How to Delete Locked Files and Folders in Windows 11 – Guide
When you try to delete a file or folder that is being used by another application, program or process in Windows 10 or Windows 11, you may be prompted and prompted to close the process and try again. You will be prompted or cancel the order. If you are using Windows 10, you may see a prompt saying “The operation could not be completed because the folder or file contained in it is open in another program”. If you are using Windows 11, the prompt can also tell the program which file/folder it is using, as in the image below. This article discusses the different methods to force-delete a file or folder that appears to be stubborn. Before we analyze the solutions, we should highlight the common reasons why a file or folder does not delete it easily. ..
How to Delete locked files and folders in Windows 11
By taking ownership of the file/folder
The takeown command is a useful command that has been present since Windows 7. It allows you to take ownership of a file or folder so that you can successfully delete it later.
Next, we need to determine the reason the file refuses to be deleted. To do this, we can use the File Properties dialog box. In the File Properties dialog box, we can find the following fields: File name: This field is used to identify the file that refuses to be deleted. It should be a unique name that cannot be confused with any other files in your computer. Path: This field is used to identify the location where the file resides on your computer. It should be a full path, not just a filename.
Search the web for: “The New York Times”
To open the command prompt as administrator, type “cmd” and press Enter. ..
C:\Windows\System32>dir /a The directory contains: C:\Windows\System32> ..
If you want to delete a folder but it is not being deleted by right clicking and deleting, follow these steps:
- Right-click on the folder and select “Delete.”
- The “Delete Folder” dialog will appear.
- In the “Path” field, enter the full path of the folder you want to delete.
Right-click the folder that is not being deleted and click the Copy as Path option. ..
Take ownership of folders and files:
- Open a command prompt and type “take ownership” (without the quotes).
- The command will take ownership of all folders and files in your current directory.
- To take ownership of a specific folder or file, type “takeOwnership” (without the quotes) for that folder or “takeOwnership -a” for every file in that directory.
Takeown -R “C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer” “C:\Users<username>.minecraft”
Copy the folder “C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming” to the C:\Users\username\Desktop folder.
If you still can’t delete the file/folder, it might be because it’s being used by another program or person. Try closing all other programs and restarting your computer. If that doesn’t work, try contacting the program or person that is using the file/folder. ..
Takeover: The Geek Pagewhatsapp Icon.png
Takeover: The Geek Page
Through the Process Explorer
If you are trying to delete a file or folder and Process Explorer shows that another process is holding a handle to the file or folder, then you must delete all of the process’s identifiers before trying to delete the file or folder again. Process Explorer can help you identify which process is preventing the deletion operation. ..
Once you’ve downloaded Process Explorer, we need to open it up. To do this, we first need to open the Start menu and type “Process Explorer.” This will take you to the Process Explorer window. Now, we need to click on the “Open” button in the top left corner of the Process Explorer window. This will open up a new window that looks like this: Now, we can start looking at all of the processes that are running on our computer. We can see all of the processes that are running on our computer by clicking on the “Processes” tab in the top left corner of the Process Explorer window. We can also see all of the processes that are running on our computer by clicking on the “Details” tab in the top right corner of the Process Explorer window. We can also see all of the processes that are running on our computer by clicking on one of these buttons:
- The “Name” button will show us all of the process names that are being run on our computer.
- The “Start Time” button will show us how long each process has been running for so far.
- The “End Time” button will show us how long each process is going to be until it finishes.
- The “Computer Name” button will show us which computers are being used by each process.
Extract the zip file you downloaded. Enter inside the folder and double click on the executable file procexp64. ..
When prompted to agree to the license terms, click the Agree button button.
When the Process Explorer window opens, click the File tab and then click Show details for all processes.
Next, click the Find tab and then click Find Identifier or DLL.
To delete a file or folder, in the process explorer search bar, type the name of the file or folder and hit the search button. ..
To close an entry in the Favorites list, right-click it and choose Close Handle. ..
When prompted for confirmation, click the Yes button button.
When booting in safe mode
To restart your computer, first click on the Windows icon on the taskbar. Then click on the Power icon. Now hold down the SHIFT key and click on the Restart option. ..
Your system will now shut down and restart. During the reboot process, you will be taken to the following blue screen.
If you are having problems with your computer, please click on the Troubleshooting option.
In the Startup Settings window, click on the Advanced Options button. In the Advanced Options window, click on the Startup Type option. In the Advanced Options window, click on the Startup Type option. In the Startup Type window, click on the Custom button.
The restart button will restart your computer.
To boot your computer into safe mode, press number four on your keyboard. ..
Final note
If you’re looking to delete locked files and folders in Windows 11, this guide can help. ..
