Unable to delete corrupted files and folders?

In rare cases, you might come across an error while attempting to delete a file/folder.


Image taken from the TechGuy forum. Image may be protected by copyright.

Error messages may vary, from the one shown above, to something along the lines of "Unable to delete folder [name]. Directory is not empty".

The usual cause of this is because the file/folder is corrupted, and the easiest way is to use the Command Prompt. I'll show you how.

NOTE: My thumb drive is an NTFS file volume so it might be slightly different if you're doing this on a FAT/FAT32 file system (usually unconverted thumbdrives).

NOTE2: If you're having problems with a folder in your hard disk, usually the C: drive, this will not work. You'll want to see this article instead.

First of all, click on Start, and then click on Run. Type in "cmd" or "command".



A black DOS box should appear.



Type in "help chkdsk".



Information regarding the chkdsk command will appear. Type in "chkdsk [drive alphabet]: /f".

In my case, I'm fixing my thumb drive which is in drive E:, so I type in "chkdsk e: /f".



The Command Prompt should start to check the specified drive. If you have a large file volume then it might take longer.



The results should follow. If you see the following, it means that your specified drive is absolutely fine, and something else might be the cause. Any way, type in "exit" to quit Command Prompt.



If drive restoration is successful, you should now be able to view/delete the files and folders.