Some files or folders are irritating in the sense that they refuse to leave the system when we intend to do so. Windows also couples with them and doesn’t allow us to delete them. The particular error which Windows gives it this one:
There are several reasons behind this the most common of which is that the file is being used by another process. The easiest way to delete this type file or folder is to terminate the process using that particular file or folder and then delete your desired file. Sometimes you will not be able to figure out the process that is using your desired file. In that case, you can use many programs that will either unlock your file automatically or delete the file on reboot (when it is not being used by any process). I mostly use hijackthis to delete a particular file. Hijackthis deletes a file on reboot. But there’s another great program that will serve your purpose perfectly and it does it without the hustles of rebooting.
You can download Unlocker utility from here.
You can find the comparison of other softwares which serve the same purpose here.
For more information about why the
“cannot delete file or folder” behavior occurs,
you can see this Microsoft article.
Using Unlocker to Delete a File
Right click on any file and then click Unlocker on the menu. If the file is being used by any program you will see this. Do as illustrated
After pressing unlock all the file will be deleted or you will be asked if you do want to delete this file on next system reboot. Click Yes
Comments
4 responses to “Cannot Delete File or Folder”
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