How To Fix ‘Cannot Delete Folder/File’, ‘Access Is Denied’ or ‘File In Use’ errors in Windows Using Unlocker

Posted by Nakodari on Sat, Sep 20, 2008

Did u ever try to delete a file or a folder and got ‘Access Is Denied’ error? Or while copying a file it gives ‘The Source File May Be In Use’ error. These types of errors can occur due to many different reasons, maybe the file is being used by the operating system or some other program, or maybe you do not have administrator privileges.

If you get an “Access is Denied” error while accessing a folder then it means the administrator has not allowed you permission to access it. If you are not an Administrator then you will probably never be able to fix this error. But if you are an Administrator and receiving this problem then there is a software called Unlocker that is going to come in handy.

Unlocker is a small, free, and powerful software that lets you see which process is holding the lock on the file/folder and then helps you unlock it. After Installing this software you can simply right click the file/folder that is giving “Access is Denied” or “FIle May Be In Use” errors and then click on Unlocker.

A new window will now pop-up showing the processes as shown below. Now you can either unlock all of the processes or kill the process.

On the left of the ‘Kill Process’ button there is a dropdown menu where you can select Copy, Move, Rename, or Delete functions for a locked file.

This program is useful for the following types of errors,

Cannot delete file: Access is denied
There has been a sharing violation.
The source or destination file may be in use.
The file is in use by another program or user.
Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use.

Using Microsoft Support

There is also an alternative way using Microsoft support help for such errors, following MS steps will basically reset the file/folder settings.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/810881

I frequently use the Unlocker software for quick solution, and I have personally never tried using the Microsoft support method. I hope you will also get rid if these errors using the above procedure, looking forward to hear feedbacks from you. :)

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12 Responses to “How To Fix ‘Cannot Delete Folder/File’, ‘Access Is Denied’ or ‘File In Use’ errors in Windows Using Unlocker”

Geoserv Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 2:04 am

STUMBLED!

First time I have heard of this tool.

Thanks.

Bill Vincent Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 4:35 am

I’ve been using Unlocker for a couple years now, and I recommend it for anyone with the brains to use it. If you’re one of those folks that say “Oh, I don’t know much about computers” then you could cause some damage (or at least more troubles) with this, shutting down explorer.exe, for example. :)

Nakodari Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 4:38 am

@ Bill Vincent

I totally agree with you. Thanks for adding this precaution so others can know. :)

@Geoserv

Thanks for stumbling, I appreciate your support. :)

Cide Says:
September 24th, 2008 at 9:32 pm

sad.. sad.. If you’ve waited this long to find out how to unlock your processes (and haven’t Googled it before) you don’t deserve to use the program..

Rambo Says:
September 25th, 2008 at 8:28 am

Unlocker is in fact, the only tool I’ve found that can successfully perform this task (every time).
But as BV says, it can be dangerous if used incorrectly.

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.

For newbies - say you are watching a video file, don’t like it & try to delete it. The video player may have that file locked for its use, preventing its deletion. You can clear this most times by playing another file, therefore releasing the first one so you can delete it. Maybe, though, you have to close the player program, to release the file before deleting it.
If you click on a video file, to open the video player you use, then that first file may be locked until you close the program, no matter how many other videos you play.
If it still won’t delete, then some other background process may have it locked (say, a screen-capture utility you clicked to get an image of the video) - this is where Unlocker comes in handy.
There really are ENDLESS possible reasons for the locked file.
So be cautious - it’s locked for a reason…

In the example given by the author, the screen image shows EXPLORER.EXE as the process, with a LOCKED file or folder in My Documents… it’s safe to assume he’s trying to delete a document or folder there - maybe Word still has the document open while trying to delete it… doesn’t work. But if you Unlock it, you can delete it, and Word will get confused. So again, be cautious.

thenetguruz Says:
September 25th, 2008 at 1:03 pm

Used this app, it works good but sometimes if file is not getting deleted, it should be left as it is and you could delete it after next restart of your computer.

Nakodari Says:
September 25th, 2008 at 5:49 pm

@Rambo

Thanks for giving a caution to the users, I should have posted this warning in my post.

Nomadss1 Says:
September 29th, 2008 at 4:25 am

Unlocker doesn’t delete file names longer than 255 characters on windows XP.This I know for fact the only way I have found to remove veryfrakkenlongFilenames is to copy everything I want to keep from file then delete the whole file.I know sometimes that sucks but I wish I had a better way.

..alee Says:
October 3rd, 2008 at 6:58 am

Have been using unlocker for ages and no doubt, it’s one of my MUST have app for windows .. TFS!

ttt Says:
October 19th, 2008 at 8:11 am

Thank man!

http://www.library-book.co.cc << Free Download IT Programmer Java Linux ASP Flash PHP and much more Books

webtips Says:
October 28th, 2008 at 5:10 pm

thanks… good one..

harvey lerman Says:
October 31st, 2008 at 8:58 pm

Sounds good! So where can I get “Unlocker” for XP?

Geoserv Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 2:04 am
STUMBLED!

First time I have heard of this tool.

Thanks.

Bill Vincent Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 4:35 am
I’ve been using Unlocker for a couple years now, and I recommend it for anyone with the brains to use it. If you’re one of those folks that say “Oh, I don’t know much about computers” then you could cause some damage (or at least more troubles) with this, shutting down explorer.exe, for example. :)

Nakodari Says:
September 22nd, 2008 at 4:38 am
@ Bill Vincent

I totally agree with you. Thanks for adding this precaution so others can know. :)

@Geoserv

Thanks for stumbling, I appreciate your support. :)

Cide Says:
September 24th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
sad.. sad.. If you’ve waited this long to find out how to unlock your processes (and haven’t Googled it before) you don’t deserve to use the program..

Rambo Says:
September 25th, 2008 at 8:28 am
Unlocker is in fact, the only tool I’ve found that can successfully perform this task (every time).
But as BV says, it can be dangerous if used incorrectly.

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.

For newbies - say you are watching a video file, don’t like it & try to delete it. The video player may have that file locked for its use, preventing its deletion. You can clear this most times by playing another file, therefore releasing the first one so you can delete it. Maybe, though, you have to close the player program, to release the file before deleting it.
If you click on a video file, to open the video player you use, then that first file may be locked until you close the program, no matter how many other videos you play.
If it still won’t delete, then some other background process may have it locked (say, a screen-capture utility you clicked to get an image of the video) - this is where Unlocker comes in handy.
There really are ENDLESS possible reasons for the locked file.
So be cautious - it’s locked for a reason…

In the example given by the author, the screen image shows EXPLORER.EXE as the process, with a LOCKED file or folder in My Documents… it’s safe to assume he’s trying to delete a document or folder there - maybe Word still has the document open while trying to delete it… doesn’t work. But if you Unlock it, you can delete it, and Word will get confused. So again, be cautious.

thenetguruz Says:
September 25th, 2008 at 1:03 pm
Used this app, it works good but sometimes if file is not getting deleted, it should be left as it is and you could delete it after next restart of your computer.

Nakodari Says:
September 25th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
@Rambo

Thanks for giving a caution to the users, I should have posted this warning in my post.

Nomadss1 Says:
September 29th, 2008 at 4:25 am
Unlocker doesn’t delete file names longer than 255 characters on windows XP.This I know for fact the only way I have found to remove veryfrakkenlongFilenames is to copy everything I want to keep from file then delete the whole file.I know sometimes that sucks but I wish I had a better way.

..alee Says:
October 3rd, 2008 at 6:58 am
Have been using unlocker for ages and no doubt, it’s one of my MUST have app for windows .. TFS!

ttt Says:
October 19th, 2008 at 8:11 am
Thank man!

http://www.library-book.co.cc << Free Download IT Programmer Java Linux ASP Flash PHP and much more Books

webtips Says:
October 28th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
thanks… good one..

harvey lerman Says:
October 31st, 2008 at 8:58 pm
Sounds good! So where can I get “Unlocker” for XP?

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