This browser is no longer supported.
Upgrade to Microsoft Edge to take advantage of the latest features, security updates, and technical support.
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(128, 8%, 22%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3EA%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Cannot delete file. Says "Item Not Found Could not find this item Verify this item's location and try again."
I had this file sent to me from my friend - it's a word document I had on their computer. So I tried using Disk Cleanup to delete temporary files, temp internet files, and downloaded program files. Doesn't work.
When I check properties, there is no security tab, so I can't transfer ownership that way.
I also don't want to experiment using the Command Prompt way of transferring ownership since the file's name is several sentences long. I can't rename it either, of course.
Windows 7, a week in and I've already got a stupid glitch which has already wasted an hour of my time.
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
What i did was create a notepad file that was blank and saved it at the same location as the file that wont go away. once saved. I right click the new file and rename it to the exact name as the problem file. Be sure to change the file extension (ex: .doc)
ex problem file: word.doc
new file: word.doc
as long as they match eachother exactly you should see the problem file disappear and once thats gone you can delete the new file created.
None of the answers did the trick for me because for some reason the filename ended with a space, was empty and did not have a file extension. So it looked like this "examplefilename ".
After playing around for a couple hours I downloaded 7zip, added the file to an archive and told it to delete the original after it is done. After running it, the file was replaced by the archive file which I had no problem deleting! :)
my old windows folder wont delete, it has 888 bytes remaing in two random files that look greek which are found several subdirectories down in what was \user data\install launcher i have tried renameing the directories , deleting by cmd prompt, inheriting all permissions no matter which way i try to alter the file windows says item not found unable to locate file on disk, yet im looking straight at it the file properties sho it is marked as read only which it wont let me change because it cant find the file to change, it s file type is simply listed as :file and has the discription (which matches the filename of : ЃϵϳЅЂϿϽϯІχϯπρϴϱЄϱЃϵϳЅ (which is why i say it looks greek). under the security tab it says the requested security informatin cannot be displayed or is currently unavailable. Why cant i rid myself of any of the subfolders, this file itself , i wonder if even formating the machine will remove it , if tried wiping the file but no program can access the file thats there when trying to shred / wipe / delet or quarantine
I'm fond of downloading videos, and that's how I got this annoyingly persistent and undeletable file on my Desktop:
Filename: Low Millions - Here She Comes.flv.
File extension (from Properties): "."
I'm not a techie person. I'm also a good Windows user. I don't install complicated utility programs that are not legitimately free or branded safe. I accept all the incoming Windows Updates and Defrag, Cleanup and Checkup my discs regularly. I tried almost everything a non-techie Windows user afraid of doing anything too complicated could try, as suggested by threads online, including:
Nothing worked. I was also afraid of installing any of the suggested programs in fear of malicious software. But after almost two years of having the stupid file on my desktop, I relented. I found this page (bottom), and resorted to using the Special Programs for Deleting Files/Folders section at the very bottom. I downloaded the trial version of DelinvFile, installed it, ran the program and went through the motions. (The program even had the problem file highlighted.)
Problem solved. The program is perfectly safe. I hope this helps everybody out!!
CORRECTION!
Sorry need to explain again.
Create a file(folder) with the exactly same name on the same directory (ex. on desktop) Then delete the first problematic file(folder). Then you can not delete the second file unless you create a new file with the same name. I mean you have to repeat this work twice. Then you can delete the first created file. After that you can delete the third (I mean secondly created file(folder). It worked for me.
