Uploaded March 2021 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago

---

If you're having trouble deleting a locked or undeletable file or folder from your hard drive, here are some options.

Tutorial Link: majorgeeks.com/content/page/delete_locked_files.html

Some of the error messages you might encounter that we can work around include:

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