Have you ever encountered that frustrating message in Windows, telling you that a file is in use and cannot be deleted? It can be incredibly annoying when you're trying to clean up your computer or make space for new files. Fortunately, there are ways to tackle this issue and regain control over your files. In this article, we'll explore various methods to delete files that are seemingly held hostage by your Operating System.
Deleting files is a simple and easy process. We delete files for various reasons, like to free up disk space or because we don’t need that file anymore. And we also delete files by accident which is a common scenario. But sometimes, deleting files can be a daunting task if you get an error message saying - you cannot delete the file that is in use.
If you get this message, it means that the file is still open or used by another application, or maybe the file is corrupt. You can get this message not just on the files you opened recently but also on files that you never touched for ages! Windows only tell you that the file is in use but does not guide you to what is causing the problem. So what's the solution? Is there a way to delete a file in use?
Well, below are some of the methods to check what is causing the problem and how to delete the file in use:
Most of the time, the file in question is still open in another application. To resolve this:
Windows Explorer can sometimes lock a file. To resolve this:
Interesting Read: Find out how to recover deleted files from a Windows server.
If previous methods fail, boot your computer into Safe Mode:
You can use Command Prompt to delete the file:
Refer to this article to find out how to recover files deleted by chkdsk.
When all else fails, consider restarting your computer:
While deleting a file in use can be frustrating, these troubleshooting steps should help you resolve the issue. If you encounter persistent problems or accidentally delete important files, consider using specialized recovery software to retrieve them.