How to Remove Arrow or Black Box from Desktop Icons in Windows 11

If you’re looking to remove the arrow overlay from desktop icons in Windows or fix the black box issue that appears after doing so, you’re in the right place. This guide will walk you through the process using the nooverlay.ico transparent icon to achieve a cleaner desktop.

How to Remove Arrow or Black Box from Desktop Icons in Windows

Step 1: Open Registry Editor

1. Press Win + R, type regedit, and hit Enter to open the Registry Editor.
2. Navigate to the following path:
   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer

Step 2: Create or Modify the Shell Icons Key

1. In the Explorer folder, right-click, select New > Key, and name it Shell Icons.
2. Inside Shell Icons, right-click, select New > String Value, and name this new value 29.

Note: If the Shell Icons key and 29 string value already exist, there is no need to create them again. Just proceed to the next step.

Step 3: Download the Transparent Icon (nooverlay.ico)

To ensure that the arrow and black box are properly removed, download the transparent icon and save it to C:\Windows.

Download nooverlay.ico

Step 4: Set the Value Data to the Icon Path

1. Double-click on 29 and enter the path to the transparent icon (nooverlay.ico) in the Value data field:
   C:\Windows\nooverlay.ico

This is what we call a “String Value” in the registry. It holds the data (path to your icon) that you want to apply.

Step 5: Restart Windows Explorer

1. Open Task Manager (press Ctrl + Shift + Esc).
2. Locate Windows Explorer, right-click it, and select Restart.

Step 6: Clear Icon Cache (Optional)

If the black box still appears after restarting, clear the icon cache:

1. Open File Explorer and go to :- %userprofile%\AppData\Local.
2. Find and delete IconCache.db.
3. Restart your computer.

After following these steps, the arrow overlay and black box should be removed from your desktop icons, leaving your desktop neat and overlay-free.