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Cannot delete file: It is being used by another person or program? In 3 easy steps this problem will be fixed in this video tutorial.

A common frustration among Windows users is when your trying to move or a more frequent case is when trying to delete, a file in Windows only to see your system declare that it is locked or in use.

Examples of error messages when this happens:

  1. Cannot delete file: Access is denied
  2. Cannot move file: Access is denied
  3. Cannot delete folder: There has been a sharing violation
  4. Cannot move folder: There has been a sharing violation
  5. Cannot delete file: It is being used by another person or program
  6. Cannot move file: It is being used by another person or program
  7. Cannot delete folder: Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use
  8. Cannot move folder: Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use

The culprit is usually some program / process on your computer locking the file or folder without you realizing it. Thankfully a programmer by the name of Cedrick ‘Nitch’ Collomb has made a wonderful FREE program to help with this problem.

This program is called Unlocker. You can download it here: http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/

You have 3 main options after selecting Unlocker from the right click menu:

  1. To kill the process tying up the file.
  2. To unlock the file from the process without killing the process.
  3. To unlock all processes locking the file without killing the processes.

Once the file is unlocked, you can now move it or delete it.

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Download and Install Unlocker via this website: http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/
  2. Right-click the file that is having problems and select Unlocker
  3. If the file is being used by a program you still want to use, then select unlock all. If you no longer want to have the program open that is locking up the file then select kill process.

Move or delete the file now without frustration because its free now!

VIDEO TUTORIAL [Please View Fullscreen]

More information:

Description of Unlocker from the programmer himself:

“Unlocker is an explorer extension that allows you with a simple right-click of the mouse on a file or folder to get rid of an error message such as error deleting file or folder, cannot delete folder: it is used by another person or program. Unlocker can unlock files, folders, dll, and can also delete index.dat without restarting your computer.

Ever had such an annoying message given by Windows? Cannot delete file: Access is denied. There has been a sharing violation. The source or destination file may be in use. The file is in use by another program or user. Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use. Unlocker is the solution!

After installation, the software is available from the right-click menu, making it easy to access anytime you need to delete or move a file. When you come across one of these locked files, right click it, select Unlocker and see what’s holding the file captive!”

You can find more information about Unlocker at http://ccollomb.free.fr/unlocker/

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Windows

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