

That’s when you can use the delete key on your keyboard to kill the process, or you can right-click and select Kill Process. Your preference should always be to close the process properly, such as closing the application, but sometimes the process may be hung or there might be an associated process that is hung. Notice the line item in the Process Explorer that corresponds to it. In the above example, the PID number is 28752. Look at the Process ID (PID) number in the PID column in the Search box and then locate it in the Process Explorer PID column. It’s helpful to Show Processes from All Users on the View tab. Click the search button and type the name of your file that you can’t copy, move or delete. You can do a search on the file that you are unable to move. If you try to kill a task in Task Manager and are unsuccessful, that’s when Process Explorer can come to the rescue. This tool has been around for a very long time. Save yourself time and don’t waste time in Task Manager, just go straight to the Process Explorer. You can also use the Task Manager in Windows, but think of Process Explorer as the Task Manager on steroids. You can download the free Process Explorer utility here. Microsoft’s Process Explorer can come handy if you are trying to locate the process that might be using the file or folder that you are unable to move.

That’s okay, just close what you can and then try to copy or move the folder or file that was giving you an error. Keep in mind, you won’t be able to delete all the files because some of them may be in use by certain applications. They may be interfering with the copying or moving of files because the information in a file may be cached here. You will be taken to the C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Temp folder.

In the Windows search box type %temp% and press Enter. After you have emptied the Recycle Bin, try to copy or move the folder or file that was giving you an error. This is the solution that worked for me today. Go to the Recycle Bin and empty it. In the past, I have resorted to other solutions to solve the exact same problem. If that’s the case, just close the ones you can and then try copying or moving the folder or file that was giving you an error. You may not be able to close all the applications due to various reasons. Here are some possible solutions that can help you get rid of the error and copy, move, or delete a file or folder that just won’t let you take any action on it in Windows.ġ. The solution depends on many different factors. When you experience this error, you won’t be able to copy, move, or delete some or all of the files. The title of the error message is Folder in Use, because I wasn’t able to move the wp-content folder.
