Unfortunately it often happens to want to delete a file, then press delete and be informed, by an annoying error message " Could not delete " " The file is in use by the following program ", which Windows refuses to delete because the file is "in use ". Most of the time then Windows does not say which process or application that file is in use from. The program to be used to delete the undeletable files is Unlocker .
After installing Unlocker, the "unlocker" item will be added to the menu that appears by right-clicking on a file; clicking on it will bring up the list of applications or processes that use that file with the option to end it. With Unlocker it is possible to delete any file even those used by those processes that cannot be closed, such as "explorer.exe", because they are part of Windows itself (these files will be deleted at the Windows reboot).
Using Unlocker becomes very important to delete unwanted and unknown files that may have been created by viruses or malware.
NOTE : if there are problems to use Unlocker you need to get Debug privileges: The computer user must be an administrator and from the Start Menu -> Run, write secpol.msc .
On the newly opened console click on Local Policies -> User Rights Assignment -> Debug Programs -> Add Administrators group .
Other great programs for deleting files that are locked or that you don't have permission for are :
1) IoBit Unlocker is instead very powerful and unlocks any file in use making it erasable and eliminable.
2) Wise Force Deleter is a new program to unlock locked and in use files and delete them if you want quickly and easily.
3) LockHunter, which detects files locked by the system, unlocks them and allows them to be deleted.
4) Delete On Reboot instead allows you to delete any file in use at the next reboot (restart) of Windows.
5) A new program to delete and delete files that cannot be deleted because they are in use or locked: FileAssassin which can delete and remove any file from your computer.
6) A portable program that therefore does not require installation and allows you to delete locked files and terminate the processes that use them is Emsisoft's BlitzBlank .
After starting it, go to the Designer tab, select the file to be deleted and put it as Action, Delete .
Finally, click the Run button, save everything and close all running applications to avoid data loss and finally restart your computer. Before Windows is loaded, BlitzBlank will delete the previously specified file.
7) SuperDelete is a command line tool to delete files and folders that cannot be deleted by Windows because the path exceeds the character limit.
Finally, you can delete a file in use that seems impossible to delete even without using programs, from command prompt.
In Windows 10, 7 and 8, open the command prompt with administrator rights (in Windows 10 press the right mouse button on the Start button to find it) and type the following command:
DEL / F / Q / A "file destination"
In place of file destination, enter the full path to the file, such as C: \ Desktop \ foo.txt .
the talk continues with a tool to remove, move or rename locked files and folders .
