How to remove blue arrows from files in Windows 10? – custom PC

As our digital files grow larger by the day, developers are forced to find new ways to save space on our systems . With this in mind, the new Windows 10 update automatically compresses files to save hard drive space.

When doing this the system has to warn you somehow that your files are compressed, so it adds a couple of opposite arrows in the corners of the files and many times you may not like how they look, so today we will show you how remove them.

How to Remove Blue Arrows from Files in Windows 10? – Custom PC

Index( )

1. How do you delete the double blue arrow from Windows 10 compressed folders?
   1. For a specific folder
   2. If you want to delete the blue arrows from all files
2. How to verify that the changes have been made to the icons on your desktop?

How do you delete the double blue arrow from Windows 10 compressed folders?

As we already explained, these arrows are on your files to let you know that they have been compressed to take up less space on your computer’s hard drive.

These arrows do not affect the operation of your equipment at all , but if you want to remove them for a simple matter of aesthetics, then it is our pleasure to inform you that it is not impossible or complicated. In fact, there is the option to remove them and, on the other hand, there is the option to hide them.

For a specific folder

Removing the arrows for a specific folder is the easiest way to do it, but the downside is that you would have to give up the space it saves on your hard drive, since you have to turn compression off for that folder. You just have to follow these simple steps:

1. Locate the folder you want to modify.
2. Right click on it and select ‘Properties’.
3. In the ‘General’ tab select ‘Advanced Options’.
4. Then, in the ‘Compression and encryption attributes’ section, disable the ‘Compress content to save disk space’ option.
5. Select ‘OK’ and then select ‘Apply’.
6. When you apply the changes you will get a window to confirm the change of attributes. Select ‘OK’.

Once you have followed these steps, the folder and all its files will be unzipped , so the arrows will no longer appear on the icons of the folder and its internal files.

If you want to delete the blue arrows from all files

Changing the folder settings can be a tedious process as you will have to do it one by one, however, there is a way to remove blue arrows on all files in Windows .

This way can be a bit more complicated, but the upside is that you will still be able to conserve the space that is saved on your hard drive as a result of file compression.

It should be noted that in order to use this option you have to use the Windows ‘Registry Editor’ , which you can open by entering ‘Regedit’ in the search box. Once you are inside the ‘registry editor’ you just have to follow these steps:

1. Navigate to the address ‘HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer’.
2. Then right click on the Explorer folder and go to ‘New’ and then select ‘Key’.
3. This new key should be named ‘Shell Icons’.
4. Right click on the new key and select ‘New’ and then ‘String Value’.
5. This value should be named ‘179’.
6. Then right click on the new value and select ‘Modify’.
7. Enter the path ‘C:\Windows\system32\BlankIcon.ico’ in the value data box.

It is important that you follow these steps with great caution, since when we are making changes to the Windows registry we could make an error that leads us to have to install the Windows 10 system from scratch , which can result in a great loss of data .

How to verify that the changes have been made to the icons on your desktop?

Once we have followed all the steps in the previous section,  we verify that the settings have been saved , but the truth is that they do not have an immediate effect.

The most conventional way to apply the changes is by restarting the computer , but this can sometimes be somewhat inefficient, as it could take several minutes, depending on the number of files you have on it.

However, you will also be able to apply the changes without the need to restart your PC completely, you just have to restart Windows Explorer by following these simple steps :

1. Right click on the taskbar and select ‘Task Manager’.
2. Locate Windows Explorerand right click on it.
3. Select ‘Restart’.

When you’ve done this, your browser will restart and you won’t need to completely restart your computer . Now you will be able to see the changes applied to the icons of your folders and files.

If for some reason you want to see the arrows on your operating system again or it starts to work poorly, you can always do a hard reset to restore Windows to its original state. In this way, you will be recovering all the options that your system comes with from the factory, yes, you must be careful to make a backup so as not to lose your personal information.