strange "icon" files

[hehe299792458]

I have noticed that there are very some strange files sprinkled across my system. There does not seem to be any pattern as to where they are. Some are in my dropbox folder. Others on my desktop. I have never seen them before.

Their name is always: "Icon". Size is always zero bytes. I tried opening it with BBedit and there is truly nothing in them.

What are they? What program made them?

If you zoom the strange character in the name really large, you see this:

 

[benwiggy]

Icon^M is a file existing in all directories that have a custom icon in Finder. If you change a directory's icon e.g. in its Get Info dialog by pasting an image into the icon in the upper left corner, the Icon^M file is created.

Normally, it is hidden. Not sure why yours isn't.

If you don't have custom icons, then I would delete them. Also, repair your disk (NB: disk not permissions).

 

[hehe299792458]

Icon^M is a file existing in all directories that have a custom icon in Finder. If you change a directory's icon e.g. in its Get Info dialog by pasting an image into the icon in the upper left corner, the Icon^M file is created.

Normally, it is hidden. Not sure why yours isn't.

If you don't have custom icons, then I would delete them. Also, repair your disk (NB: disk not permissions).

What is "Icon^M"?

 

[benwiggy]

The filename contains a carriage return character, which is not a valid display symbol. The glyph you're seeing is one usually research for private Unicode character areas.