6 Ways to Fix the “Could Not Find This Item” Deletion Error in Windows
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 attempt 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:
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 selectCompress to ZIP fileif you’re on Windows 11.
If you’re on Windows 10, right-click the file or folder and selectSend to > Compressed (zipped) folderin the context menu.
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 knowwhat 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 thedelcommand in PowerShell:
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 theRENcommand in PowerShell:
5. Try Deleting the Item in Safe Mode
If none of the options above have worked so far, you should try deleting the item inSafe Mode.
Follow the instructions below to boot Windows into Safe Mode:
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:
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.
Windows says your file is in use because it’s open in another program? Learn how to force rename, delete, or move the file.
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