{"id":8402,"date":"2019-03-31T08:50:17","date_gmt":"2019-03-31T03:20:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.58.113.91\/blog\/?p=8402"},"modified":"2023-08-02T20:32:20","modified_gmt":"2023-08-02T15:02:20","slug":"could-not-find-this-item-when-deleting-file-folder-windows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/could-not-find-this-item-when-deleting-file-folder-windows\/","title":{"rendered":"[Fix] “Could not find this item” When Deleting a File or Folder in Windows"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you attempt to delete a file or folder on your Windows computer, the “Item not found” error may appear. Here is the full error message:<\/p>\n

Could not find this item.\r\n\r\nThis is no longer located in [folder path]. Verify the item's location and try again.\r\n<\/pre>\n
\"could<\/p>\n
This article explains how to fix the error when deleting a file or folder in Windows.<\/p>\n
\n
Methods<\/h4>\n
    \n
  1. Try the WinRAR method<\/a> first (opens new page)<\/li>\n
  2. Delete the file or folder from Command Prompt<\/a><\/li>\n
  3. Delete the file or folder from Command Prompt Using SFN<\/a><\/li>\n
  4. Rename the file or folder<\/a><\/li>\n
  5. Dealing with File\/Folder Names ending with DOT or Space<\/a><\/li>\n
  6. Advanced Methods<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/div>\n
    Fix “Could Not Find This Item” When Deleting<\/h2>\n
    First, make sure you refresh the screen by pressing the F5<\/kbd> key<\/strong>. This is to check if the file or folder really exists, or if it has been already deleted by some program and only the ghost icon appears. If the file or folder appears even after refreshing the screen, then try one of these methods to delete the file or folder.<\/p>\n
    <\/a>Method 1: Delete the file or folder from Command Prompt<\/h3>\n
      \n
    1. Press and hold the Shift<\/kbd> key and right click on the file or folder<\/li>\n
    2. Select Copy as Path<\/code> in the context menu.<\/li>\n
    3. Open a Command Prompt window (cmd.exe<\/code>)<\/li>\n
    4. Type the following command to delete the item:
      \nIf it’s a file:<\/strong><\/p>\n
      del [drive:\\path\\filename]<\/pre>\n
      \"could<\/p>\n
      If it’s a folder:<\/strong><\/p>\n
      rd \/s \/q [folderpath]<\/pre>\n
      \"could<\/p>\n
      (In the above example, the Office Docs<\/code> folder along with all the sub-folders and files will be deleted.)<\/p>\n
      \"tipsIt’s always better to include the complete path to the file or folder when deleting. Note that you can paste the file\/folder path from the clipboard (which you copied in Step 2<\/code> above) to the Command Prompt by pressing Ctrl<\/kbd> + V<\/kbd>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
      <\/a>Method 2: Delete the file or folder from Command Prompt Using Short File Name format<\/h3>\n
      Use the 8.3 (short file name) file\/folder name to delete the item from Command Prompt. Follow these steps:<\/p>\n
        \n
      1. In the Command Prompt window, change to the parent directory of the file or folder.<\/li>\n
      2. Type DIR \/X<\/code> to find the short file\/folder name (8.1<\/code> name). For example, the short file name for a file named togglethumbs.vbs<\/code> may be something like toggle~1.vbs<\/code>.<\/li>\n
      3. Then delete the file or folder using its short file name from the Command Prompt.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
        <\/a>Method 3: Rename the file or folder<\/h3>\n
        Once you find the short file\/folder name, you may try renaming it. To rename a file or folder, use this command-line syntax:<\/p>\n
          \n
        1. Open a Command Prompt window.<\/li>\n
        2. Then, use the following command-line syntax to rename the item:\n
          REN drive:\\path\\OldName Newname<\/pre>\n
          For example:<\/p>\n
          REN drive:\\path\\toggle~1.vbs  toggle.vbs<\/pre>\n<\/li>\n
        3. Exit the Command Prompt.<\/li>\n
        4. See if you can delete the file via File Explorer.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
          <\/a>Method 4: Dealing with File\/Folder Names ending with DOT or Space<\/h3>\n
          When the file or folder name contains reserved characters or the names end with a dot (.), or space, deleting the file or folder may cause the above-said error.<\/p>\n
          If you find (using DIR \/X<\/code> command) that the file or folder name has a trailing space or a dot (.<\/code>) at the end, use the following syntax (“\\\\?\\<\/code>“) to delete the item:<\/p>\n
          In the Command Prompt window, type:<\/p>\n
          To delete a folder:<\/strong><\/p>\n
          rd \/s \"\\\\?\\D:\\bad\\folder\\path \"<\/pre>\n
          (Note the trailing space)<\/p>\n
          rd \/s \"\\\\?\\D:\\bad\\folder\\path.\"<\/pre>\n
          (Note the trailing dot)<\/p>\n
          Examples:<\/p>\n
          rd \/s \"\\\\?\\D:\\Shared\\folder1 \"<\/pre>\n
          rd \/s \"\\\\?\\D:\\Shared\\folder1.\"<\/pre>\n
          To delete a file:<\/strong><\/p>\n
          del \"\\\\?\\c:\\path_to_file_that contains a trailing space.txt \"<\/pre>\n
          (Note the trailing space)<\/p>\n
          del \"\\\\?\\c:\\path_to_file_that contains a trailing dot.\"<\/pre>\n
          (Note the trailing dot)<\/p>\n
          \n
          (Example) Deleting folders with reserved names or having invalid characters in the name.<\/h4>\n
          In this example, there are three invalid folders namely Con<\/code>, Conduct.<\/code> and LocalState..<\/code><\/p>\n
          \"delete<\/p>\n
          (Note that the word con<\/code> is a reserved name<\/a>, and shouldn’t be used in file or folder names.)<\/p>\n
          Attempting to normally access the folder with a reserved name (e.g., con<\/code>) causes the following error:<\/p>\n
          \n
          Location is not available<\/p>\n
          path:\\con is not accessible.<\/p>\n
          The handle is invalid.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
          \"the<\/p>\n
          To delete the folder, we’ll now run the following command from administrator Command Prompt<\/a>:<\/p>\n
          rd \/s \"\\\\?\\C:\\con\"<\/pre>\n
          The other two folders namely conduct.<\/code> and LocalState..<\/code> have invalid characters (.) in the file name. Let’s run the following commands to delete those folders:<\/p>\n
          rd \/s \"\\\\?\\C:\\conduct.\"\r\nrd \/s \"\\\\?\\C:\\LocalState..\"<\/pre>\n
          \"delete<\/p>\n
          Voila! The three folders are now removed.<\/p>\n
          \"delete<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
          For more information on dealing with files containing reserved or invalid characters, see Microsoft article You cannot delete a file or a folder on an NTFS file system volume<\/a>.<\/em><\/small><\/p>\n
          <\/a>Advanced Methods<\/h3>\n
          \"tools<\/p>\n
          If none of the above options help, check out the article How to Delete a Stubborn Undeletable File or Folder in Windows?<\/a> to learn about other methods to delete the stubborn, corrupted, or undeletable file or folder. Here are some of the options discussed in that article:<\/p>\n