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I have a red circle with a white cross on my recycle bin on my desktop, what does this mean?

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Most likely the red circle with a white cross is an overlay added by a sync or backup client (OneDrive, Dropbox, etc.) to show a sync/backup error — in other words the system is marking that the item could not be uploaded or synced. This is a common behavior of modern cloud clients and is not, by itself, a Windows “system” error. (support.microsoft.com)

As pointed to other discussions and sensibly suggested a malware check, follow a short diagnosis workflow before making changes:

  • Hover the Recycle Bin icon and check the tooltip; open the system tray and click any cloud/backup/antivirus icons to read status messages.
  • If Desktop (or the folder that contains the Recycle Bin shortcut) is being backed up by OneDrive or a similar service, check Backup / Manage backups in that client to see why sync failed. (support.microsoft.com)
  • Third-party backup or security suites can also add “status overlays” (green ticks, red X, exclamation marks); inspect that app’s settings for an option to hide or disable overlay icons. If you still suspect infection, run a full antivirus/malware scan with your security tool or Windows Security. (learn.microsoft.com)

If it’s a sync client problem: pause syncing, open the client’s settings to resolve the reported error, or temporarily unlink the PC to confirm overlays go away. If it’s a backup/security overlay, disable the overlay feature or uninstall the client. If overlays persist after fixes, restarting Explorer or rebuilding the icon cache usually clears stale decorations; avoid raw registry edits unless comfortable — Windows limits and shell overlay handlers can make registry tweaks risky. (support.microsoft.com)

If further detail is needed about any specific client shown in the tray, include that client’s name and its current status message so the correct next step can be suggested.

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Member Avatar for jingda

See this .

Member Avatar for flagstar

Maybe you got an infection.
Scan your computer with your anti-virus, if av is unavailable,

Download Malwarebytes Anti-Malware and install it to your pc. Then if possible just run a quick scan only to save time. (normally you have to do full scan to make sure everything is clean afterwards) and attach the log files here.

Member Avatar for jingda

if the problem is confirm to be a malware problem and not cleaned and removed cleanly, you can post your thread in the Virus, Spyware and other Nasties Forum here. It is another forum in daniweb but specialize in Virus help and removal.

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