Why am I seeing black boxes instead of no arrows on short-cuts?

[TranquilKnight]

2 days ago Daniel posted an article on how to remove shortcut arrows on Windows 10 desktops. I was able to hide the arrows. However, I got two updates. I installed them & restarted the system. After restarting I got these.



I ignored & finished my work & I saw that everything was normal. Sometime after explorer restarted and those black squares re-appeared! I've waited again but this time they didn't disappear.

What's the solution?

 

[Ma Rio]

Try reverting the process and redoing it.

 

[Darren Walsh]

2 days ago Daniel posted an article on how to remove shortcut arrows on Windows 10 desktops. I was able to hide the arrows. However, I got two updates. I installed them & restarted the system. After restarting I got these.

View attachment 110684

I ignored & finished my work & I saw that everything was normal. Sometime after explorer restarted and those black squares re-appeared! I've waited again but this time they didn't disappear.

What's the solution?

Same here !!!

 

[ramyZgHR]

Same here!

 

[TranquilKnight]

Try reverting the process and redoing it.

It should work but I also don't want those arrows. It has worked in all previous versions of Windows & it worked here too. It doesn't work only when 'explorer.exe' loads after logging in for first time or restarts itself/manually. Now I got proper icons back but when I manually restart 'explorer.exe' those black square appears again.
So actually this thing works here too but don't know what's this black box problem.

EDIT: I usually get normal icons back after couple of hours. I don't know the reason.

 

[Axeelant]

So still no solution? I'll try reverting the process now...

 

[Robin Wood]

In Windows 10 Professional I removed the default shortcut arrows on the icons and then everything was fine for a while (Months) but suddenly little black boxes appear where the arrows were supposed to be. After searching my machine for possible errors i found something strange i.e. something is changing my default apps in settings. So, I clicked to Settings > System > Default apps > Reset. Then all the black boxes disappear and the Icons returned to normal without the shortcut arrows. I do not know what is causing this to happen and if this will permanently stop the black boxes from reappearing, only time will tell.

When I removed the arrows by means of Regedit, I Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer.
I Created a Key by Right click on \Explorer and using the dialog menu choose New > Key and name it Shell Icons. Press Enter.
In the right pane of Shell Icons, right click on an empty area, and click/tap on New and String Value. Name it 29.
Double click/tap on the 29 String Value to modify it. You should see a blank box called Value data.
In the Value data box enter (or copy and paste): %windir%\System32\shell32.dll,-50 and hit OK when done.
You can now either reboot the computer or log off and on back again to complete the changes. Afterwards, you should have a nice, clean desktop with no arrow shortcuts.
:angry:

 

[Robin Wood]

Please try the following in Windows 10 and see if it works (it worked for me):

Navigate to Start button > Settings > System > Default apps > Reset (Reset to the Microsoft recommended defaults). Then all the black boxes should disappear and the Icons returned to normal without the shortcut arrows.

I hate these little arrow shortcuts on the Icons, Microsoft should implement an easy option with the click of a button to either have them or have them removed. People with 'hundreds' of Icons crowding their Desktop surely don't know how a Filing system should work. You can for instance have one Folder on the Desktop with sub-folders to separate different program groups or data, thereby keeping everything neatly in place and easily accessible. I never ever needed little "shortcut arrows" to remind me what is a Folder and what is a shortcut !!
:angry: