Find out which process is locking a file or folder in Windows
Problem
How can I find out which process is locking a file or folder in Windows? For instance, when trying to delete a folder, Windows reports this: The action can't be completed because the folder is open in another program Happens the same with a file, but how do I find out what program or application is currently using it and preventing me from deleting the file or folder?
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1 Fix
Fix for: Find out which process is locking a file or folder in Windows
You can use the Resource Monitor for this which comes built-in with Windows 7, 8, 10 and 11! Open Resource Monitor, which can be found By searching for Resource Monitor or resmon.exe in the start menu, or As a button on the Performance tab in your Task Manager Go to the CPU tab In the Processes section, select all processes by clicking the checkbox next to "Image" in the headers. Use the search field in the Associated Handles section See blue arrow in screen shot below When you've found the han…
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