And it is that this space in the disk units of which we speak is something more and more valuable. The main reason for all this is that as time goes by, we work with more and more information. In addition, if we focus on multimedia files such as photos or videos, it must be taken into account that some of these elements take up a lot of space. Hence we must manage storage of all this in an effective way.
Reasons why we find errors when deleting a file
We tell you all this because sometimes when it comes to deleting these files we are talking about, we can find some errors. This is something that can become a serious inconvenience, especially if we talk about large format files. By not being able to eliminate these, they will remain in the disk drive forever unnecessarily taking up space.
On certain occasions we may find that we cannot delete that content at that precise moment. For example, if we have it open with some other application that has it running. At the same time it may be the case that it is the file It is from the system and therefore we cannot delete it more than anything for security. In the same way, we can also find an error with the code 0x80070050. This is accompanied by a message that the file exists in Windows.
Be that as it may, below, we are going to give you some interesting solutions to be able to delete files that are giving us problems when trying to delete them. And it is that sometimes it happens that we have a certain file on the screen in Explorer, but we cannot delete it. In fact, it may even be the case that we run into an error when we try to delete a file that has already been deleted. This one was removed, but we see it in our folders due to the system cache. Likewise, this can happen if it is corrupt, or due to some type of malware.
Fix crashes when trying to delete files
As we tell you below, we are going to give you a series of solutions that you can try one by one to fix this failure. That way you can free up some space in the OS and use the same for other more useful or necessary tasks. Of course, the first thing to check when trying to carry out this deletion process is that this file is not open by any other program. This is a fairly common error, as it happens with the operating system’s own and important files.
Restart the PC completely
One of the most effective as well as simple solutions when we encounter a multitude of errors in the operating system, is to restart the PC. First of all, we must make sure to save all the jobs that we have open in the running programs. Then, for example, we can go to the start menu of the system where we find the options to shut down or Restart the system.
Therefore, in this case we will only have to restart the system to later try to erase those files that have given us an error.
Restart System Explorer
Once we have made sure that the file is free of use at that time, the error when deleting it may occur for other reasons. It is possible that this failure occurs because the File Explorer has not updated the existing files on the disk. That is why the most recommended thing here is to restart the aforementioned File Explorer and solve it. After restarting it we must try to delete the files again.
To do this, the first thing we do is access the Windows Task Manager, for example, through the combination of keys Ctrl + Shift + Esc. Now in the new window that appears we just have to locate the entry corresponding to the explorer and click on it with the right button. To finish, we choose the option of restart and we wait a few seconds.
Boot the system in safe mode
On the other hand, we will tell you that booting in Safe Mode starts the PC with a minimum set of drivers and programs. These will be essential for the operation of the PC, but little else. After booting into Safe Mode, try deleting the files for which the error occurs.
In order to start the fish in this mode, the first thing we do is go to the Windows Configuration application through Win + I. Next, we go to the section of Update and security to locate the Recovery entry in the left pane. Once in the new window that appears we will see that we can restart the PC from Advanced Start.
Once the computer restarts, in the window that we have on the screen, click on Troubleshoot / Advanced options / Startup settings. This will give us the possibility to restart Windows again but now in Safe Mode to try to erase those files that give us errors.
Use CMD to remove the problem file
Instead of using the graphical interface of the operating system we can also use a command prompt window or CMD. From here we will have the possibility of using various commands to delete files, which could be effective for the error we are facing.
We open a command prompt window by typing cmd in the search box on the taskbar. We recommend that you run this application with administrator permissions by right-clicking on the entry. Once we are in the command prompt window we write the following command:
DEL /F /A <archivo.extension>
Run the CHKDSK command
That’s not all we can do from a command prompt window to troubleshoot when trying delete files. Y es It may be the case that this error has occurred due to a failure or bad condition of the hard disk. Therefore, we must ensure that the hard disk as such is in full working order.
What we recommend in this case is to reopen a CMD window as we saw previously with administrator permissions. Then we just have to run this command:
CHKDSK
It is in charge of carrying out an analysis of the disk drive and it will allow us to correct errors, if any. Once everything has been solved we must try to delete the files again.
