In order to make the best use of storage space in your computer and other media storage devices, you had better delete unnecessary files and folders to release more free space on a regular basic. Sometimes, you may meet the issue that you are unable to delete certain files or folders on Windows 10 computers. To help you find out why this problem happens and force delete the file or folder that cannot be deleted on Windows 10, you could read the tips below. In case you deleted a file/folder and then emptied the Recycle Bin by mistake, you can utilize the free program like free MiniTool Power Data Recovery to recover your documents.
Some Reasons Behind The “Can’t Delete File/Folder” Issue
• You are unable to delete the file because it is opened by certain programs, or the file is opened in Windows background process.
• Can’t delete the file because it is in use, although you do not realize that the file is used by other programs or system processes.
• “Access Denied” when you are trying to delete a document or folder from a mounted external drive.
• The problem may happen when your hard drive disk is full or write-protected.
• Your file/folder is corrupted, read-only, or infected by virus/malware.
• You are trying to delete computer system files that are not allowed to delete.
• There is something wrong with the Recycle Bin, for example, the space is full.
Try the 3 Methods to Force Delete a File or Folder
No matter what causes that you can’t delete the file or folder on Windows, you can follow the detailed tutorials to force delete the file or folder.
Method 1. How to Force Delete a File or Folder in Windows 10 with CMD?
Option A. Use “DEL” command to force delete a file in CMD
Using the “DEL” command in CMD (namely Command Prompt) is helpful for you to force delete a file or folder from Windows 10 PC, USB flash drives, external hard drives, SD cards, memory cards and etc. Below is how to do it.Step 1. On your computer, please click Start menu, type cmd, right-click Command Prompt app and choose Run as administrator to access CMD utility. Command Prompt window will open immediately.
Step 2. Go ahead, type the command line: del file path, for instance, del C:\Users\mini\Desktop\test.txt, and press Enter key to execute the command (please see the content in the image below). This operation deletes the TXT file named “test” on your desktop. In this step, you are expected to replace “file path” with the actual path of that target file.
Please pay attention: Do make sure that you contain the file extension in the command, for example, .ppt, .txt, .docx, .xls, etc. If you wish to check the full path of a particular file or folder, you can right-click that file/folder, after that, choose Properties.
Option B. Use “RMDIR /S /Q” command to force delete a folder in CMD
Click Start menu → type cmd → right-click Command Prompt app → choose Run as administrator to enter Command Prompt window. When it is done, type the rmdir /s /q folder path, for example, rmdir /s /q E:\test, then press Enter key. This operation deletes the folder named “test” in my USB drive. Here you are supposed to replace “folder path” with the actual path of the target folder.
Method 2. How to Press Shift + Delete to force delete a file or folder?
If the problem arises because there is something wrong with the computer’s Recycle Bin, you can select the target file for folder, and press Shift + Delete to delete it permanently. That keyboard shortcut will bypass the Recycle Bin.
Method 3. How to Run Windows 10 in Safe Mode to Delete the File/Folder?
Try to boot your Windows 10 computer in Safe Mode to see if you can delete that file or folder. This method is helpful if you don’t know which process is currently using the file or when you are unsure if your computer has malware or virus.
• First start Windows 10 in Safe Mode.
• Second, delete that particular file or folder.
• At last, restart your computer to go back to normal mode.
8 Other Tips for You to Fix “Can’t Delete File/Folder” Error
Using CMD is not the only way to force delete your file or folder, you could try these methods to successfully delete the file or folder on Windows 10.
01. Close all open programs that might be using that particular file or folder.
02. Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc to open Task Manager, find the suspicious programs, click them and close by clicking End task button.
03. Run a complete virus scan for the file or folder or your entire PC.
04. Right-click the file or folder and select Properties to check if it is read-only.
05. Empty the Recycle Bin to release some extra space.
06. Run CHKDSK command to check if there are any disk errors, and repair the errors if you find some.
07. Remove write protection on the your SD card, USB flash drive, external hard drive to make sure they are working normally.
08. Repair the corrupted file with third-party, professional file repair tools.
A Free Program to Recover Deleted/Lost Files
Sometimes, you permanently deleted a file or emptied the Recycle Bin but realize that you need it back a few days later. The free data recovery program is useful for you to recover your important documents.
MiniTool Power Data Recovery is a safe, reliable and free data recovery tool for Windows users. You can use this program to get back any deleted or lost files from SSD/HD, external hard drive, USB, memory card, SD card, and more.
Next time when you cannot delete a file or folder on Windows 10 computer or other storage devices, you could follow the instructions explained in this article to force delete a file/ folder with CMD, and read the above-mentioned 8 tips to fix the issue.
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