In previous releases of Windows (including Windows 8), Windows File Explorer would display a small "x" icon if the offline file attribute was set.  In Windows 8.1, Windows File Explorer no longer displays the "x" icon if the offline file attribute is set.  Is there a reason this behavior was changed?  Is there an option to get the old behavior of displaying the "x" icon?

Hello Ed Winn,

What x icon do you mean?
Please share us the screenshots to compare.

Based on my test, I cant find the x icon in the offline folder both in Windows 7 and Windows 8.1.

Best regards,
Fangzhou CHEN

The file must have the FILE_ATTRIBUTE_OFFLINE attribute set to see this. 

You can do this via the powershell command:

$a  = get-item file.txt

$a.attributes = 'Offline'

The file must have the FILE_ATTRIBUTE_OFFLINE attribute set to see this. 

You can do this via the powershell command:

$a  = get-item file.txt

$a.attributes = 'Offline'

• Proposed as answer by Bruce WoodingModerator 13 hours 31 minutes ago
• Unproposed as answer by Ed Winn 13 hours 17 minutes ago

The file must have the FILE_ATTRIBUTE_OFFLINE attribute set to see this. 

You can do this via the powershell command:

$a  = get-item file.txt

$a.attributes = 'Offline'

• Proposed as answer by Bruce WoodingModerator Friday, March 27, 2015 5:50 PM
• Unproposed as answer by Ed Winn Friday, March 27, 2015 6:04 PM

The question, "Why does Windows 8.1 not display the x icon", was not answered.  The last post was in response to Fangzhou CHEN's question about how to reproduce the display.

Maybe the answer is no one knows why this was changed.