How To Delete, Move, or Rename Locked Files in Windows
Windows won't allow you to modify files that have been locked in open programs. If you try to delete file and see a message that it's open in a program; you shall have to unlock the file (or close the program).
In some cases, it may not be clear which program has locked a file - or a background process may have locked a file and not terminated correctly. You must need to unlock the stubborn file or folder to modify it.
Note: Unlocking certain files and deleting them may cause problems with open programs. Do not unlock & delete files that should stay locked, including Windows system files.
Un-locker
Un-locker is a useful utility for unlocking files. With installed Un-locker software, you can right-click a stubborn file or folder and select Un-locker. (Note that Un-locker software tries to install the Babylon toolbar during the installation process - you'll want to uncheck this.)
You'll see a list of processes that have locked the files or folder. You can kill processes or quickly unlock the file while leaving the processes running. Please note that this may cause problems if a process expects exclusive access to a file.
Once the file unlocked you can delete, move, or rename it normally.
Process Explorer
You can also unlock a file in the excellent Process Explorer task manager. First of all, launch Process Explorer as Administrator - you can do this from within Process Explorer by clicking File and selecting Show Details for All Processes.
Next, click the Find menu and select Find Handle or DLL. (Or press Ctrl+F.)
Search for the name of locked file / folder.
Select the locked file / folder and you shall see the handle in the details box at the bottom of the Process Explorer window.
Right-click the handle and select Close Handle. If the multiple processes are listed in the search window, you'll have to remove and repeat this process to close the handle for each process.
You can now delete / modify the file normally.
Restart / Reboot Your Computer
Generally, a file won't be locked after you restart your computer - unless the program that locked it is a startup program that locks the file as soon as you log in. If you have stubborn file / folder and don't want to use any of the tricks here; you can just reboot your computer. Now you should be able to delete, move, or rename the file as soon as Window are comes back up.
If the file is being locked by a startup program, you can boot your computer to safe mode to delete it instead. Press F8 key during the startup process and select Safe Mode to boot into safe mode. If you are using the Windows 8, you'll have to use a different process to enter into safe mode. Delete / move the file in safe mode and restart your computer.
There are a variety of other ways to delete locked files. For example, you can use program to schedule a file deletion when you next restart your computer - the file will be automatically deleted when you reboot.
With the help of this article you can easily understand how to remove, delete, rename the locked files in Windows.
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