When I want to delete a file, Windows complains that it is open in another program. How can I find the program so that I can close it or force the file to be deleted?
Windows – How to close open files in Windows
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Related Solutions
I've had success with Sysinternals Process Explorer. With this, you can search to find what process(es) have a file open, and you can use it to close the handle(s) if you want. Of course, it is safer to close the whole process. Exercise caution and judgement.
To find a specific file, use the menu option Find->Find Handle or DLL... Type in part of the path to the file. The list of processes will appear below.
If you prefer command line, Sysinternals suite includes command line tool Handle, that lists open handles.
Examples
c:\Program Files\SysinternalsSuite>handle.exe |findstr /i "e:\"(finds all files opened from drivee:\"c:\Program Files\SysinternalsSuite>handle.exe |findstr /i "file-or-path-in-question"
Best Answer
Try Process Explorer (or Handle if you like CLI). You can get them both from Sysinternals