[11.57 rc2] OneDrive overlay icons not clear in dark mode

[zhugecaomao]

In dark mode, the OneDrive status overlay icons (e.g., green check, sync arrows, cloud icons) appear visually unclear and lack sharp contrast against the file icon background.

Main issue observed:

Icon edges look slightly blurred/soft
Green check and other status indicators are not clearly distinguishable
Visual clarity is reduced, especially in high-density file views

Impact:

Harder to quickly identify sync status at a glance
Increased risk of misreading file state in daily usage

Suggestion:

Improve icon rendering sharpness in dark mode
Increase contrast and edge definition (or add subtle outline/shadow)
Ensure overlay icons remain crisp at all DPI scaling levels

Attached screenshot for reference.

Image: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zhugecaomao/host/refs/heads/main/TC.jpg

[ghisler(Author)]

Sorry, not my overlay icons, they are provided by OneDrive itself.

Moderator message from: ghisler(Author) » 2026-04-08, 07:54 UTC

Moved to will not be changed

[zhugecaomao]

Sorry, not my overlay icons, they are provided by OneDrive itself.

The overlay icon is from TOTALCMD64.exe icon number 55, 56, 58, 59, not from OneDrive itself actually

[ghisler(Author)]

The internal icons look fine here in dark mode:
internal icons

[zhugecaomao]

Hi Ghisler

I have a further finding regarding the blurry OneDrive overlay icons in Total Commander (tested on 11.57 RC3).

After investigating the internal resources of TOTALCMD64.EXE, specifically Icon Group no. 58 (the green circle with checkmark), I noticed that it contains 6 different icon assets with the following specifications:

48x48 (8-bit)
32x32 (8-bit)
32x32 (4-bit)
24x24 (8-bit)
16x16 (8-bit)
16x16 (4-bit)

The root cause of the blurriness:
When the TC file list is set to the default 16x16 icon size, TC appears to be calling/rendering the 16x16 (4-bit/16-color) version instead of the 16x16 (8-bit/256-color) one.

Because the 4-bit icon lacks a proper alpha channel or sufficient color depth for modern UI rendering (especially in Dark Mode), it results in a pixelated, "dirty," or blurry appearance.

Potential Solution/Suggestion:
- Would it be possible to force TC to prioritize the 8-bit (or higher) resources when multiple bit depths are available for the same resolution?
- Or add a perimeter such as IconsHighResolution=1 to control it?
- Or, as a temporary workaround for users, removing the 4-bit legacy icons from the internal resources might force the high-quality assets to load.
- Last one, I know there is a setting IconLib=%COMMANDER_PATH%\MyOwnLib.icl can load all default icons for the file lists from the given icl

I hope this helps in optimizing the icon rendering for future builds.

[ghisler(Author)]

When the TC file list is set to the default 16x16 icon size, TC appears to be calling/rendering the 16x16 (4-bit/16-color) version instead of the 16x16 (8-bit/256-color) one.

I cannot reproduce that.
When using the icons from the exe, Total Commander calls LoadImage, which loads the most fitting image for the resolution. I tried also with my own function, and it returns the 8-bit icon. Both look the same on screen.

Which Windows version do you use? Maybe LoadImage works differently on your Windows version? Or maybe it depends on the scaling factor (DPI) and bits per pixel of your main display?

[zhugecaomao]

Thank you for your reply. I have conducted further experiments and created a comparison screenshot to clarify why the icons appear blurry in my environment

Btw my Windows version is Win11 25H2
Total Commander 11.57 rc4
Scaling factor is 100%

My Experiment (The Comparison):

Original (Left): TC renders the default 16x16 icon. You can see the pixelated edges.

Modified (Right): I used iclview to extract icons from TOTALCMD64.EXE to a .icl file, and replace icon group 58 and 59 with icons from %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\OneDrive\ onedrive_version \FileSyncShell64.dll, then use IconLib to link this .icl file. The difference is immediate: the icon is now sharp, with smooth anti-aliasing thanks to the proper color depth/alpha support.

Please see the attached comparison screenshot: Image: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/zhugecaomao/host/refs/heads/main/TC_CompareIcon.png

[ghisler(Author)]

Modified (Right): I used iclview to extract icons from TOTALCMD64.EXE to a .icl file, and replace icon group 58 and 59 with icons from %LocalAppData%\Microsoft\OneDrive\ onedrive_version \FileSyncShell64.dll, then use IconLib to link this .icl file. The difference is immediate: the icon is now sharp, with smooth anti-aliasing thanks to the proper color depth/alpha support.

Unfortunately I can't do that, for Copyright reasons, sorry.

[zhugecaomao]

Unfortunately I can't do that, for Copyright reasons, sorry.

Yes, of course we can not do that, I just want to show the icon difference especially pixelated edges.

My suggestion is actually about optimizing the internal icons already included in Total Commander.
We can improve your own icon to be more clear, sharp, with smooth anti-aliasing such as add 32-bit color depth icon

[ghisler(Author)]

Did you find out why the icon from FileSyncShell64.dll is more clean? Is there no 4 bit version (which I need for backwards compatibility)? If this is the case, have you tried extracting the icon from Total Commander and just removing the 4 bit version?

[zhugecaomao]

Thanks for your reply. To clarify, I am not suggesting the removal of the 4-bit icons (as they are useful for backwards compatibility), but rather the addition of 32-bit icons (with Alpha channel) for modern systems, and LoadImage will do the rest.

Anyway, since it seems I am the only one sensitive to this specific rendering detail, please feel free to leave it as it is.

I will use my own workaround: creating a custom high-resolution icon library (.icl file) containing both low & high-bit-depth assets (4-bit, 8-bit, and 32-bit with Alpha channel) and linking it via the IconLib= parameter in wincmd.ini.

For anyone else who might find the icons "blurry" in Dark Mode, this is a effective way to achieve sharp, smooth edges with proper anti-aliasing.

[ghisler(Author)]

I have now added a true color 16x16 pixel overlay icon with alpha channel, where I changed the edge pixels from brighter green to the same green as the circle, but with 50% transparency. I think it looks a bit better.

[zhugecaomao]

I have now added a true color 16x16 pixel overlay icon with alpha channel, where I changed the edge pixels from brighter green to the same green as the circle, but with 50% transparency. I think it looks a bit better.

Thanks a lot. I will update to new version

[ghisler(Author)]

Please let me know what you think! For the 16x16 icon it was just a few pixels, but for the larger ones it would be 100s I would have to change manually, or find a way to redraw the circles with transparency somehow...

[zhugecaomao]

I think it is good enough for now. 16x16 icons are sufficient improvement for daily work efficiency. Considering the TOTALCMD.exe file size and the development time involved, it’s probably not worth spending more effort/time on further high-res icon modifications, thanks