What Does the Red X Mean?

We have all seen that little red X at some point or another in our computer journey. The X shows up when you open a web page or an e-mail and there should be a picture or a graphic of some sort. Interestingly enough, that little red X can be caused by any one of about 15 different reasons.

Below you will find the most common reasons for the infamous red X. Sometimes you can make a few changes on your end to eliminate the red X, while other times this is completely out of your control as a user. Here are a few simple steps that in many cases will eliminate the red X and allow you to view pictures.

Reasons You Can’t Control and Possible Solutions

1. The image on the web page you are viewing has changed or the picture has been removed.
2. The website you are trying to view is either offline, busy or has a technical issue.

The best thing you can do in these situations is try a few times to open the link or contact the website and inform them of the issue if possible.

Reasons You Can Control and Possible Solutions

1. Your e-mail browser is unable to display the type of image being displayed. To attempt to open the image hold your mouse over the X and right click. Select show picture if this option is available.
2. The “show picture” setting has been turned off or your Internet security settings are set too high. Open Internet Explorer and click tools, internet options and advanced tab. Check “show pictures” under the multimedia tab and click ok. To change your settings, open internet explorer and click tools, internet options. Click security, click default level and then ok.
3. Your hard drive may be getting full. You will need to delete your temporary Internet files to prevent seeing the red x in the future. To do this with Internet Explorer 6 and older versions open Internet Explorer, click tools, internet options and select the general tab. Click delete files under the files listed in temporary Internet files. Select the delete all offline content and then ok. Internet Explorer 7 users will open internet explorer and click on tools, delete browsing history, delete files and click ok.

If none of these solutions work the cause may be something a bit more complex. You can do an Internet search for more troubleshooting options, contact the website or your operating system support for further assistance.