can't delete file because file is in use

Anonymous
2013-02-22T12:34:36+00:00

So whenever I'm in a file explorer window and I want to delete a file(eg PDF) I get a "File in use" message.

I've figured out that this is caused by the preview pane. No preview pane no message and the file deletes.

I want to know how I can delete a file with the preview pane active because I want to check the contents to make sure it's the correct file I want to delete?

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Files, folders, and storage

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Anonymous
2017-06-18T21:52:58+00:00

Hi Gianluca,

This thread has been created on 2015 and was previously resolved. There has been a lot of changes since then and the resolution provided here may not be applicable anymore. Hence, we recommend you to create your own thread regarding your concern for assistance from our community.

If there's anything else, feel free to reach out to us.

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-07-25T09:00:09+00:00

    That is defeating the object. I need to preview the file to see if I want to delete it. I cant open 300 pdf files individually to see the contents to be able to know if it is the correct file or not

    Exactly. The preview pane is otherwise pretty unuseful. Moreover often by simply disabling the preview pane on the view menu is not enough to successfully delete the pdf file. As I said above often I need to kill the prevhost.exe process before I can delete the file. So instead of "workarounding" the problem, Microsoft, please solve the problem at its root.

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-07-25T07:30:04+00:00

    That is defeating the object. I need to preview the file to see if I want to delete it. I cant open 300 pdf files individually to see the contents to be able to know if it is the correct file or not

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-07-25T07:24:34+00:00

    HI

    Just had the same issue every time using window 8.1.   

    Here's the soultion:

    Go to the View Panel

    Remove the tick from Preview Pane.

    There you go... It works !!!

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-07-24T08:21:40+00:00

    I have the same problem when preview pane in Explorer is enabled. I have to go to the task manager and kill instances of Preview handler Surrogate Host process (PREVHOST.EXE). It is not sufficient turning off the preview pane. After that I can delete the file. It has this behavior often but not always.

    Bye,

    Francesco

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