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Dropbox and Google Drive Icon Overlays Not Showing? How to Fix Cloud Sync Icon Conflicts in Windows

Updated February 2026 — Windows 11 24H2

You have Dropbox, Google Drive, and maybe OneDrive all running on the same Windows machine. Some services show their sync status icons (the green checkmarks, blue clouds, and sync arrows on files), while others mysteriously do not. You have tried reinstalling the apps, rebooting, and clearing caches — nothing works.

The problem is not with any individual cloud service. It is a fundamental Windows limitation that most users — and even most IT professionals — do not know about. This guide provides a complete explanation and permanent fix.

The Root Cause: Windows 15-Overlay Hard Limit

Windows has a hardcoded limit of 15 icon overlay handlers. This limit exists in the shell (shell32.dll) and has not changed since Windows XP. Icon overlay handlers are a specific type of Shell Extension that displays a small badge (overlay) on top of file and folder icons in Explorer.

Windows itself reserves 4 of these 15 slots for system overlays:

That leaves only 11 slots for all third-party applications combined.

The Math Problem

Cloud ServiceOverlays Registered
Dropbox5 (Synced, Syncing, Error, Unwatched, Selective)
Google Drive5 (Available, Syncing, Error, Paused, Available Offline)
OneDrive5 (Synced, Syncing, Error, Online-Only, Shared)
Box Drive5
Nextcloud5

If you have just Dropbox and Google Drive installed, that is 10 overlay handlers — almost filling the 11 available slots. Add OneDrive (which comes preinstalled with Windows 11), and you have 15 handlers competing for 11 slots. Four overlays must fail.

How Windows Picks Winners

Windows loads overlay handlers based on the alphabetical order of their registry key names under:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ShellIconOverlayIdentifiers

The first 15 entries (alphabetically) are loaded. All others are silently discarded. This is why cloud services — especially Dropbox — pad their keys with leading spaces to sort higher in the list.

Diagnosing Which Overlays Are Active

Quick Registry Check

  1. Press Win + R, type regedit, press Enter.

  2. Navigate to:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ShellIconOverlayIdentifiers

  3. Count the entries from top to bottom. Entries 1-15 are active; everything below is ignored.

  4. Note which service’s entries are above/below the cutoff.

PowerShell Audit Script

$overlays = Get-ChildItem "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ShellIconOverlayIdentifiers"
$position = 0

Write-Host "`nICON OVERLAY HANDLER PRIORITY LIST" -ForegroundColor Cyan
Write-Host "=" * 60

foreach ($overlay in $overlays | Sort-Object Name) {
    $position++
    $status = if ($position -le 15) { "  ACTIVE  " } else { " INACTIVE " }
    $color = if ($position -le 15) { "Green" } else { "Red" }
    $name = $overlay.PSChildName.TrimStart()

    Write-Host "$position".PadLeft(3) -NoNewline
    Write-Host " [$status] " -ForegroundColor $color -NoNewline
    Write-Host $name
}

Write-Host "`nTotal: $position overlays registered, $(if ($position -gt 15) { "$($position - 15) inactive" } else { 'all active' })" -ForegroundColor Yellow

Using ShellExView

  1. Open ShellExView as Administrator.
  2. Sort by Type column.
  3. Find all entries marked “Icon Overlay Handler”.
  4. The tool shows the CLSID, DLL path, and company name for each handler.

Fix 1: Prioritize Your Preferred Service via Registry Reordering

The most effective fix is to manually rename the registry keys to control the alphabetical sort order.

Strategy: Add Leading Spaces

The more leading spaces a key name has, the higher it sorts alphabetically. Here is the recommended approach:

To prioritize Dropbox over Google Drive:

  1. Open Registry Editor as Administrator.
  2. Navigate to ShellIconOverlayIdentifiers.
  3. Rename Dropbox entries to have more spaces (e.g., add one extra space at the beginning).
  4. Rename Google Drive entries to have fewer spaces (or remove all spaces).

To prioritize Google Drive over Dropbox:

Do the reverse — add spaces to Google Drive keys and remove them from Dropbox keys.

Example: Prioritize Dropbox + OneDrive, Deprioritize Google Drive

  DropboxExt01        ← 2 leading spaces (HIGH priority)
  DropboxExt02
  DropboxExt03
  DropboxExt04
  DropboxExt05
 OneDrive1            ← 1 leading space (MEDIUM priority)
 OneDrive2
 OneDrive3
 OneDrive4
 OneDrive5
GoogleDriveSyncExt1   ← 0 leading spaces (LOW priority)
GoogleDriveSyncExt2
GoogleDriveSyncExt3

Automated Batch Script

Save this as fix_overlays.bat and run as Administrator:

@echo off
echo.
echo ===================================
echo   Icon Overlay Priority Fixer
echo ===================================
echo.

set "KEY=HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ShellIconOverlayIdentifiers"

echo Current overlay handlers:
reg query "%KEY%" /s 2>nul | findstr /R "HKEY_LOCAL.*ShellIcon.*\\"

echo.
echo This will prioritize Dropbox and OneDrive overlays.
echo Google Drive overlays will be deprioritized.
echo.
pause

:: Note: Renaming registry keys requires exporting, deleting, and re-importing
:: This is a manual process - use the PowerShell script below for automation.

echo.
echo Please use the PowerShell script for automated reordering.
echo See: https://shellex.info/guide/dropbox-google-drive-icon-overlay-conflict-fix
pause

PowerShell Automation Script

# Requires Administrator privileges
$regPath = "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ShellIconOverlayIdentifiers"

# Define priority order (more spaces = higher priority)
$priorities = @{
    "Dropbox"     = "   "  # 3 spaces - highest
    "OneDrive"    = "  "   # 2 spaces
    "GoogleDrive" = " "    # 1 space - lowest
}

$overlays = Get-ChildItem $regPath

foreach ($overlay in $overlays) {
    $name = $overlay.PSChildName.TrimStart()

    foreach ($service in $priorities.Keys) {
        if ($name -match $service) {
            $newName = $priorities[$service] + $name
            $clsid = $overlay.GetValue("")

            # Delete old key and create new one with proper spacing
            Remove-Item $overlay.PSPath
            $newKey = New-Item -Path "$regPath\$newName" -Force
            Set-ItemProperty -Path $newKey.PSPath -Name "(Default)" -Value $clsid

            Write-Host "Renamed: '$($overlay.PSChildName)' -> '$newName'"
            break
        }
    }
}

Write-Host "`nDone! Restart Explorer to apply changes." -ForegroundColor Green
Write-Host "Run: taskkill /f /im explorer.exe && start explorer.exe"

Fix 2: Remove Overlays You Do Not Need

If you do not need visual sync status for every service, disable the handlers for services where you do not need them:

Disable Google Drive Overlays (Keep Dropbox + OneDrive)

  1. Open ShellExView as Administrator.
  2. Filter by Company: “Google”.
  3. Select all Google Drive overlay handlers.
  4. Press F7 to disable.
  5. Restart Explorer.

Disable Overlays for Development Tools

If you have TortoiseSVN, TortoiseGit, or other version control tools, they register up to 9 overlay handlers each. Unless you actively use the icon status, disable them:

Fix 3: Use Alternative Sync Status Indicators

If you cannot resolve the overlay conflict to your satisfaction, consider alternative ways to check sync status:

For Google Drive

For Dropbox

For OneDrive

Special Case: TortoiseSVN and TortoiseGit Consuming All Slots

TortoiseSVN alone registers 9 overlay handlers:

TortoiseGit registers a similar set. Together, they can consume 18 overlay slots — more than the entire system limit.

Solution for Developers

If you need both cloud sync overlays AND version control overlays:

  1. Reduce TortoiseSVN/Git to 3 overlays: In TortoiseSVN settings, disable all status types except “Modified,” “Conflicted,” and “Normal.”

  2. Use VS Code or IDE integration instead: Modern editors show file status via colors in the sidebar, making overlay icons redundant for development workflows.

  3. Consider switching to command-line Git: git status is faster and more reliable than icon overlays for large repositories.

Why Microsoft Has Not Raised the Limit

The 15-overlay limit has been a known complaint since Windows Vista. Microsoft’s position is:

  1. Performance: Each overlay handler runs for every visible file/folder. More handlers mean more overhead.
  2. Visual clarity: With too many overlays, the icons become unreadable.
  3. Deprecation path: Microsoft encourages using cloud files placeholders (Cloud Filter API) and custom columns instead of overlays.

OneDrive on Windows 11 already uses the Cloud Filter API for sync status when available, which does not count toward the 15-overlay limit. However, Dropbox and Google Drive still rely on the legacy overlay system.

Summary

Cloud sync icon conflicts are caused by Windows’ 15-icon-overlay handler limit. Multiple cloud services compete for limited overlay slots based on alphabetical registry key ordering.

To fix:

  1. Audit your current overlays with Registry Editor or PowerShell
  2. Reorder key names by adding/removing leading spaces to prioritize your preferred service
  3. Remove overlays from services or tools you do not need (especially TortoiseSVN/Git)
  4. Use alternative indicators like status columns for services that lose their overlays

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