Cant Delete Files – What Causes This and How to Delete Them

When you cant delete files it could generally be down to five reasons.

1. The file is in use or locked by another process.
2. You don’t have access to delete the file.
3. The area on the disk or the file is corrupt.
4. The file is actually deleted already, but the screen is not being updated.
5. The file or folder is invisible and cannot be seen

1. The file is in use or locked by another process
This has to be the most common reason we cant delete files or folders if an application or process has a file open then it will in effect be locked even if you try to delete the folder if it has a locked file inside it will prevent this.

To delete just about any file you can either download a free application such as Process Explorer, run this and check the locked file, it will then tell you any dependencies so you can close of terminate these first.

The other way is to power on your computer, hit the F8 key and select safe mode, once logged in you should be able to delete the file.

One point worth mentioning when deleting this way, if the locked file loads on system Startup, when the file cannot be found you will get an error, this can be removed by running MSCONFIG from the Start / Run menu and then removing the entry from the Startup group.

2. You don’t have access to the file
If you don’t have Administrator rights to the computer you are using it could be you simply cant delete files as you don’t have enough access.

In this instance you need to increase your user accounts access level on your computer or get someone else to delete the file.

3. The area on the disk or the file its corrupt
Having a corrupt file or bad area on a hard drive can give some really bizarre errors when try but cant delete files or directories.

The surest way around this is to firstly run a CHKDSK over your hard drive, this can be done by going to the command prompt and typing CHKDKS /R from the C drive, this should run the next time the computer is rebooted.

The CHKDSK will attempt to repair/recover files on any bad areas of the hard drive. More on CHKDSK below.

4. The file is actually deleted already, but the screen is not updated.
Hitting the F5 key will update the screen, if the file is on a network share with a slow server or connection it might take a few seconds or longer for the computer to show that the file has actually been deleted. (When you cant delete files or folders you should get an error stating that the it cannot be found)

5. The file or folder is invisible and cannot be seen
if you cannot delete files as you cannot see them this is an easy fix, from Computer or My Computer  - Tools menu – Folder Options and then scroll down to Hidden files and folder and make sure Show hidden files and folders is selected.

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