How to force delete a folder in windows

Step 1. Step 2. Step 3. Now go check for the folder in your computer and you will find no trace of it anymore indicating that it has been removed from your system directory permanently. But if you wish to try out something else, then you can check out the next methods mentioned ahead.

Cutting it shorter and easier terms, the only explanation is that your files or folders might have been created in the past when you had a different operating system. Thus the files are compatible with that previous version of OS but not with the current one.

So you have to first earn the ownership with the currently running OS and only then can you be able to delete the peculiar files. The steps to change the ownership is detailed below, continue your reading:. Choose the file or folder that you wish to delete and right click on it. Step 4. When the Advanced Security Window turns up, you will detect the owner of the file. Step 5. NOTE: TrustedInstaller is an in-built Windows account which is responsible for removal and modification of updates and other various essential components.

So if you find the owner name of the file to TrustedInstaller , you better not change it or delete it, because that turns your file system unstable even more. So change the name from TrustedInstaller to something else if you perfectly know what you are exactly doing. Step 6. Next, click on the address bar and copy the path. In the command prompt window, execute the below command while replacing X with the actual drive letter.

For example, my file is stored in the E: drive. So, I entered E in the below command. Once you are in the target drive, execute the below command while replacing the dummy path with the actual path you copied earlier. This will take you to the folder where the file is located. Now, execute the below command while replacing fileName. So, I entered the file name along with its. That is it. To recover mistakenly deleted files or lost data from Windows 10 computer or other storage devices, MiniTool offers the professional free data recovery software.

Sometimes you may face this problem: you can't delete a file or folder in Windows 10 no matter how many times you conduct the delete operation. How to delete files that cannot be deleted? How to force delete a file in Windows 10 computer? When you are not using this tile, then it will be unlocked. If you insist to delete the file or want to force to delete it, you may try these three methods in this post to unlock and delete the file. Free Download.

Normally you can take the basic steps below at first. Can't delete file? You can try to use Command Prompt to delete files or folders that cannot be deleted in Windows Step 1. Step 2. And do remember to include the file extension in the command.

To check the path of the file, you can right-click the file and click Properties.