The folder is not deleted, it says that it is in use. Through file managers

Hi all. I propose to talk today about files that are not deleted from the computer. After all, there are always a lot of files on your computer, you download them from the Internet, dump them from a flash drive, and create them yourself. Each user periodically deletes unnecessary files. Some people do this just to free up disk space, others for security purposes, and others just to keep their computer in order. But it happens that the selected file is not deleted. The system writes that there is no access to it or that it is occupied by another process or is being used by another program. Also, sometimes a file is not deleted from the computer due to the fact that you do not have sufficient rights to do this.

Is it possible to delete such files from the computer?

If you are wondering how to delete a file that won't be deleted, then you probably have good reasons to destroy it. But you need to be careful and pay attention to what these files are and in which folders they are located. Often, novice users want to free up more space on their hard drive, so they go into the system files and try to remove what is being used by the operating system. Even such files can be deleted, but this will lead to errors in the computer or make it impossible to boot. But in fact it will free up a very small amount of space.

Before deleting a file, you should analyze what it does and how it ended up on your computer. If you downloaded the program, installed it, but now want to delete the downloaded files, then you will not always be able to do this. They can still be used by the system until the next reboot. You can safely delete everything that you personally downloaded from the Internet. But sometimes such files may not be deleted. Let's figure it out.

The easiest way is to reboot

If the file is not removed from your computer and you see a message that it is being used by a process or program, then you need to restart your device. The main point here is that it is actually being used by a program or process, you don't see it, but the computer is using the file in its operation. For example, you opened a photo in a photo editor and made some changes, then saved the new one and closed the program. But when trying to delete the old file, problems arise. This is because you closed the program, but the process froze and did not close, the photo is attached to this process and you do not have the opportunity to delete it. In other words, the system has failed.

As a rule, restarting the computer closes all processes and programs, frees the RAM from unnecessary information, and you can calmly, in the standard way, delete the file from the computer. Therefore, it makes sense to begin removal using the simplest method, only after that proceed to further attempts.

Terminate the process manually

It is not always possible to restart the computer, because the programs you need may be open at the moment and you do not want to start your work from the very beginning. In this case, you can try to terminate the open process that is using the file for deletion yourself. The deletion error message usually indicates which program or process is using the file. Therefore, you need to go to the task manager, find this file and complete it.

Press the key combination Ctrl + Alt + Del and select " Task Manager».

Launch Task Manager

After that, you need to go to the “ Processes", find the process that was displayed in the error message. If such a process exists, then you right-click on it and select “ End the process" or " Cancel task" After the process is stopped, you can make another attempt to delete the file; if everything was done correctly, the file should be deleted from the computer without the need to reboot.

Select “End process” or “End task” (depending on your OS)

The file is not deleted due to insufficient access rights

Another common mistake when deleting is that you do not have access rights to perform this operation. This happens quite often, so you may encounter this problem. If a file cannot be deleted from your computer due to lack of access, then you need to analyze what kind of file it is. We decided that you shouldn’t delete everything on your computer; if you didn’t create or download this file, then you don’t always need to delete it.

The thing is that the developers of the operating system foresaw that inexperienced users will try to delete something that should not be deleted, as the computer will stop working. That is why some system files are in a special legal field; only the system can gain unlimited access to them, only it can change and delete them. Therefore, you can delete such a file only by loading via LiveCD or having received system rights. You can do it, but is it worth it?

In order to perform further actions with such a file, you need to know what you are trying to delete. If you have a certain system file name in front of you, then you can find information about it on the Internet without any problems and will immediately understand whether you can delete it or whether it is better to leave everything as is. Very often, viruses are hidden under such system files, so they must be removed using an antivirus program.

Deleting files via booting from LiveCD

Sometimes reboots and termination of various processes do not give you any positive result; files are still not deleted from the computer. In this case, there is a win-win option, but it is accessible to more experienced users. But even a beginner, with a strong desire, can figure out this method and implement it on his own. Its main essence is to boot under another, independent operating system, enter the file system and delete all unnecessary files.

In most cases, it is your operating system that does not allow you to delete this or that file that, in its opinion, it really needs. This is necessary to protect system information. It is the OS that does not give you access rights; it is the OS that uses files in various processes and programs. The file itself is simple information on the disk, so deleting it without an OS is quite easy. But initially you need to make a bootable disk or flash drive with a LiveCD.

There is a lot of information on the Internet regarding this and the drive, so you won't have any problems. Once you boot from such a system, you can do whatever you want with your files on the disk. But remember that now there is no room for error; if you delete something that was not worth it, the computer will not be able to boot normally or will work with errors.

How to delete a file with Unlocker

If the file is not deleted from the computer and you see various errors in front of you, then it can help in solving this problem Unlocker program. This is a completely free program that you can easily download from the official website. The program is lightweight and installs in a few seconds. Immediately after installation, a new item appears in the context menu that appears when you right-click on a file.

When you right-click on a file, a new item appears

By clicking on this item, you will see a program window asking you to select what needs to be done with this file. In the drop-down list, you need to select the delete command and then say goodbye to the file. The program bypasses most of the obstacles in deleting a file and completes the task without any problems. But again you need to be careful in what you do. You must understand that this way you can delete system files without problems and obstacles, which is not a good idea.

Also pay attention to the fact that very often such programs spread viruses, which will worsen the performance of your computer. If you download the Unlocker program, do it only on the official website or from trusted sources. Be responsible about what you download onto your computer, and especially what programs you install. Sometimes after installation you don’t get exactly the new functions you expected, and you have to take your computer in for repairs.

Good afternoon, dear readers! In the process of working at a computer, many of us, I think, have to face such a situation when folder is not deleted or any specific file. Moreover, in some cases, in response to a request to delete a folder or file, the operating system notifies us that the file being deleted is currently being used by one or another program, so the operation of deleting this file is impossible.

What to do if a folder or file is not deleted? We will find out how we can delete a non-deletable file in today’s article.

So, the file that you want to delete from your computer is not deleted in any way, and instead of the usual appearance of a dialog box about deleting the file, the system displays an error. Errors can be very different, for example, this file is blocked or occupied by another application, or the disk is write-protected, full, etc. It is clear that if the open file is in an active state, for example a Microsoft Word document, in this case you must first close this document and then proceed to delete this file.

But what if a folder or the same file is not deleted even after all applications are closed, which may prevent it from being deleted? That's when you start to wonder why I can't delete the file? Moreover, in some cases it happens that it is not possible to delete a file as a result of the fact that the user himself blocked the file due to his incorrect actions.

Eventually, over time, a number of such files accumulate on your computer and take up free space on your hard drive. In this case, the free space limit decreases, the operating system begins to slow down, and this in turn leads to various types of errors, as a result, your computer may one day display the message: “The operating system cannot start due to a missing or corrupted file " Well, then everything goes according to the scenario, I think you can guess - this is reinstalling the system, installing programs, losing important information, searching and restoring.

In general, it’s an extra headache, but do you need it? I think that, of course not. Therefore, my advice to you, friends, is to take care of your computer and avoid clutter on your hard drive. Save a lot of time, money, nerves and increase the life of your computer. By the way, I almost forgot to tell you that if your computer is currently slowing down, and unexpected failures are occurring in your work, then I recommend that you read the article.

The folder is not deleted

So, I suggest you consider a step-by-step algorithm of actions if a folder or file on your computer is not deleted. Let's say I can't delete a file from my computer, a notification appears saying that this file is being used by some application. The first thing I have to check is whether the file is actually being used by any program?

How to check this, you probably ask! It’s very simple, we just need to open the task manager and look in the processes tab for the presence of the file to be deleted.

You can find out more about the task manager in the article “”, I explained in sufficient detail what and why everything is there, so I recommend that you read the article to refresh your knowledge.

Well, if the file is present in the processes tab, then you should first close it and later you can delete it. If the file cannot be closed, that is, the open file is frozen and does not respond to user commands, which is a very common situation. In this case, it is recommended to simply end the process of such a file by clicking “End Process”.

It should be added that it is not always possible to delete a file by completing the process, since the folder itself can store encrypted documents according to the initially set parameters. In this case, you will need to uncheck the “encrypt data” option. It is extremely rare to encounter situations where a folder is not deleted for the simple reason that its name matches the system folder.

In general, of course, if you still cannot delete a folder, then I recommend that you scan your computer for viruses, because viruses can cause the folder being deleted to be blocked. Here is an example of an article on how to scan your computer for viruses.

Because it may be that your account simply does not allow you to delete or edit data on your computer. In this case, you should either log in under an administrator account and then delete the file or folder, or simply expand the rights of your account. If such concepts as “Account” and “Administrator” are a dense forest for you, then in this case be sure to read my article “” for a complete understanding of the account.

In the “Security” tab, click “Advanced” and in the window that opens, in the “Current permissions” tab, make sure there are no checkboxes in the Read and Execute items.

Here are some tips that you can do to delete a folder or file without installing special programs. But of course, there are situations when the methods discussed above do not allow you to simply delete a folder or file.

There are various programs and utilities that allow you to delete locked folders and files; in addition, thanks to such programs you can easily move and rename files that should be deleted. One of these free utilities is called Unlocker.

Let's look at how to work with it. First you need to download this utility by clicking on the following link http://unlocker-ru.com/unlocker.html In the page that opens, select your version of the operating system and click on download from the official website.

After the utility is successfully downloaded to your computer, proceed with its installation. During the installation process of the utility, you will need to read the license agreement. I also recommend that you select the “Advanced” installation section by unchecking all the boxes.

At the next installation step, the utility will by default indicate the installation path to the program folder; you just need to click “Next”.

To complete the installation, check the “Embed into Explorer” and “Check for updates” checkboxes.

That's all the utility is installed. Let's imagine that there is no way on our computer folder is not deleted. Open the folder path and right-click on the non-deletable folder.

In the context menu that appears, click “Unlocker”. Select “Delete” and click “OK”.

The entire object was successfully deleted. If the process is active during the deletion process, a corresponding window will open in which you will first need to unlock the file and then proceed to delete it.

It should be noted that this utility is an excellent solution in the fight against folders or files that cannot be deleted.

Concluding today’s article, I believe that now if in your daily work at the computer a folder or file is not deleted for some reason, then this utility will do an excellent job of the task. That's all for me! See you all in the next article, where we will find out =>

You decide to delete files or folders on your Windows computer. When trying to delete, the system reported an error: “This item could not be found.”

Sometimes the folder name is something like "New Folder". If you look at the end of the title, you will notice a space. If you have Windows 8, 8.1 or even 10, try to create a folder that ends with a space and you will see it automatically disappear.

This is problem!

In previous versions of Microsoft's Windows, such as XP or Vista, the system allowed users to create a file or folder with a trailing space.

For example, you have a “New Folder” (look at the end of the name!) and you decide to delete it in Explorer. Windows will try to erase the folder (without the space), which will result in a "This item could not be found" error.

Deleting unremovable files or folders: the easiest way

So, let's see how to clean your computer of unnecessary and problematic junk:

Click on the "Windows" button and select "Command Prompt" (open it with administrator rights).
Then find the file folder you want to delete.
Now type "cd", copy the location of the folder or file, and paste it into the command prompt window as follows (just change the username): "cd C:\UsersYourUserNameDesktop". Then press enter.
After this you will see that you are inside the folder because the path has changed. Now type “dir/x” and then press “Enter”.
After this, you will see a list of files in the folder. Find the data you can't delete. In our case it is AFTERE~1.
Now, once you find the file, see if it has a specific name like ABCD~1 rather than the actual one.
Enter the following line, just change the file name, “rmdir/q/s” and then write the name of your file. It should be similar to the one above. Press "Enter".
Finally, you have successfully deleted the folder. Go ahead and check it out.

So, you have decided to remove the hated folder from the system, but the latter, as luck would have it, reports that it cannot do this. There are several reasons for this.

The main one is the involvement of folder data in some running process.

It will not be possible to delete the “screenshots” folder due to the fact that one or more of its files are currently used in the Windows system.

You probably don’t know which one, so the only correct solution is to reboot the device.

Important! We recommend rebooting using the Start button. As a result, you will save important documents that were in progress. If you choose to force a restart using the “Reset” option, you will lose all data.

System check

In case you do not want to restart, we recommend that you check whether the running program is present in the folder.

For example, you need to get rid of Skype. However, you did this not using the control panel, but by deleting the folder with all the contents of the program.

Let's look at this option.

Step 1. First of all, you need to open the folder. Go to this address: “Drive C/Program Files/Skype”. As a result, the following picture will open.

Step 2. When you click “Delete” the system will report the following.

Because the program is open and running, you will not uninstall it. The system blocked this opportunity. In addition, it is present in the “Task Manager”, more precisely in the processes tab.

Step 3. First, close the program and cancel the task. As a result, the message should not appear again.

To do this, log out of Skype, and then open the task manager using the keyboard shortcut “Ctrl+Alt+Delete”. Find the program and select the "End process" option.

A window will appear asking you to confirm the action (it is not available in the latest version of the system). Click on completion again. We hope this option helps you, and if not, then try running a virus scanner.

Note! The advice we offer will be useful in all analog cases.

Viruses

It also happens that it is not possible to delete a folder because the computer has come under the influence of a malware, Trojan, or dangerous code.

It is worth noting that it is not only the Internet that is to blame for this. The virus also infects the device through a flash drive.

What to do with a non-deletable folder on an external drive? As you might have guessed, using the full power of an antivirus scanner.

Launch the program and select the option to check the flash drive. Then try to delete the folder. If unsuccessful, proceed to format the device.

Important! You should know that formatting will permanently erase all data from the flash drive.

This process is simple and involves the following steps:

Step 1. Open the menu by right-clicking on the drive and find the format option.

Open the menu by right-clicking on the drive and find the option “Format…”

Step 2. Then the settings will open:

storage capacity;
file system type;
drive name;
formatting method;
start of the process.

Pay attention to the file system type. By default, FAT 32 is defined. It can be read by any device, and not only those running Windows.

Come up with a name of your own. This will not change the parameters.

To make the formatting process more efficient, use deep cleaning. Then click "Start" and wait.

It seems that you have easily overcome the problem and will no longer have to deal with unwanted files or folders that cannot be deleted.

Video - How to delete a folder if it cannot be deleted

Apparently, almost every personal computer user has encountered a situation where some folder cannot be deleted either from Explorer, or from another file manager, or from the command line. Not everyone knows the secret of this behavior of the system, so it is proposed to understand this issue thoroughly. Almost all the proposed methods work, as they say, one hundred percent. But first, a few words about the very reasons for this phenomenon.

Why is the folder not deleted on Windows?

So, what could be the reason that it is not possible to delete some object in the system? Actually, there aren’t that many options here.

Among all the possible root causes, the most common are the following:

the folder refers to the currently active program;
access to the catalog is limited;
the directory has been exposed to viruses.

How to delete a folder that cannot be deleted: the simplest standard solution

Most users, when trying to get rid of such a problem, usually do exactly the right thing by ending all active applications and rebooting the system.

Indeed, it is quite possible that the file/folder is not deleted only because some program was previously launched. However, it is also worth paying attention to the fact that some applications may run in the background and are therefore not visible to the user. In addition, the problem that, for example, in Windows 10 a folder is not deleted, may be directly or indirectly related to active system processes. Here you need to understand that even after a restart it will be impossible to delete system directories (Windows simply won’t allow you to do this), but some programs after a reboot can terminate their processes, unless they are launched along with the system.

You can check the autostart components through the configurator (msconfig), and in the tenth version of the system through the standard “Task Manager”. If the component located in the non-deletable directory is there, you just need to disable it and restart it again.

Issues related to termination of related processes

But suppose that there is no startup process that could be located in the directory that should be deleted. In Windows, how do you delete a folder that won't be deleted in this situation?

For example, let's take the popular Skype application. Even when you close it, it still hangs in the system tray in the area of hidden icons and notifications. When you exit a program, it is not completely deactivated, but its process remains active whether you like it or not. In this case, you need to call the “Task Manager” and forcefully terminate the active program process. The system will prompt you for confirmation, which you must agree to, and after deactivating the background process, the program directory can be deleted without any problems.

What to do with access rights?

Now let's look at another situation, which can only be related to the fact that the user registered in the system does not have the necessary set of rights to carry out such actions (sometimes he may even be an administrator).

How to delete a folder that won't delete? As is already clear, you need to obtain these rights. The administrator can present them, but if you are your own administrator, you should use the RMB menu on the selected directory and go to its properties.

On the security tab, you need to go to advanced options and use the change permissions button twice. In the last list, you need to add a user if there are several of them registered in the system, and then in the list of allowed actions, check the box next to the line that allows you to delete an object.

In the case of one user who is an administrator, for example, when the folder is not deleted from the “Desktop”, through the described sequence of actions you can first change the owner, and then set the necessary rights priorities for yourself. After this, removal will not be difficult.

Using additional utilities

However, even the above-described manipulations sometimes have no effect, since access can be blocked by the system at the level of the so-called super administrator, whose hidden account appeared in the seventh modification of the system.

In this situation, if the folder is not deleted, you can use a fairly effective tool for unlocking access - the Unlocker program. It embeds its own commands into context menus, and you can call the unlocking tool via RMB on the directory to be deleted. With the console running, you just need to press the Unlock button, after which you can get rid of the directory in any file manager.

Exposure to viruses

But it also happens that a folder is not deleted not at all because of restrictions imposed by the administrator or the operating system itself. Sometimes the cause of this phenomenon may be certain types of viruses, which, as is already clear, are capable of blocking access to certain objects, especially to their own directories in which they are located.

If the user is dealing with a regular program folder, it is first worth checking it with an anti-virus scanner (for a standard one, you can use the context menu), but it is better to give preference to portable utilities, since the installed anti-virus has already missed the threat.

If the folder of the virus itself is not deleted, in some cases it helps to use uninstallers like iObit Uninstaller, which do not need permission to delete when searching for remnants of, say, ad viruses. At the end of a powerful scan with a file destruction setting, all objects, including the main directory of the virus, will be deleted permanently. The main condition is to know what kind of virus or unwanted software has entered the system.

Finally, to be completely sure, you can check the system with utilities called Rescue Disk, neutralize detected threats, and then delete the desired object again. The advantage of such programs is that they are recorded on removable media and start even before the system boots (they have their own boot loaders). In addition, they are able to identify threats that are deep in RAM.

Brief summary

That's all about how to delete some objects in Windows. Which solution to apply depends solely on what was the root cause of such a phenomenon. But in general, if you take into account the simplest methods, ending active background processes or turning to the Unlocker utility will help. If there is a lack of rights, which is also quite common, it will not be difficult for the administrator to grant them to himself. In general, all the proposed solutions are quite simple and do not require special knowledge to apply them.

Hello. When working with a computer, we constantly create and delete many files and folders. But what if the folder is not deleted? In this article I will show you how to delete a folder that cannot be deleted

There are several reasons why we cannot delete a file or folder. I will list the main reasons and ways to solve them.

Folder in use

You will not be able to delete a folder if it is being used by any program. Try closing all programs. If this does not help, then restart your computer.

The folder is protected from deletion

This usually applies to system folders and files. I do not advise you to try to delete such a folder, as this may adversely affect the operation of the system or cause its complete failure.