Can not delete PDF files in Windows File Explorer

Anonymous

I am reviewing files in Windows File Explorer with the Preview Pane active so I can see what the file is. When I want to delete a file I do right click/Delete or use the Delete button on the Ribbon. However, when I come to a PDF file that I no longer need I can't delete it. I get a message that says "File in Use". "This action can't be completed because the file is open in another program. Close the File and try again."

If I click "try again" sometimes after 4 or 5 tries the file finally is deleted. It seems that with the Preview Pane active File Explorer thinks the PDF is open in another program. How do I fix this problem so I can delete PDFs in Windows File Explorer with the Preview Pane active?

Thanks for all the suggestions. The one that fits my work flow well is Amr's .

"Simply choose the file with your mouse, hold down the shift button then click on "Delete".

It will permanently delete the file, which is fine."

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.

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Anonymous

Hi Jerry,

Thank you for posting in Microsoft community.

This issue might occur if any third party program is accessing the file.In regards to the issue, I require additional information to make sure that helps us to resolve the issue easily:

How are you trying to delete these files?

As a first step, I suggest you to restart the computer multiple times and check if that works. Because, restarting computer will close the applications that are running in the background and fixes many issues.

I also suggest you to refer the suggestion provided by Tomfly13 on April 29, 2013 and check if it helps.

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_8-files/unable-to-delete-pdf-in-windows-8/39f9ddad-a8df-42d0-a404-eaedf381993f

Please reply us on the status of the issue to assist you further

Thanks.

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86 additional answers

Anonymous

2015-12-17T13:43:10+00:00

all of these "fixes" are completely ridiculous. MS just needs to fix it. rebooting in in safe mode? toggling settings? are you kidding me. just make it work the way it should. do i really have all day to screw around with their terrible coding to delete a handful of files?

keep building on top of garbage, what do you think the final result will be?
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Anonymous

2015-12-14T14:20:06+00:00

Thanks for this suggestion. I just changed from.pdf to .txt as you suggested and low and behold Icould delete the file.!!!!! great thanks.
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Anonymous

2015-12-14T14:13:57+00:00

I tried this and still can't delete a pdf file.
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Anonymous

2015-12-05T15:47:12+00:00

There needs to be a fix for this. Perhaps this is an Adobe issue rather than Windows (all versions) the preview pane previewer shouldn't lock the file from editing. It's very frustrating to have to turn off and on the preview pane. This is made more difficult in Windows 10 because the preview pane switch is now buried under the view menu.

A similar issue I have nearly daily is creating an email from an Adobe item. Once the email is created I can no longer view the item I created the email from nor can I view any Outlook items. Both are locked. The work around is to save the item as a draft, look up the information to compose the email and then reopen it. This is a huge time waster. The send email needs to be for a copy not for the original and nothing should be locked.

I contacted Adobe about both of these about 10 years ago and was told they were going to fix it in a future version. Never happened.
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