How to Delete Locked Files and Folders in Windows 11 – Guide
When you try to delete a file or folder that is being used by another application, program or process in Windows 11 or Windows 10, you are likely to be prompted and prompted to close the process and try again You will be prompted or cancel the order. If you are using Windows 10, you may see a prompt saying “The operation could not be completed because the folder or file contained in it is open in another program”. If you are using Windows 11, the prompt can also tell the program which file/folder it is using, as in the image below. This article discusses the different methods to force-delete a file or folder that appears to be stubborn. Before we analyze the solutions, we should highlight the common reasons why a file or folder does not delete it easily.
How to Delete locked files and folders in Windows 11
By taking ownership of the file/folder
A very useful command that has been present since Windows 7 is the takeown command, with which you can take ownership of a file or folder to successfully delete it later. That’s it. You now successfully take ownership of the folder and all of its subfolders and subfiles. You can try deleting the file/folder again. If it’s still not working, go to the next step. Ex: takeown /F “E:The Geek PagewhatsappIcon.png” Ex: takeown /F “E:The Geek Page” /R /DY
Through the Process Explorer
Sometimes the reason you can’t delete a file or folder is that some other processes are holding handles to the file or folder in question. In that case, you must delete all these identifiers and try the delete operation again. Process Explorer helps you identify which process is preventing the delete operation you are trying to perform.
When booting in safe mode
Final note
I hope you like the guide How to Delete Locked Files and Folders in Windows 11. In case if you have any query regards this article you may ask us. Also, please share your love by sharing this article with your friends.
