected in the aforementioned error of the red x.
Troubleshoot network
It is possible that the first thing that does not come to mind once we get to this point is that the problem is caused by some local failure in the system. But many of the causes that generate this failure are network problems in Windows. In the event that we have connected a network drivesuch as a NAS, to our computer, or we use cloud storage a lot with OneDrive either Google Drivea network or client failure can cause this X to appear on some files.
The red x means that there is no connection to the file located outside the computer and is usually shown in the shortcuts. This icon replaces the arrow icon of the shortcuts and also the one that informs us of the status of the synchronization of the file with a cloud platform, if it is stored in one of these cloud services. With red, we will never be able to access the content of the file until we solve the problem, a problem that we show you how to solve in this article.
To solve it, what we must do is check that we are correctly connected to the Internet and that the cloud synchronization clients work correctly. If they don’t, we need to reinstall them. If it is a file stored on a local network, we must make sure that the computer is connected to the local network, regardless of whether we have an Internet connection or not, since this does not affect this case.
If it’s a NAS or a network drive, then we must disconnect it from Windows and reconnect it again. We must also reinstall the clients of the cloud services that we use, such as Mega, Google Drive, and even OneDrive, in case the files with this symbol are in any of these clouds. As usual with so many of the problems that we can find in Windows, restarting the PC can solve many of these. At the same time, something similar can happen in the case of the peripherals and components that we use here, just as it happens in this case of the network components.
Fix problems with files or crashes in Windows
Another way to solve the red X bug in Windows files and folders is by checking the integrity of files and fixing any problems that may exist with them. It is important to know that the operating system itself proposes an internal command that is in charge of analyzing the reliability and status of the files that are part of the Microsoft software itself.
As you can imagine, this is an integrated tool that will be of great help to us in a multitude of failures that we find in Windows. Now we are going to use it to try to detect the errors related to the X that we have talked about in these lines.
To do this, we simply open a window CMD with administrator permissions and execute the following command, changing
So, when the checking of the files is finished, we restart the computer and this problem should have been solved. In the event that we have a hard drive or memory with read and write protection, this may be the cause of the problems. Therefore, we only have to disable this protection and everything should return to normal and the red cross should disappear.
Fix software problems that cause the red X
An issue with the icon cache can be another trigger for a red X appearing on Windows folders and drives. Therefore, we can try to clear the cache in order to solve the problem.
To do this we are going to press the keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Alt + Delete to access the Windows Task Manager. Later we move to the bottom where we find Windows Explorer. We click on it with the right mouse button and within the contextual menu we click on End task.
Later, in the Start menu search engine, we type cmd to run the Command Prompt, something that we must make sure to do with administrator rights. Once open, we execute the following commands in the following order:
cd /d %userprofile%/AppData/Local attrib –h IconCache.db del IconCache-db start explorer
Once this is done, the cache of the icons will be cleared and they will be rebuilt so it only remains to check if this solves the problem with the red X.
It may also be that the cause of this is that a virus has damaged our system. In this case, a pass with our antivirus will help us to repair possible problems.
Delete the content from the source and copy it again
It may be the case that this error with the red icon that appears in certain remote folders and files occurs because that specific content is damaged or inaccessible for some reason. This means that we will not be able to solve the problem remotely with any of the solutions that we propose along these same lines. Therefore, if we reach this point, the best thing we can do is go to the source where that content is stored to delete it.
For example, if it is a file or folder that is in the cloud and that we normally access from the browser, we can try to locate ourselves in it through the official client of the platform. This will allow us to delete that file to copy it again, whenever we have the possibility to do so, and possibly the error of the red X that we see in the explorer will be solved.
In the event that we are talking about some equipment that we have in our home network, the solution is even simpler. All we have to do is situate ourselves in front of the keyboard of that computer that we normally access remotely, and restore the content that is giving us the problem at this moment. When accessing again from the remote computer, this error sign may no longer appear.
restart file explorer
The file explorer is the graphical representation of the files stored on our computer or on a network drive. Like any other application and operating system, sometimes the easiest solution to start it. When you restart the file explorer, it will reload again, eliminating all the content that it had stored in the cache and that could be offering erroneous information. Restarting your explorer will also restart your Windows desktop, so if the issue shows up on your desktop, that should also fix it. To restart the file explorer, we access the Task Manager (Control + Shift + Esc), select the File Explorer and click on Finish homework.
Restart the system
Windows, like any other operating system, needs a reboot from time to time to put everything in place. Also, with the Quick Start feature that Microsoft introduced with the latest Windows 10 updates leading up to the release of Windows 11 it is more important. The quick start function loads into the kernel of the device the applications that we have open at the time of turning off the equipment, and loads them again when we turn it on.
In this way, in the device’s memory we will always find the same applications that may be interfering with the operation of the network drives. The solution to this problem is to restart the computer. Restarting it deletes all content stored in memory and the computer starts from scratch, loading all system elements again without resorting to content stored in memory.
If we want that when we turn off the computer it does not use the fast startup function (which is the same as the old hibernation), we can disable this function through the Windows power plans by unchecking the Fast startup box. In this way, every time we turn off the equipment, it will actually turn off and all the content stored at the time of turning it off will be deleted from the memory.
Reinstall the program
Although it is rare for this icon to appear due to a local issue, there have been times when it has. It may be that, for some reason, the executable of the program has been damaged or one of its libraries has been corrupted. Therefore, Windows detects that there is a problem with the program and therefore shows us this icon.
If this is the case, what we should do is try to uninstall the program from our computer and then reinstall it. After reinstalling the program, it should work normally again. In case this is not the case, we must also make sure to delete its data (such as its temporary files, configurations or profiles) and then reinstall it again. A clean installation of the latest version of the program will allow us to solve many problems.
Although it seems a bit strange, it is quite common for certain applications to conflict with other programs already installed and cause errors in the operating system. This is something that is especially extensible to applications that have a similar behavior and operation, or those that are a few years old and have not been updated as would be expected.
Search for a virus
Another aspect that we cannot ignore is the possibility that this symbol has appeared due to a virus. Therefore, another thing that we must check is that our PC is clean of malware. We must scan it with an updated and modern antivirus, so that we can make sure that there is no threat that is causing our PC to not work well.
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