6 Ways to Fix the “Could Not Find This Item” Deletion Error in Windows

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We all need to delete files and folders from time to time to clear up space on our Windows computers. However, there are times when an item refuses to leave your system. You try to delete it a couple of times, and every time, you’re hit with the “Could not find this item” error message.

It can be frustrating to run into this brick wall. After all, you can see the file or folder you need to delete on your screen, but you can't delete it because of an annoying prompt. If you're stuck with this message, here are some fixes to get rid of it.

1. Restart Windows Explorer

Before you attempt any of the interesting troubleshooting steps in this article, you should try restarting Windows Explorer first.

To do that, follow the steps below:

  1. Right-click Start on the Taskbar and select Task Manager.
  2. In the Processes tab, select Windows Explorer and click the Restart button in the bottom right corner.
  3. Try to delete the file or folder and see if the “Could not find this item” prompt will show up again.

2. Zip Up the Item and Then Delete the Zipped File

An easy workaround to avoid the “Could not find this item” prompt is to place the file or folder in a zipped archive and then try to delete that instead. Luckily, Windows has a built-in utility to compress files and folders into a ZIP file without needing any third-party tools.

To zip a file or folder, right-click the item and select Compress to ZIP file if you’re on Windows 11.

Now delete the zipped archive and, hopefully, it will go away, along with the file or folder you were initially trying to delete.

3. Delete the File Using PowerShell

Even if you don’t know what PowerShell is, you can still use it to solve a host of problems if you know what commands to use. Here’s how to delete a file or folder using the del command in PowerShell:

  1. Right-click the file or folder you wish to delete and select Copy as path. This will copy the item’s file path, which you’ll need later.
  2. Press Win + S to open Windows Search and type powershell in the search box.
  3. Right-click on Windows PowerShell in the search results and select Run as administrator.
  4. Click Yes on the UAC prompt.
  5. In PowerShell, the command you should type has the following structure: 
     del ["drive:pathfilename"]

    You should replace the text within the square brackets with the file path you copied in the first step by pressing Ctrl + V in PowerShell. The final command should look like the screenshot below.

  6. Hit the Enter key to run the command and see if PowerShell could get rid of the file or folder.

4. Try Renaming the File

If deleting the item with PowerShell didn't work, you should try renaming it first before deleting it.

Here’s how to rename a file using the REN command in PowerShell:

  1. Right-click the file or folder you wish to delete and select Copy as path.
  2. Press Win + S to open Windows Search and type powershell in the search box.
  3. Right-click on Windows PowerShell in the search results and select Run as administrator.
  4. Click Yes on the UAC prompt.
  5. The command to rename a file in PowerShell should have the following structure: 
     REN drive:pathOldName NewName

    In the above command structure, you should replace drive:pathOldName with the file path you copied in the first step by pressing Ctrl + V in PowerShell. Then, replace NewName with the name you want to rename the file or folder to. It should look like the screenshot below.

  6. Press Enter to run the command, and PowerShell will rename the item.
  7. Now try deleting the file the usual way and see if that works. If the “Could not find this item” error appears again, try the steps outlined in the previous section to delete it with PowerShell instead.

5. Try Deleting the Item in Safe Mode

If none of the options above have worked so far, you should try deleting the item in Safe Mode.

Follow the instructions below to boot Windows into Safe Mode:

  1. Click Start on the Taskbar, press and hold the Shift key, and select Power > Restart.
  2. When your computer restarts, it will display the Advanced Startup Options (ASO) menu. From there, click on Troubleshoot.
  3. Click on Advanced options.
  4. Choose Startup Settings.
  5. Click on the Restart button.
  6. When your computer restarts, you'll see various Startup Settings. Hit 4 to boot your computer in Safe Mode.
  7. Try to delete the file or folder again and see if that will do the trick.
  8. Restart your computer and boot into Windows normally.

6. Use a Third-Party App

After trying to delete the file or folder the Windows way to no avail, you can get help from a third-party tool. While there are many apps you can use to this end, we’ll use a lightweight file shredding tool called Eraser in our example.

Follow the instructions below to learn how to download and use Eraser:

  1. Go to Eraser’s download page and download the latest version of the app.
  2. Go to the location where you downloaded Eraser’s installer, launch it, and follow the instructions to install it.
  3. Once Windows fully installs Eraser, the app will integrate into the context menu. To delete a file or folder using Eraser on Windows 10, right-click on it and select Eraser > Erase. On Windows 11, right-click the item and select Show more options > Eraser > Erase.
  4. Click Yes on the UAC prompt.
  5. You'll get a prompt from Eraser asking you to confirm your decision. Click Yes, and the app will delete the file or folder from your system.

Hopefully, that will delete the item from your computer once and for all.

Deleting the Undeletable in Windows

When a file or folder seems undeletable in Windows because of the “Could not find this item” error, you’re not stuck with it. You can use various tools within Windows and even some from third parties to get rid of it. Follow the troubleshooting steps mentioned above, and you won't see that annoying prompt again.

— Update: 28-02-2023 — us.suanoncolosence.com found an additional article How to Fix the “Item Not Found” Windows Error When Deleting a File or Folder from the website www.freecodecamp.org for the keyword fix could not find this item windows.

If you use a Windows operating system, then you might have gotten this error before when trying to delete a file or folder.

It happens when, even though the file or folder is there, Windows says that it is failing to delete it because it can’t find that file/folder in that directory.

This has also happened to me. In fact, I have faced this issue quite often. And tonight was no different.

I was trying to delete a folder, but couldn’t do it. Each time I was trying to delete the folder, Windows was giving me a prompt saying “This is no longer located in [location]. Verify the item’s location and try again.”

I tried all of the methods I could find to solve the issue, but nothing worked.

At last, I was successful and solved the issue. So, I thought why not share the trick I discovered with others? So, here you go!

Image source: D Studios Media

If you have read my other articles on freeCodeCamp, then you should know that I always use images from my own computer. So, if you are wondering why I am sharing an image from another source, don’t worry – you will get the answer right now!

As I was trying to solve the issue so that I can safely delete the folder I wanted to delete, I was trying various methods out. At last, I solved the issue, and I think you might guess what I mean here: the folder got deleted successfully!

As the folder had been deleted, I could not take any screenshots of it. So I failed to collect the screenshot before deleting the folder.

That’s why I used an image from another source above. 😅

How to Fix the “Item Not Found” Windows Error

Now, let me show you how can you also solve this issue on your Windows operating system. Don’t worry as I am going to show you every step from my own computer.

Suppose, I have a folder like the below which is not getting deleted however I try to delete it.

So, I will use a special trick where I will use the terminal to delete this folder safely.

Open the CMD as Administrator. For that, simply click the Windows button, and search for CMD.

Now right click on the Command Prompt, and click Run as administrator.

The CMD will open with the privileges of an administrator.

Now, we need to use the command, rd /s "?path. In the path, you need to enter the folder address.

You can get the folder address or directory in various ways. I am going to show you two ways below.

First way: Right click on the folder/file, and click properties.

Here, you will get the directory address.

You have to add the folder name after that. For example, here my directory is: C:UsersFBADesktop and the name of the folder I want to delete is This Folder Is Not Getting Deleted. So, the full directory address I need to use in the terminal will be: C:UsersFBADesktopThis Folder Is Not Getting Deleted.

Second way: Go into the folder where you want to delete the folder/file, and you will get the directory address there.

Simply click on the address, and copy the whole address. You can also use Ctrl + C as the shortcut.

Now I need to type Y and hit the Enter key.

Voilà! The folder is now gone. 😎

You can learn more about this rd command from the official Microsoft Docs.

In that way, you can safely delete any folder/file that won’t get deleted using the regular method.

Conclusion

Thanks for reading the entire article. If it helps you, then you can also check out other articles of mine at freeCodeCamp.

If you want to get in touch with me, then you can do that using Twitter, LinkedIn, GitHub, English YouTube channel, or Bengali YouTube channel.

💫 If you want to check my highlights, then you can do so at my Polywork timeline.

Thanks a bunch! 😊

— Update: 19-03-2023 — us.suanoncolosence.com found an additional article Fixed: Could Not Find This Item While Removing or Deleting Files in Windows 10 from the website www.isunshare.com for the keyword fix could not find this item windows.

In Windows 10, you may have encountered strange error while move, rename, or delete files and folders. For example, the system backup files or un-downloaded BT files. The full message reads:

Source: us.suanoncolosence.com

Could not find this item. This is no longer located in [Path]. Verify the item’s location and try again.

Why does such error happen? It may be caused by inappropriate defined of file extension. You can figure it out by referring the solutions below to remove the unwanted items.

  • Text Document
  • Command Prompt
  • WinRAR

Solution 1: Fix “Could Not Find This Item” Error by Text Document

When Windows 10 prompt “could not find this item” to you, try the batch file to remove such a stubborn file or folder.

Step 2: Copy and paste the following code lines into the Text Document.

DEL F A Q %1

RD S Q %1

Step 4: Next to the Save as type, select All Files. Then save it to delete.bat file.

Step 5: Drag the target folder onto this file to delete it. Thus you won’t see the “could not find this item” error anymore.

Solution 2: Fix “Could Not Find This Item” Error via Command Prompt

The Command Prompt can help you remove the problematical file easily.

Step 1: Search the Command Prompt in the Menu Bar and Run as Administrator. Alternatively, hit Windows + X key and select Command Prompt (Admin) from the list. For further information, you can refer to How to Run Command Prompt As Administrator in Windows 10.

Step 2: Whether deleting files or folders, we must use the “cd path” command to navigate to a specific location.

Tips: If you don’t know the correct format of the path, you can right-click on the file or folder and select Properties. Under the General tab, copy the path and paste into the Command Prompt.

Step 3: Enter the “dir” command to display all the files in the current path. Or type “dir /x” to view the folder list instead.

Step 4: To delete a file, type del “filename” and press Enter on the keyboard afterward. Once you want to delete a folder instead, input rmdir “foldername” and Enter.

Solution 3: Fix “Could Not Find This Item” Error through WinRAR

This solution is more easy for someone who doesn’t like running commands. Using WinRAR can skip over the “could not find this item” error and remove file or folder. Then let’s move on:

Step 1: Locate the file or folder with “could not find this item” error. Right-click on it and select Add to archive.

Step 2: When the Archive name and parameters window pops up, check on the Delete files after archiving. Click on OK to create a new rar file. Then you can find that the formal files or folder have deleted.

Step 3: Right-click on the newly-created archive file and choose Delete from the context menu.

Related Articles:

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— Update: 20-03-2023 — us.suanoncolosence.com found an additional article Fix “Could Not Find This Item” When Deleting in Windows from the website helpdeskgeek.com for the keyword fix could not find this item windows.

Sometimes Windows shows a strange error message when you try to delete a file. The message reads “could not find this item” and it prevents you from deleting the file. It’s pretty obvious you’re trying to delete something that already exists on your machine but the error says otherwise.

There are many reasons why your machine is failing to detect the file as it should and letting you delete it. Once you fix these underlying issues, you can get rid of the file from your computer.

Use Command Prompt To Fix “Could Not Find This Item”

If you’re having trouble using File Explorer to delete your file, one option is to use the Command Prompt. It has several commands to work with your file system and one of these lets you delete files from your storage.

You can use these commands to retrieve your directory contents and then get rid of your chosen file from the list.

  1. Search for Command Prompt using Cortana search and click on Run as administrator to open it in admin mode.
  1. In your Command Prompt window, go to the directory where the file you want to delete is located. Use the CD command followed by the directory path to get to your directory.
  2. Once you’re in your selected directory, run the following command to view a list of all files in it.

    dir

  1. You should see the name of the problematic file in the list.
  2. Type the following command, press Space, type the name of the file you want to delete, and hit Enter. So to delete a file named myfile.txt, you would enter:

    del myfile.txt

  1. If you’re deleting a file that has spaces in its name, enclose the file name with double quotes.
  1. The file will be deleted without a prompt.

Rename The File Using Command Prompt Before Deleting It

Sometimes the reason you get the “could not find this item” error is because your file name is too long to be handled by your system. In that case, you can first shorten the name to delete the file.

You can use the Command Prompt to rename your file as follows.

  1. Launch a Command Prompt window with admin privileges on your PC.
  2. Use the CD command to get to the directory where your file is located.
  3. Note down the full name of your file as you’ll be using it in a command.
  4. Type the following command into the Command Prompt and press Enter.

    ren oldname.ext newname.ext

    ren – the short form for rename
    oldname.ext – replace this with the current name of your file
    newname.ext – replace this with the new name for your file

  1. Once the file is renamed, use File Explorer to access and delete it. It should delete without any issues this time around.

Delete Files That Have No Extension

Some problematic files have no extensions and this makes it really difficult to delete them from a Command Prompt window. Luckily, there’s a command you can use to delete all the files inside of a folder without knowing their extensions.

  1. Open a Command Prompt window on your computer.
  2. Navigate to the folder where your file is located using the CD command.
  3. Type in the following command and press Enter.

    del *.*

  1. All files inside the folder will be removed.

Delete The Folder Containing The File

If you still can’t delete the file and it keeps throwing the “could not find this item” error, you can try deleting the folder instead. It removes the folder as well as all files in it, including the problematic file.

  1. Open a Command Prompt window on your PC.
  2. Type in the following command, press Space, enter the full path to the folder you want to delete, enclose it with double-quotes, and hit Enter.

    rmdir /s

  1. You’ll get a prompt asking if you really want to delete the folder. Type y and press Enter to confirm your action.
  1. You can use the /q parameter with the above command to skip the deletion prompt. It removes the file without asking if you really want to do it.

Kill The Process That May Be Using The File

There may be a program running on your computer that is using your file in some way. To ensure it’s not the culprit, you should kill the program process using Task Manager and then try to delete the file.

  1. Right-click on your taskbar and select Task Manager.
  1. Click on the Processes tab at the top.
  2. Find the process that you think is interfering with your deletion process. Right-click on it and select End task to kill the process.
  1. You can try deleting your file and it should delete without issues.

Create An Archive & Delete The Files

If you’ve used WinRAR to create archives on your computer before, you probably know it allows you to delete your files after an archive is made. You can use the same option to delete the file that keeps throwing the “could not find this item” error.

The idea here is to make a new archive using your problematic file and let WinRAR delete your file after the archive has been made.

  1. Download and install the WinRAR app on your computer.
  2. Right-click on the file that you want to delete and select Add to archive. It lets you create a new archive using selected files.
  1. The following screen lets you configure how your archive is to be created. You’ll find an option there that says Delete files after archiving. Tick-mark the box, customize other options as you like, and click on OK at the bottom.
  1. It’ll create a new archive containing your file and your actual problematic file will be deleted. You can now delete the archive as well by right-clicking on it and selecting the Delete option.

It’s an out-of-the-box idea and should work in most cases.

Use DelinvFile To Get Around The “Could Not Find This Item” Error

File deletion issues have long existed on Windows computers and there have been several apps to help you deal with them. One of these is DelinvFile and it lets you delete files that you can’t delete by yourself.

You can use it to get rid of the problematic files from your PC.

  1. Install the DelinvFile app on your PC.
  2. Launch the app and navigate to the directory where your file is located. Click on your file so it’s selected.
  3. Click on the button that says Delete File or Folder to start deleting your file.
  1. You’ll see a prompt asking to confirm your action. Click on Yes to continue deleting your file.

It gets frustrating when you’re constantly bombarded with the “could not find this item” error while deleting a file. Have you ever had to go through this error on your PC? How did you overcome it? We’d like to know in the comments below.

Source: https://www.makeuseof.com/windows-could-not-find-this-item-error/

Article post on: us.suanoncolosence.com

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