On Windows of any version (XP, 7, 8, 10), a problem often arises when a file or folder with a locked file is not deleted. A message pops up that the file is occupied by another process or is open in some program, or you need to ask permission from someone.

There are several ways to delete a file that is not deleted, renamed, or moved. This is done without additional software, by using free program Unlocker, from a bootable USB flash drive or LiveCD, or the DeadLock program.

When deleting locked files and folders, be careful, this may be part of operating system. Without them, Windows will stop loading.

Why isn't it deleted?

• The file is open in another program. Complete everything unnecessary processes and try again. Sometimes restarting the computer helps.
• Insufficient permissions to delete. For example, this file was created by another user or the computer administrator removed the deletion rights.

Exceptions

The methods described in the article will not always help:

• pagefile.sys and swapfile.sys - to remove, disable the swap file.
• hiberfil.sys - deleted when hibernation mode is disabled.
• If an access denied message appears. You need to become the owner of the file or folder. The easiest way to do this is with the TakeOwnershipPro program.
• If a message appears asking permission from TrustedInstaller. This is anti-deletion protection system components.
• Windows.old - folder with old version operating system. It is deleted through the “Properties” of the local drive C. On the General tab there is a “Cleanup” button. A window will open in which select “Clear system files" After the analysis is completed, the “Previous” item will appear in the list in this window. Windows installations" Check this box and click OK.

Deleting the file manually

Message: The file is already in use, please close and try again.

If a file doesn't want to be deleted, the error message usually tells you which process has locked it. This could be explorer.exe or any program that has it open. If you close this program, the file will be deleted.

If the file is occupied by the explorer.exe process

• Before completing the task, open Command Prompt as an administrator. It is located in “Start - All Programs - Accessories”. Right-click on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator.
• Remove the explorer.exe task in the task manager and write del full_path/name.extension in the command line.
• The path does not have to be entered manually. Click right click mouse on the required file with Shift held down - Copy as path and paste it into the command line via context menu right mouse button.
• Now restart explorer.exe. In the task manager, click "File - New task- explorer.exe."

Use a bootable USB flash drive or disk

If you have a bootable USB flash drive or LiveCD, or Windows recovery, run them and quietly delete the file standard method or via the command line.


Be careful sometimes when logging in via boot disk local disks have different letters. To see a list of folders on drive C, type dir c: on the command line.

If you use bootable USB flash drive or Windows installation disk, the console opens at any time after the language selection stage, using the combination Shift keys+F10.

You can also select the system recovery mode, which will be offered before starting the OS installation.

Command for deleting via the console: del full_path_to_the_file.

Using DeadLock

The free DeadLock program allows you to delete a locked file and change the owner. Download from the official website: https://codedead.com/?page_id=822.

Using the File menu, add the problematic file to the program. Right-click on it in the list - unlock it (Unlock) and delete it (Remove).

Using Unlocker

The simplest and popular program, but now even the official website displays a warning about unwanted software. Along with the program there may be some other virus or advertising, so use at your own peril and risk. Try the methods above first. Website: http://www.emptyloop.com/unlocker/.

After installation, it will appear in the context menu new item, which is called Unlocker. After clicking the button, the program will complete the interfering process and the file will be unlocked.

If you want to delete a folder, first delete all its contents.

Via command line

There was such a case that the file did not want to be deleted in any way. The size was 0 bytes, the name was written in Russian letters (not supported in older MS-DOS versions), there was a Read-only attribute and an A attribute (reading only and adding content). The command line helped.

That's all for now. If you know simpler and effective ways, write them in the comments. Which method helped you?

It's no secret that in systems Windows programs can use some files at the same time. As a rule, this concerns system components, and when opening some application to which such a file is associated, or when trying to uninstall Windows informs the user that a system or user file is occupied by another program. What to do? It doesn’t matter whether it’s a game, a torrent application, or even a regular office editor. This does not change the essence of the problem. But let's see what can be done in such a situation.

The file is occupied by another program: what does this mean?

Actually, the essence of the issue is that a certain component in this moment uses not one, but two or more applications. In particular, this applies not only to running user programs, but also system services running in the background.

As a rule, the problem of a file being occupied by another program when trying to access it mostly concerns device drivers, but there are exceptions. In the simplest case, an example would be that a user simultaneously opens a document, say, first in Word and then in WordPad, and tries to save changes in one of these applications. Naturally, the system begins to, as they say, spit. The same applies, for example, to cases of using a webcam, when priority is assigned Skype program, and the user tries to launch another application, which in theory should also use it. And these are not isolated cases.

Quite often other situations occur when the file is occupied by another program. What to do? The torrent file cannot be deleted! Why? Yes, simply because it is in the active download stage in the application itself (BitTorrent, uTorrent, etc.). You can get out of this situation quite simply by completing the download or distribution in the program or simply deleting the download from the list. But this is the simplest thing that can be. Usually the situation is much more complicated.

The file is occupied by another program: what to do in the simplest case

As a rule, most ordinary users do not particularly want to delve into the essence of what is happening. The system reports that the file is in use by another program. Almost all users of this contingent know what to do.

What exactly? Right! They simply reboot the computer. By the way, this primitive method helps in absolutely all cases, however, this only applies to completion active processes related to the system itself. If the work was carried out with documents in which changes were made, there is no need to talk about any preservation. And many simply do not take this into account, and then begin to bite their elbows.

Force termination of a blocking process

The best option to get out of this situation would be to check the blocking process. How to find out which process is using a file? Yes, very simple! To do this, you should use the well-known “Task Manager”, which can be called by the combination Ctrl + Del + Alt (Ctrl + Esc + Alt) or the taskmgr command from the “Run” menu (Win + R). If the user even approximately understands which application can access the file at the moment, you just need to find it in the list of active processes or services and apply force termination process with the corresponding button or through the right-click context menu.

But this method is only suitable for those cases when it is possible to guess which process can access the the specified file. But if you don’t have even an approximate idea, it’s better to use Process utility Explorer, which can be downloaded from official resource Microsoft.

Problems deleting files

Quite often situations may arise when the system, when trying to delete it, reports that the file is occupied by another program. We’ll look at what to do a little later, but for now a few words about which components may be impossible to remove.

Most often this concerns system components that are vital for Windows operation or partially related to these processes (although there are other situations). In this case, no administrator rights help, no matter how hard you try (the system itself blocks actions that could harm it). However, even in such a situation there is a way out. There are at least two options.

Using the Unlocker utility

So, the system reports that the file is occupied by another program. What to do in this case? You can use the unique Unlocker utility. In some Windows builds it is already there from the very beginning. If it is not there, the application will have to be downloaded and installed.

After this, the program integrates its own command lines in the right click menu. Now you need to call up this menu and use the Unlocker command, select the process in the application window, and then click the “Kill process” button at the bottom. Once completed, you can perform any operations on the file.

Changing access rights

Now let's look at another situation with attempts to delete some data. In this case, the system also reports that the file is occupied by another program. What to do in such a situation? To delete so-called non-deletable files and folders, you just need to grant yourself the necessary rights.

This can be done in the context menu of right-clicking on an object in the properties section. Here you will need to go to the security tab, click the “Advanced” button and change the current owner, then return to the previous window and use the “Change” button, and then in the menu check the boxes opposite all the lines in the list.

Once all these operations are completed, the file can be deleted without problems.

Other situations and solutions

It also happens that games don’t want to work. Again, the system reports that a file is occupied by another program. What to do? SpinTires (a truck racing simulator) also gives an error that the files are different from the original.

In this case, this can only mean that the game was downloaded from an unreliable source, and therefore both launch and access to online playthrough are blocked. The solution may be to re-download official version or installing special “fixes” to eliminate problems with operation.

Conclusion

As we can see, the situation is not critical. If for some reason the system reports that the file is occupied by another program, what to do and what decision to make to fix the problem can be understood from everything proposed. Actually, any method the user chooses can solve this situation. What to prefer? Many people advise using Unlocker, since this is the simplest solution, because constantly terminating some blocking process can become quite problematic. In some cases, you can use optimizers with fine tuning startup, but if you exclude some important ones from it system processes, there is no guarantee that Windows will work correctly or boot upon restart. And this is even if most of these applications are not believed to cause harm to the system. In general, in any case, caution does not hurt, so be vigilant.

this often happens when certain files are not deleted. And the system writes that this file or the folder is occupied by another process. This can happen both in Windows XP and in Windows 7, 8, 10. Today we will look at methods for eliminating this problem when files are not deleted.

So, imagine, you installed some program on your computer, used it, and you didn’t like it. What are your actions? Of course, delete it. After uninstallation, the program was allegedly removed, but the folder with some program files remained. When you try to delete such a file, an error appears:

Let's look at ways in which you can delete files that cannot be deleted using standard means.

1st method. Simplest
If the file is not deleted, restart your computer and try deleting again. In many cases this helps. If the problem persists, then read below.

2nd method. Task Manager
In the Windows 7 and XP operating systems, to get to the Task Manager, you need to press the combination Ctrl keys+ Alt + Del.
In Windows 8 and 10, just press the combination Windows keys+ X and select Task Manager from the menu that appears.

The Task Manager we called will open, where you need to find the process that is using the file and remove the task from it. Then try deleting the file again.

3rd method. Usage boot disk or flash drives
The next method is to start the computer from a LiveCD or bootable USB flash drive and then delete the file or folder. In the first case, we need to use the standard GUI Windows to find and delete the required file, or use the command line. If you are using a bootable USB flash drive with Windows 7, 8 or 10, then during installation you can open the command line by pressing Shift + F10. There is also “System Restore”, thanks to which you can return the computer to its previous state. By the way, the drive letters may be different, so use the dir c: command to display the contents of that drive. Thanks to this, you can easily understand what kind of local disk it is.

4th method. Deleting files in safe mode
It's very simple here. You need to go to safe mode, find the required file or folder and delete it. In safe mode, only operating system programs are launched, while all your installed third party utilities(messengers, drivers, antiviruses, etc.) do not start. Therefore, the probability of successful removal required file very high.

5th method. Usage special program Unlocker
This program, called Unlocker, helps delete files that are used by some process. Very useful utility, coping with her tasks with a bang. You can download it at https://yadi.sk/d/PkczjpOKjbeje

When the program downloads, install it.

Next, select Advanced and uncheck all the boxes,

The essence of the Unlocker program is downloading from random access memory processes that are used by the file. The program can find and terminate a process that is even hidden in the Task Manager. All in all great utility, which every system administrator should have.

Hi all! Today I will tell you Howdelete a file or folder that cannot be deleted in different ways, in case you have already tried everything you could, but it still didn’t help. This article I decided to write because I myself once encountered similar problem that my themes that were in the folder did not want to be deleted or moved. Why, they couldn’t even be opened or renamed.

Often when PC users try to delete such files, can go out similar messages: The file cannot be deleted, access is blocked, the disk may be full or write-protected, the file is in use by another application, this process busy, folder is not empty. These errors appear on many various reasons, in which you first need to understand and understand what the problem might be before trying to do anything. So, there are not many reasons for this, here are some of them:

— You are trying to delete a file that is used by other programs. For example, if you were watching a movie or listening to music, but before you had time to close the player, you are already trying to delete the file being played, then no matter how hard you try, you will not be able to do this until you close all the corresponding applications that use this file in the PC ( Personal Computer). It also sometimes happens that this file or folder is used by other applications, but you do not see them, although they are displayed in the task manager, which will be discussed below.

— You are trying to delete a file that is used by other users. For example, you downloaded it through a torrent tracker and then wanted to delete it, but for some reason it just doesn’t want to be deleted. The thing is that on the Internet you have this game another user is downloading, and until you turn off the Internet or exit the torrent program, the file will not be deleted.

-You don't have enough rights to do this. What does this even mean? Am I the owner of my computer or who? The fact is that you probably, like me once, could have placed your files or folders in folders of the Windows operating system, to which access is denied for your own safety. This limitation was created to prevent you from ruining your computer by deleting some important file from the Windows operating system.

— Files or folders that you wanted to delete were quarantined by your antivirus program. In other words, your antivirus program didn’t like something about them, so it blocked them so that they could not harm your PC in any way.

Ok, we figured out the reasons. Now all that’s left for you to delete your non-deletable file is to simply try all the methods that I described for you below.

How to delete a file or folder that cannot be deleted via a computer?

Method 1. Just restart your computer, in most cases this will be enough.

Method 2. Turn on task manager. Press Ctrl + Alt + Delete if you have Windows 7 or XP and Windows + X if you have Windows 8. A window will appear in front of you, go to “processes”.

All programs that are currently running on your computer will be displayed here. Try to find exactly the one that might use your file. If it doesn’t work, then just select any one at random and click “end process” each time trying to delete the file again.

Method 3. Turn off your computer and turn it on again. During the boot process, press the F8 key many times. A black screen will appear in front of you, where there will be several options to boot your PC. Select "safe mode". As soon as the computer boots, try to delete the file or at least move it to another location.

Method 4. If the file is simply not deleted, but can be transferred, then you can proceed as follows. Just drag your file onto an empty flash drive and format it. Be careful, after this process everything will be deleted from it!

Method 5. Open your computer and find your non-deletable file on the desktop. At the top of the window, click “service”, then “folder options”, go to the “view” tab and uncheck the box if it is next to “use simple” general access to files" and save the changes. Try deleting your file or folder.

Method 6. Change administrator rights. Click on our file right mouse, select “property”, then in the window that opens “security” and click “advanced”.

Another window will appear, click on “owner”. Here simply select another administrator and click “apply”. For me personally this operation helped remove restrictions from my WordPress templates, which I wrote about.

Method 7. Disable all processes associated with this file. This procedure is very similar to the task manager, but it has a more powerful effect. Click "Start" on your desktop, then "Run." In the window that appears, enter msconfig and press OK.

Another window will appear in front of you. Here go to the “startup” tab and in the list of running processes try to find the name of your non-deletable file and uncheck it, and click ok.

How to delete files and folders that cannot be deleted using special programs?

Method 8. To solve this problem, a very cool and at the same time simple program“UnLocker”, which is capable of deleting non-deletable files in 90% of cases. You can download the program from the official website. During the installation process, be careful and uncheck the box where you are offered to install another application in addition to the program. If you don’t do this, then at the end of the installation your antivirus program will swear for a long time.

It's no secret that in Windows systems programs can use some files at the same time. As a rule, this concerns system components, and when opening an application to which such a file is associated, or when trying to uninstall it, Windows informs the user that the system or user file is occupied by another program. What to do? It doesn’t matter whether it’s a game, a torrent application, or even a regular office editor. This does not change the essence of the problem. But let's see what can be done in such a situation.

The file is occupied by another program: what does this mean?

Actually, the essence of the issue is that a certain component is currently using not one, but two or more applications. In particular, this applies not only to running user programs, but also to system services running in

As a rule, the problem of a file being occupied by another program when trying to access it mostly concerns device drivers, but there are exceptions. In the simplest case, an example would be that a user simultaneously opens a document, say, first in Word and then in WordPad, and tries to save changes in one of these applications. Naturally, the system begins to, as they say, spit. The same applies, for example, to cases of using a webcam, when Skype is assigned priority, and the user is trying to launch another application, which in theory should also use it. And these are not isolated cases.

Quite often other situations occur when the file is occupied by another program. What to do? The torrent file cannot be deleted! Why? Yes, simply because it is in the active download stage in the application itself (BitTorrent, uTorrent, etc.). You can get out of this situation quite simply by completing the download or distribution in the program or simply from the list. But this is the simplest thing that can be. Usually the situation is much more complicated.

The file is occupied by another program: what to do in the simplest case

As a rule, most ordinary users do not particularly want to delve into the essence of what is happening. The system reports what almost all users of this contingent know.

What exactly? Right! They simply reboot the computer. By the way, this primitive method helps in absolutely all cases, however, this only applies to the completion of active processes associated with the system itself. If the work was carried out with documents in which changes were made, there is no need to talk about any preservation. And many people simply don’t take this into account, and then start

Force termination of a blocking process

The best option to get out of this situation would be to check the blocking process. How to find out which process is using a file? Yes, very simple! To do this, you should use the well-known “Task Manager”, which can be called by the combination Ctrl + Del + Alt (Ctrl + Esc + Alt) or the taskmgr command from the “Run” menu (Win + R). If the user even approximately understands which application can access the file at the moment, you just need to find it in the list of active processes or services and force the process to end using the appropriate button or through the right-click context menu.

But this method is only suitable for those cases where it is possible to guess which process can access the specified file. But if you don’t have even an approximate idea, it’s better to use a utility that can be downloaded from the official Microsoft resource.

Problems deleting files

Quite often situations may arise when the system, when trying to delete it, reports that the file is occupied by another program. We’ll look at what to do a little later, but for now a few words about which components may be impossible to remove.

Most often this concerns system components that are vital for the operation of Windows or are partially related to these processes (although there are other situations). In this case, no administrator rights help, no matter how hard you try (the system itself blocks actions that could harm it). However, even in such a situation there is a way out. There are at least two options.

Using the Unlocker utility

So, the system reports that the file is occupied by another program. What to do in this case? You can use the unique Unlocker utility. Some builds of Windows already have it. If it is not there, the application will have to be downloaded and installed.

The program then integrates its own command lines into the right-click menu. Now you need to call up this menu and use the Unlocker command, select the process in the application window, and then click the “Kill process” button at the bottom. Once completed, you can perform any operations on the file.

Changing access rights

Now let's look at another situation with attempts to delete some data. In this case, the system also reports that the file is occupied by another program. What to do in such a situation? To delete so-called non-deletable files and folders, you just need to grant yourself the necessary rights.

This can be done by right-clicking on the object in the properties section. Here you will need to go to the security tab, click the “Advanced” button and change the current owner, then return to the previous window and use the “Change” button, and then in the menu check the boxes opposite all the lines in the list.

Once all these operations are completed, the file can be deleted without problems.

Other situations and solutions

It also happens that games don’t want to work. Again, the system reports that a file is occupied by another program. What to do? SpinTires (a truck racing simulator) also gives an error that the files are different from the original.

In this case, this can only mean that the game was downloaded from an unreliable source, and therefore both launch and access to online playthrough are blocked. The solution may be to re-download the official version or install special “fixes” to fix problems with operation.

Conclusion

As we can see, the situation is not critical. If for some reason the system reports that the file is occupied by another program, what to do and what decision to make to fix the problem can be understood from everything proposed. Actually, any method the user chooses can solve this situation. What to prefer? Many people advise using Unlocker, since this is the simplest solution, because constantly terminating some blocking process can become quite problematic. In some cases, you can use optimizers to fine-tune startup, but if you exclude some important system processes from it, there is no guarantee that Windows will work correctly or will boot when you restart. And this is even if most of these applications are not believed to cause harm to the system. In general, in any case, caution does not hurt, so be vigilant.