Why aren't my overlay status icons working?

The Sync desktop application displays status icons on your files and to let you know whether they are synced. If you do not see Sync status icon overlays on your files in your Sync folder, follow these steps to troubleshoot. This article will cover resolving missing icon overlays on Windows and macOS.


Windows macOS

Basic troubleshooting: 

  1. Close any other cloud syncing programs that use overlay icons, such as OneDrive or Dropbox. Afterward, restart the Sync application.

  2. Ensure that your antivirus software is not interfering with Sync. Confirm whether Sync has been granted the necessary permissions, particularly if it was installed or reinstalled recently, as the antivirus may be blocking its functionality.


Use the built-in reset option:

  1. Navigate to the Sync icon in the Windows system tray.
  2. Select the settings (⚙︎) icon.
  3. Select Preferences.
  4. Select the Options tab.
  5. Select the reset button next to Show Icon Overlays.

Use the registry editor (regedit):

  1. Confirm that the Sync desktop app is running. Status icons will not be present if the desktop has shut down unexpectedly. To check if Sync is running, look for the Sync icon on your Windows System Tray.
  2. On Windows, there is a maximum number of icon overlays available to third-party applications, which means if you have multiple applications that feature icon overlays, some may take precedence over others. To ensure the Sync app gets icon overlay precedence:
  • Go to the Run command through your Start Menu
  • Type in regedit and click OK

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  • Click Yes

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  • There will be a folder structure on the left column of the regedit utility.  Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\explorer\ShellIconOverlayIdentifiers

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  • If the Sync overlays (AAASync...) do not appear in the top 11 of the list they will not be displayed.  You can rename the overlays to move them up the list as they are sorted alphabetically with spaces listed first.
  • Right-click on the AAASync... entry
  • Select Rename

regeditrename

    • Enter 3 spaces before the AAA and click enter
    • Do this for the next 3 Sync overlays
    • Restart your computer to apply settings
    • When going back, it should look like this.

regedit4

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