How to Delete Undeletable Files

How do I force a file and folder? If you have the same question, read on and get 5 solutions to delete undeletable files on Windows computer.

Amy Dennis

Dec 21, 2020 • Filed to: Recover & Repair Files • Proven solutions

Cannot delete a file in Windows 10

It is said that the administrator has access to all the operations of the computer. However, there are certain things in which even an administrator faces a problem and hence it can be very frustrating. For example, a file or folder cannot be deleted, like the case. How to delete undeletable files? In this post, we will cover the reasons for and 5 ways of force deleting file and folder in Windows.

Messages Telling Why You Cannot Delete File

Undeletable files are generally spyware, malware, adware, or Trojan files. They are also normal files that are currently being used by the system and hence prevent them from being deleted. How do you know if the files are undeletable? The following messages are the signs of the undeletable, and also show the reasons.

1. Cannot delete file: Access is denied.
2. The file or folder is open in another program or user.
3. The source or destination of the file may be in use.
4. There has been a sharing violation.
5. Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is currently not in use.

Once you get these messages, files can’t be deleted by simply pressing the Delete button, no matter how many times you try. That’s why you have to force delete the files and folders. How do I force delete a file and folder? 5 Ways are introduced in the following sections.

Solution 1. Close the folder or file and try again

If you get the message showing that «The action can’t be completed because a folder or a file in it is open in another program», you can delete the file or folder after following the below steps.

To close a file, folder, or an app, there are 2 ways that can help you do that easily.

Step 1 You can directly click the «x» logo on the upper right.

Step 2 Right-click the app in the taskbar and choose «Close window».

Step 3 Finally, try deleting the files or folders once again.

Sometimes, you may be unable to close the files, folders, or apps. The Task Manager can help you do that.

1. Press «Ctrl + Alt + Delete» simultaneously and choose «Task Manager» to open it.
2. Find the application where your data is in use. Select it and click «End task».
3. Try to delete the undeletable information once again.

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Solution 2. Reboot the Computer

In many cases, restarting the computer is conducive to fixing many computer errors and abnormal performance, including deleting undeletable files and folders. Sometimes, the file is in the unknown progress after you open some certain applications. By rebooting the computer, you can end the tasks, close the apps, and thus remove files successfully.

To restart a computer, go to the Start menu, click the Power button, and choose «Restart».

You can also resort to the Settings to do the same.

1. Go to the «Settings» window by clicking the gear icon in the Start menu.
2. Go to «Update & Security» > «Recovery» > «Advanced startup» > «Restart now».

After restarting the computer, you can try deleting files or folders or move on to get another solution for removing data in Windows.

Solution 3. Use Command Prompt

This allows you to delete the undeletable files without using any third-party apps. However, you need to have a bit of technical knowledge to use this method.

Step 1 Click on the «Start» button and then type «Command Prompt» or «CMD» in the search box and press the ‘Enter’ key.

Step 2 A search result appears. Right-click the «Command Prompt» icon from the search results and click on «Run as administrator» from the list that appears.

Step 3 This will launch the administrator level command prompt window which allows you to execute commands without any restriction.

The syntax of the command for deleting a file looks like below:

Location:

• DEL: stands for the delete option
• /F: stands for the force delete option
• /Q: stands for quite a mode option.
• /A: stands for various file attributes such as read-only, hidden, ready for archiving, etc.
• /C: stands for your main drive. In most of the cases, it is the «C:» drive

Step 4 For example you need to delete a file named «virus.exe» present in the desktop. Enter the command as shown and press the «Enter» key to force delete the file from the system.

Solution 4. Use FileASSASIN

FileASSASIN is a free program that is used to delete undeletable files from your system. You can download it by searching it from your browser or by clicking on the link: http://fileassassin.en.softonic.com/

Step 1 Once you have downloaded FileASSASIN, open the program by double-clicking on its icon. The main interface of the program looks like as shown below:

Step 2 Now click on the browse icon (rectangular shaped icon with three dots adjacent to blank space) to select the files you want to delete.

Step 3 Browse for the file you want to delete and then double click on it to select it. Once you have select the file to be deleted, click on the box adjacent to the «Delete file» option to select it. A blue tick indicates that the option has been selected.

Step 4 Finally click on the «Execute» option to delete the file. Your file will now be deleted.

Solution 5. Replace the Undeletable File

One of the simplest ways of deleting an undeletable file can be done by simply replacing it with another file of the same name and extension. This can be done very easily as shown below. Suppose file named «Softwares» is my undeletable file.

Step 1 Open a new notepad file on your system and simply type anything random in it. Now, click on the «File» option and then click on «Save as».

Step 2 Now, select the save location of the notepad as same as where the undeletable files are present. After doing so, choose the file type as «All files» under the «Save as type» option.

Step 3 Now, click on the undeletable file once so that the name of the undeletable file will be copied in the «Filename» option. Add the quotation mark at the start and end of the file name as shown below and then click on the ‘Save’ option.

Step 4 Now, a message will pop up asking «Do you want to overwrite and replace the existing file?». Click on «Yes» and the undeletable file will be automatically replaced by the new notepad file. Now, you can delete the notepad file by simply selecting it and pressing the «Delete» button.

Closing Words

So far, you might have to get rid of undeletable files and folders successfully by means of the above 5 solutions. Before leaving the page, we have a few tips and tricks for you.

1. It is generally advised to have an antivirus program in your system, which is up to date to prevent your system from malware, spyware, and virus which create unnecessary undeletable files.

2. It is generally better to take the advice of an expert before performing unknown system operations.

3. If you lost data on your computer, unfortunately, don’t worry! You still have the chance to get lost data back. To recover files from the computer, Recoverit Data Recovery is a nice option for all of you. It is able to recover deleted files in different formats and types.

Video Tutorial on How to Recover Deleted Files on Windows 10/8/7 Easily?

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3 Genius Ways to Delete a File in Use in Windows

Amy Dennis

Dec 21, 2020 • Filed to: Recover & Repair Files • Proven solutions

When working on Microsoft Windows, how many times have you seen a message telling that the particular file you are attempting to delete is already in use and that the program using the file must be stopped before Windows allows you to remove the file from the PC?

Annoying!! Isn’t it?

Well, not anymore.

Here are the three genius ways that you can use to force delete a file that is in use and Windows doesn’t allow you to remove it normally.

Force Deleting a File in Use in Windows

This method works most of the time. All you need to do is to force terminate the program that is using the file. Assuming that you already know which program is using the file that you want to remove, this is how you delete the file:

Note:В Windows 7 is used here as a reference PC.

Force terminating a process shuts down the entire program and you may lose any unsaved data that any other file that relies on the program may have. It is advisable to save all your work progress before proceeding.

1. On your desktop screen, right-click the taskbar.

2. From the context menu that appears, clickВ Start Task Manager.

3. In the Task Manager box, if not already there, go to theВ ProcessesВ tab.

4. From the displayed list of running processes, right-click the one that you know is using the file that you want to delete.

5. From the context menu, clickВ End ProcessВ orВ End Process Tree. (End process treeВ is clicked here.)

6. On the confirmation box that pops up, click theВ End process treeВ button from the bottom.

7. Once the process has been forcefully terminated, you can easily remove the file as it is no longer used until the process starts running again.

Note:В In some cases, you need to be quick in deleting the file after force terminating the process. This is because some processes are stubborn and even if you terminate them forcefully, they restart automatically after a few seconds.

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From Command Prompt

This method requires you to open Command Prompt on your Windows PC. For the files used by some local processes (the processes that can be started and closed by a standard – non-administrator user account), opening Command Prompt on a standard user account would suffice. However, if the file is used by any system process, the elevated Command Prompt must be initialized. An elevated Command Prompt is the command window that has all the administrator rights and all the administrative tasks can be performed via commands in its interface.

This is what you need to do:

Note:В A Windows 7 PC is used in this example.

1. On your Windows PC, locate the folder that contains the file in use that you want to delete. (Do not enter into the folder.)

2.В Shift + right-clickВ the folder.

3. From the advanced context menu that appears, clickВ the Open command window hereВ or press theВ WВ key on the keyboard.

Note:В This method does not allow you to open an elevated command window.

Note: To start elevated Command Prompt, click the Start button, type CMD in the search box at the bottom of the Start menu, right-click CMD from the suggested programs’ list, click Run as administrator from the context menu, and on the User Account Control confirmation box, type the password for the admin account (or click Yes if Windows doesn’t ask you for the password) to provide your consent to continue. After the elevated command window opens up, you must use the DOS commands like CD and DIR to locate the directory where the file you want to delete is placed and to check the presence of the file respectively.

4. In the command window, type theВ DEL /F file nameВ command and pressВ EnterВ to force delete the file that is in use.

Note:В In the above command,В the file nameВ must be replaced by the name of the file along with its extension that you want to delete. For exampleВ del /f TestFile.txt.

WARNING!! – A file deleted using the DEL command does not move it to the Recycle Bin but deletes it permanently. Use the DEL command with caution.

5. Once the file is deleted, you can close Command Prompt by clicking theВ CloseВ button from the top-right corner of the window or by typingВ EXITВ in the command window and pressingВ Enter.

Using a Third-Party Tool – Unlocker

Even though you can use any of the two methods described above to remove a file that is in use, a third-party tool such as Unlocker makes your task extremely simple. The best part is that Unlocker is a freeware and is free to download and use. This is how Unlocker works:

Note:В A Windows 7 computer is used for reference.

1. Log on to your Windows PC.

2. Ensure that it is connected to the Internet.

3. Open any web browser of your choice and open your preferred search engine. (Google, Yahoo!, Bing, etc.)

4. Using the search engine, search for Unlocker.

5. Once found, download Unlocker’s installable file and install the program using the normal installation method, or get its portable version.

Note:В Unlocker is installed on this referenceВ PC.

6. After this, locate the file that you want to delete but is in use.

7. Right-click the file.

8. From the context menu that is displayed, clickВ Unlocker.

9. On theВ User Account ControlВ confirmation box, clickВ YesВ to provide your consent to continue launching the program.

10. On the displayed interface, from the available list of files in use, click to select the one that you want to unlock.

11. From the bottom of the interface, clickВ UnlockВ to unlock the file while leaving the corresponding application open. Alternatively, you can also click theВ Kill ProcessВ button to force terminate the running process that is responsible for engaging the file.

12. Once the file is unlocked, you can right-click the file and clickВ DeleteВ from the context menu.

13. ClickВ YesВ on theВ Delete FileВ confirmation box when/if displayed.

How to Restore a File If It Has Been Deleted Accidentally

Even if the file has been forcefully unlocked using any of the methods, it is moved to the Recycle Bin when deleted (except for when deleted using the command line). That being said, restoring the file from the Recycle Bin is simple. This is what you need to do.

1. On your Windows desktop screen, double-click the Recycle Bin’s icon.

2. Once inside theВ Recycle Bin, right-click the file that you want to restore.

3. From the context menu, clickВ Restore.

Note:В If a file has been deleted permanently (e.g. when removed with the DEL command), you need an efficient file recovery software such as RecoveritВ Data RecoveryВ to recover the file back.

Your Safe & Reliable Data Recovery Software

• Recover lost or deleted files, photos, audio, music, emails from any storage device effectively, safely and completely.
• Supports data recovery from recycle bin, hard drive, memory card, flash drive, digital camera, and camcorders.
• Supports to recover data for sudden deletion, formatting, hard drive corruption, virus attack, system crash under different situations.

Although the above-mentioned tricks work almost every time, you must take the utmost care while deleting any file that is in use. Deleting a wrong file may cause consequences like permanent or temporary system failure or data loss. To avoid this, before force deleting your files, make sure you have thoroughly verified the following:

1. The file in use does not contain any important data.
2. Force terminating the process to unlock the file doesn’t cause any permanent damage to its corresponding program.
3. You have backed up the file before deleting it.
4. You have tried (and failed) other ways to do what you want to do, and that force deleting the file is the only option left.

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