4 Methods: How to Delete Files That Cannot Be Deleted in Windows 10/8/7?

Sometimes, you might be unable to delete a file in your computer. Check this post, it would provide 4 methods about how to delete files that cannot be deleted in Windows 10/8/7.

By Dylan / Last Updated August 27, 2020

Scenario

“There is a file on my desktop which cannot be deleted. It says the action can’t be completed because the folder or a file in it is open in another program. And I do definitely not open it. And my desktop is running with Windows 10. What should I do to delete files that cannot be deleted?”

Why can’t delete files?

Sometimes, you may find that you can’t delete a file or a folder on your computer. No matter how many times you try, you still can’t delete the file, and it would come along with some information like “The action can’t be completed because the folder or a file is open in another program”.

The reason why the file can’t be deleted might be that a program may be currently occupying it. If so, the windows will lock the file, so you can’t delete, modify, or move it. In this case, you can press “Ctrl + Alt + Delete” and click the “Task Manager” option. End unnecessary programs, and then try to delete the file.

Besides, you can restart your computer and run anti-virus software to check if you can delete the files. If these files are still there and cannot be deleted, you can refer to the next content to find a solution.

4 Methods: delete files that cannot be deleted in Windows 10/8/7

There are 4 methods of force deleting a file provided in the following content; you can try them to solve your problem.

Method 1. Delete files with Command Prompt

You can use the built-in tool, Command Prompt to execute a deletion command to delete a file or a folder.

Step 1. Type “cmd” on the search box, and open Command Prompt.

Step 2. In the Command Prompt window, type “del [/f] [/q] [/a] + the file directory”, as the picture shows. And press Enter to execute the deletion

вњЌNote: The Del command syntax meanings:

/f = delete read-only files.

/q = turn off delete confirmation.

/a = delete archived files and folders

Method 2. Enter Safe Mode to delete files

If Command Prompt can’t delete a locked file as expected, you can enter Safe Mode to delete the file or folder.

Step 1. Click “Start” on the desktop, and go “Settings” > “Update & Security” > “Recovery” >Advanced Startup, and click the «Restart now».

Step 2. Click “Troubleshoot” >“Advanced options” >“Startup Settings” >“Restart”.

Step 3. In the Startup Settings, press “F4” or “F5” to enter Safe Mode

Step 4. The computer will be started to Safe Mode, and then, delete the file or folder in the Safe Mode.

✍Tip: If your computer is using Windows 7 system, just restart your PC, and tap “F8” to enter “Advanced Boot Options” and choose “Safe Mode”.

Then restart your PC, it will exit the Safe Mode.

Method 3. Repair disk errors

Another cause of failing to delete files is errors on the disk. You can close all opened files, and check if there is an error on your disk, and fix it.

Step 1. Open “This PC” on the desktop or start menu.

Step 2. Right-click the disk on which the files you want to delete stored.

Step 3. Click “Properties” in the drop-down menu.

Step 4. Under the “Tool” tab, click “Check”. And it will check if there is error on the disk.

If there is an error, this program will fix the error automatically.

Method 4. Free Software to delete files that cannot be deleted

If the 3 methods above still can’t delete the files you want to delete, you can try professional third-party wiping software to delete files that cannot be deleted- AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard . It can force delete a hard disk or a partition by writing zeros in a few simple steps.

вњЌNote: Using writing zeros to force delete the files would wipe the whole partition preventing most of recovery tools from lifting information from it. So before wiping the files, please back up the other useful files.

Step 1. Install and open AOMEI Partition Assistant, right-click the partition where the undeletable files stored, and select “Wipe Partition”

Step 2. You can choose the “Fill sectors with Zero” wiping method to force delete files. And click “OK”.

вњЌNote: You can also upgrade to Professional Edition to choose the other 3 wiping methods, which can delete files more thoroughly.

Step 3. Then go back to the main interface, click “Apply” to commit the operation.

After that, the files that cannot be deleted will be wiped. And it is worth mentioning that this method should not be applied to deleting files from SSD, because it entirely differs from HDD. If you are using SSD, you might need to use another feature called “ SSD Secure Erase ” provided by AOMEI Partition Professional Edition.

After the partition is deleted, you will see it become unallocated. You can also use the Professional Edition to add the unallocated space to C partition or create a new partition.

Conclusion

That is all about how to delete files that cannot be deleted. These 4 methods can be applied Windows 10/8/7, and other most of Windows OS. Hope you can solve your problem with them.

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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