How to Easily Delete Files That Cannot Be Deleted in Windows 10/11

"Learn how to delete files that cannot be deleted in Windows 10 and 11 using several easy methods, including File Explorer and Command Prompt."

Kompudows October 15, 2026

Have you ever encountered a file that you couldn't delete from your laptop or computer? It's pretty frustrating, isn't it? Who wouldn't get annoyed when trying to delete a file, only to encounter an error message such as Access Denied File in Use or File Not Found even though the file isn't being used by anything and is still located in its original location?

In this tutorial, I'll show you a simple way to permanently delete these troublesome files, so how do you do it? Let's jump straight into the tutorial and follow the steps below.

Tutorial:

First, make sure you've downloaded the file from [Here], then click the green Free Download. button, a new tab will open, wait a few seconds until the file you want to download appears.
Once the download is complete, extract the downloaded file as usual
Next, open the program you've downloaded by right-clicking it and selecting Run As Administrator.
A User Account Control (UAC) dialog box will appear, click the Yes button.
On the installation page, click the Accept button.
At this stage, you can change the installation location for IObit Unlocker's program files, but if you don't want to change it, you can skip this step by clicking Next.
At this stage, click Next if you want to create a desktop shortcut for the program, otherwise, leave the Create a desktop shortcut option unchecked.
Once that's done, wait for the installation process to finish, during this process, the IObit Unlocker program files will be installed on your computer.
After that, locate the program or file you want to delete Right-click the file you want to remove and select Finish.
Then, the program should download automatically
Click the OK button and close the IObit Unlocker program.
Once you've found the file, right-click it and select IObit Unlocker.
A User Account Control (UAC) dialog box will appear, click the Yes button.
After that, the IObit Unlocker program will appear.
Click the downward-pointing triangle icon next to the Unlock button.
From the menu that appears, select Unlock & Delete.
A final confirmation message will appear asking if you're sure you want to delete the file, if you're certain, click the OK button.
After that, wait a few seconds, and the file that couldn't be deleted previously should now be removed successfully without any issues.
That's it, the file has now been successfully deleted.

Final Thoughts

Now you know how to delete files that cannot be deleted from your laptop or computer using IObit Unlocker.

Keep in mind that this method may not always work for every problematic file or file that cannot be deleted, but it's worth trying this method first whenever you encounter a file that's difficult to remove from your computer.

If you have a lot of important files stored on your computer, especially on Drive D:, you can also read [How to Monitor Important Files on Drive D:] to help you keep track of changes to specific files or folders, this way, you can not only deal with problematic files but also monitor important files stored on your computer more easily.