how to fix files that have become white

Question

some of my files are white, they used to be yellow and i could open them. Now they dont open

Answer 1

Hi tim burton,

Thanks for reaching out to Microsoft Q&A Forum. I understand that some of your files have turned into white icons and no longer open, whereas they previously appeared as normal folders or files and worked correctly.

Please make sure you already tried the Q&A Assist steps provided. In addition, please try the following.

To help narrow this down a bit:

1, Are these affected items stored on a local drive (such as Documents or Desktop) or inside a synced location like OneDrive?

2, When you double‑click one of the white files, do you see any error message at all, or does nothing happen?

In the meantime, you can try these steps:

1, Check whether the files are being treated as unknown file types

• Right‑click one affected file
• Select Open with, then Choose another app
• Select the correct app for that file type and enable the option to always use this app

2, Rebuild the Windows icon cache

• Restart the PC
• After sign‑in, open Task Manager
• Restart Windows Explorer from the list

3, Check file attributes

• Right‑click an affected file and select Properties
• Make sure Read‑only and Hidden are not enabled
• Click Apply if any change is made

4, Verify default apps by file type

• Open Settings
• Go to Apps, then Default apps
• Scroll down and choose default apps by file type
• Confirm the affected file extensions are mapped to the correct applications

5, Run a system file integrity check

• Open Command Prompt as administrator
• Run
  • sfc /scannow
  • DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth
• Restart the device after it finishes

6, Test opening the file directly from inside the app

• Open the app that should open the file
• Use its File, Open option to browse to the file and open it from there

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Answer 2

Hi Tim,

Which file types are affected by this issue, and what's the exact error message when you open such files?

Please right-click on an affected file and click Properties. Post a screenshot.

Also, right-click on an unaffected file, click Properties. Post a screenshot.

Answer 3

On Windows, when file icons turn plain white and no longer open as expected, it usually means either:

• The file association is broken (Windows no longer knows which app should open that file type), or
• There is a problem with the installed app (for example, Office apps from the Microsoft Store), or
• Malware has changed how certain file types open.

Try these steps in order:

1. Check if only Office files are affected (Word, Excel, PowerPoint)
   • If only Office documents show as white icons and/or give errors:
     1. Open Start → Settings → Apps.
     2. Find Microsoft Office Desktop Apps in the list.
     3. Select it → Advanced options.
     4. Click Fix, wait about a minute, then restart the PC.
     5. If icons are still white or files still do not open, repeat but choose Reset instead of Fix.
     6. If the problem persists, uninstall Office from the Microsoft Store and reinstall Office using Click‑to‑Run from the Office My Account page.
2. If opening a file starts the wrong program or shows unexpected behavior
   • This can be caused by malware that changed file associations.
   • Run a full antivirus scan (Microsoft Defender or another trusted AV).
   • Then repair file associations using the official “Fix it” tool described in the article:
     • Download and run the Fix it solution (Microsoft Fix it 50895) on the affected PC.
     • Follow the wizard steps and restart when finished.
3. If only a few Office files won’t open and show errors
   • The files themselves may be damaged.
   • In Word/Excel/PowerPoint:
     1. Open the app.
     2. Go to File → Open → Browse.
     3. Select the file once, click the arrow next to Open, then choose Open and Repair.

If none of the above applies (for example, non‑Office files are white and won’t open), repairing or reinstalling the specific app that should open that file type, plus a malware scan, is the next step.

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References:

• Office icons are blank after installing Office from the Microsoft Store
• When you open a file on a Windows based computer, the file may start a different program
• Open a document after a file corruption error