{"id":1193,"date":"2012-10-27T17:42:22","date_gmt":"2012-10-27T12:12:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.58.113.91\/blog\/?p=1193"},"modified":"2025-01-29T10:54:04","modified_gmt":"2025-01-29T05:24:04","slug":"fix-zipped-folder-access-denied-unable-complete-operation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/fix-zipped-folder-access-denied-unable-complete-operation\/","title":{"rendered":"[Fix] Compressed (Zipped) Folder Access Denied Error &#8220;Unable to Complete the Operation&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>When you try to create a Compressed (zipped) folder in Windows, the error &#8220;Unable to complete the operation. Access is denied&#8221; may occur and the zip file is not created.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/zip-fldr-access-denied.png\" alt=\"temp variable set - zip folder access denied\" width=\"352\" height=\"148\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-26936\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Compressed (Zipped) Folder Access Denied error occurs if the user <code>%TEMP%<\/code> variable isn&#8217;t properly set, or the user has no &#8220;write&#8221; access to their <code>%TEMP%<\/code> folder.<\/p>\n<p>Instructions in this article apply to all versions of Windows, including Windows 10\/11.<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h2>[Fix] Compressed (Zipped) Folder Access Denied Error<\/h2>\n<h3>Step 1: Fix the TEMP environment variable<\/h3>\n<p>To fix the Compressed (Zipped) Folder Access Denied Error, fix the <code>%TEMP%<\/code> variable using these steps:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Right-click &#8220;This PC&#8221; and click Properties.<\/li>\n<li>Click Advanced System Settings.<br \/>\n(Alternately, you can launch this dialog directly by running <code>systempropertiesadvanced.exe<\/code>)<\/li>\n<li>Click <strong>Environment Variables<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>In the User variables for &lt;username&gt;, select <strong>TEMP<\/strong> and click Edit&#8230;<br \/>\n<i>(In case the <code>TEMP<\/code> variable is missing, you&#8217;ll have to create one by clicking the New&#8230; button.)<br \/>\n<\/i><\/li>\n<li>Verify that the variable value is set as:\n<pre>%USERPROFILE%\\AppData\\Local\\Temp<\/pre>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-26935\" src=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/temp-variable-fix.png\" alt=\"temp variable set\" width=\"653\" height=\"191\" \/><\/li>\n<li>Click OK.<\/li>\n<li>Log off and log back into your user account.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>If the variable values\u00a0are correctly set and the problem still persists, verify if the user account has Full Control permissions for the user <code>TEMP<\/code> folder.<\/p>\n<div class=\"rp\"><strong>RELATED:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/cannot-print-standard-user-temp-folder-permissions\/\">Printing Works Only for Administrators; Non-Admins Can&#8217;t Print<\/a><\/div>\n<hr \/>\n<h3>Step 2: Verify and Fix Permissions for the %TEMP% Folder<\/h3>\n<p>If <strong>Step 1<\/strong> doesn&#8217;t help or the <code>%TEMP%<\/code> variable is intact, then the next step is to verify and, if necessary, fix the NTFS permission for the <code>%TEMP%<\/code> folder. Follow these steps:<\/p>\n<h4>Verify the TEMP folder permissions<\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Click Start, type <strong>%TEMP%<\/strong> and press <kbd>Enter<\/kbd>. This opens the <code>TEMP<\/code> folder of your user account.<\/li>\n<li>Try creating a test file in that folder, and delete it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>If you&#8217;re unable to create a test file in that folder due to insufficient access, taking ownership and assigning Full Control permissions to the folder should resolve the problem. Follow these steps:<\/p>\n<h4>Fix the TEMP folder permissions<\/h4>\n<ol>\n<li>Open an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/open-elevated-command-prompt-windows\/\">elevated or Administrator Command Prompt<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Type these commands one by one and press <kbd>Enter<\/kbd> after each command:\n<pre class=\"cmd\">\ntakeown \/f %temp% \/r \/d y\nicacls %temp% \/reset\nicacls %temp% \/inheritance:r\nicacls %temp% \/grant %username%:(OI)(CI)F \/t \/c\nicacls %temp% \/grant *S-1-5-32-544:(OI)(CI)F \/t \/c\nicacls %temp% \/grant *S-1-5-18:(OI)(CI)F \/t \/c\nmd %temp%\\Low\nicacls %temp%\\Low \/setintegritylevel (OI)(CI)low\n<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n<p><em>For more information on Taking Ownership and Assigning Permissions, see our earlier article <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/take-ownership-of-file-or-folder\/\">How to Take Ownership of a file or folder using command-line<\/a>.<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<div class=\"rp\"><strong>RELATED:<\/strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/compressed-zip-folder-error-file-not-found-no-read-permission\/\">Compressed (Zipped) Folder Error &#8220;File not found or no read permission&#8221;<\/a><\/div>\n<p>That&#8217;s it! You&#8217;ve fixed the <code>%TEMP%<\/code> user variable and <code>TEMP<\/code> folder permissions now. This should resolve the Compressed (Zipped) Folder <strong>Access Denied<\/strong> Error.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When you try to create a Compressed (zipped) folder in Windows, the error &#8220;Unable to complete the operation. Access is denied&#8221; may occur and the zip file is not created. Compressed (Zipped) Folder Access Denied error occurs if the user %TEMP% variable isn&#8217;t properly set, or the user has no &#8220;write&#8221; access to their %TEMP% &#8230; <a title=\"[Fix] Compressed (Zipped) Folder Access Denied Error &#8220;Unable to Complete the Operation&#8221;\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/fix-zipped-folder-access-denied-unable-complete-operation\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about [Fix] Compressed (Zipped) Folder Access Denied Error &#8220;Unable to Complete the Operation&#8221;\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[7],"tags":[191],"class_list":["post-1193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-windows","tag-error-messages"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":19688,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/compressed-zip-folder-error-file-not-found-no-read-permission\/","url_meta":{"origin":1193,"position":0},"title":"Compressed (Zipped) Folder Error &#8220;File not found or no read permission&#8221;","author":"Ramesh","date":"November 4, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"When you try to create a compressed (zipped) folder in Windows 10, the following error occurs: Compressed (zipped) Folders Error File not found or no read permission. You may have noticed that this error doesn't happen on drives formatted as FAT32.\u00a0This article explains why this problem occurs and how to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"compressed folder create error - no read permissions - process explorer","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/procexp-find-locked-files.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/procexp-find-locked-files.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/procexp-find-locked-files.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":75601,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/zip-cant-complete-extraction\/","url_meta":{"origin":1193,"position":1},"title":"Compressed Folder Error: Windows cannot complete the extraction","author":"Ramesh","date":"June 20, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"When you open a .zip file and run an enclosed file without extracting the contents to a folder, the following error may appear: Compressed (zipped) Folder Error Windows cannot complete the extraction. The destination file could not be created. Cause This happens if the %temp% folder permissions are incorrect. When\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows 10&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows 10","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-10\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"temp folder permissions advanced security dialog","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/temp-folder-permissions-security-dialog.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/temp-folder-permissions-security-dialog.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/temp-folder-permissions-security-dialog.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/temp-folder-permissions-security-dialog.png?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1538,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/restore-missing-compressed-zipped-folder-option-to-the-send-to-menu\/","url_meta":{"origin":1193,"position":2},"title":"Fix: &#8220;Compressed (zipped) Folder&#8221; Missing in Send To Menu","author":"Ramesh","date":"February 26, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"This article tells you how to restore the missing \"Compressed (Zipped) Folder\" item to your \"Send to\" menu in all versions of Windows, including Windows 10 and 11. Cause If the Compressed (Zipped) folder doesn't appear in the Send To menu, it can be due to one of the reasons:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"zip missing sendto menu","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/02\/zip-sendto-fix-cmd.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/02\/zip-sendto-fix-cmd.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/02\/zip-sendto-fix-cmd.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3119,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/cannot-print-standard-user-temp-folder-permissions\/","url_meta":{"origin":1193,"position":3},"title":"Printing Works Only for Administrators; Non-Admins Can&#8217;t Print","author":"Ramesh","date":"May 16, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"If you're wondering why standard users can't print (and only administrators can) especially after relocating your TEMP folder on your Windows computer, this article has the explanation and a fix. Cause Moving your Temp folder can sometimes cause printing issues in Windows, depending upon how the Permissions are set in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/icacls-tmp-1.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":80521,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/compressed-zipped-folder-new-menu-missing\/","url_meta":{"origin":1193,"position":4},"title":"Compressed (zipped) Folder Missing in the New menu","author":"Ramesh","date":"March 19, 2026","format":false,"excerpt":"When you right-click on the desktop and click New, the Compressed (zipped) Folder option may be missing. The Send to \u2192 Compressed (zipped) Folder option may still work. Resolution To bring back the Compressed (zipped) Folder option to the New menu, fix the .zip file type association.\u00a0Please do the following.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows 10&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows 10","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-10\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"restore missing \"compressed (zipped) folder\" to the New menu","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/zip-shellnew-entry-missing.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":54008,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/securityhealthsystray-bad-image-0xc000012f\/","url_meta":{"origin":1193,"position":5},"title":"SecurityHealthSystray.exe &#8211; Bad Image 0xC000012F Error","author":"Ramesh","date":"June 16, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"You may be unable to access the Windows Security app on your Windows 11 computer. And when you login to your account, the following error message appears: SecurityHealthSystray: SecurityHealthSystray.exe - Bad Image \\?\\C:\\Windows\\System32\\SecurityHealth\\1.0.2303.27001-0\\SecurityHealthSSO.dll is either not designed to run on Windows or it contains an error. Try installing the program\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Windows 11&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Windows 11","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/category\/microsoft\/windows\/windows-11\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"securityhealthsso.dll 0xc000012f","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/securityhealthsso_dll_error_2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/securityhealthsso_dll_error_2.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/securityhealthsso_dll_error_2.png?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1193","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1193"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1193\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1193"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}