Having to use Unlocker to be able to move, delete or rename a folder is a bothersome extra step when the folder’s contents are no longer being used by their program but previous versions of Windows has no way of recognizing this. Does Windows 10 have a function built in or do we still need the third party Unlocker app to do these things?
As far as I am aware Windows does not have anything like this built-in. However, I use Process Explorer, which is a free download from Microsoft, for this and other things.
Thanks for the reply. I installed Process Explorer but unfortunately when I launch it it doesn’t display any folders or files in the list, just processes. Is there a secret way to delete and change the name of files and folders with Process Explorer?
In Process Explorer you can use Find | Find Handle and type in the name of your file or directory which will give you a PID. Then you can close the handle or kill the offending process. If I’m understanding the problem correctly? I’m not sure I understand the original question.
Thanks. That’s just a bothersome as having to use Unlocker. I wish there was some way that Windows could know when a folder or file is no longer being used by an application, but I guess that starts getting into the realm of magic. Maybe Windows 11 will figure it out.
Windows does know when an app is no longer using a file. The trouble is when a persistent app still has the file open. As far as the OS is concerned, the file is still in use because the app can read/write it at any time.
Sometimes you can get away with merely renaming the file or directory. This doesn’t help with deletion, but means you can copy a new version of the file to the same location. Any new readers of the file will see the updated file.