Fix ‘Cannot Delete Folder/File’, ‘File In Use’ or ‘Access Is Denied’ Errors in Windows Using Unlocker | How To
Have you ever come across errors such as ‘Access denied‘ or ‘Source file is being used by another person or program‘ while deleting any file or folder?
These types of errors generally occur while the system is using that program or even if you do not have admin privileges, this means that the admin hasn’t allowed you to edit or delete files. But some times they occur even if you are an admin.
To solve this problem, you can follow these steps from Microsoft (HERE) which will basically reset the file/folder settings but even better method is to use this very useful app named Unlocker. This software enables you to see which software or program is in used or locked and then lets you unlock it as well.
Once you have installed the application onto your system, right click on file/folder giving the error and click on Unlocker; as seen in the snap-shot below:
A new window will open, showing you all the processes that are being taking place. You can opt whether to unlock the process, by clicking the ‘Unlock‘ button or kill the process by ‘Kill Process‘ button.
This program comes with other useful flavors:
- Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in us.
- Cannot delete file: Access is denied.
- The file is in use by another program or user.
- There has been a sharing violation.
Although this tool is extremely useful for this task, but if used incorrectly can prove fatal for your system; Windows itself uses a lot of files, and interrupting a Windows process by deleting one can cause major problems. Unlocker should only be used when you have a file like a document, or a music file, etc that you would “typically” be able to delete..
There really are ENDLESS possible reasons for the locked file. So be cautious – it’s locked for a reason. If followed correctly, you will be free from these error in no time. Let us know from your feedback.
Download Unlocker [Source]
