Can't delete folder and I am admin. "You need permission to perform this action. You require permission from..."

I am not sure why this happens but there is a workaround.

To take control of the folder containing the undeletable create a text file called “delete.bat” and add the following lines to it:

SET DIRECTORY_NAME="C:\Locked Directory"
TAKEOWN /f %DIRECTORY_NAME% /r /d y
ICACLS %DIRECTORY_NAME% /grant administrators:F /t
PAUSE

You will need to change the directory path to match your requirements e.g. “C:\Locked Directory” to “C:\Delete Me”.

Right click on the file “delete.bat” select “Run As Administrator” and you should now have full control of the directory and all sub directories meaning you can do what you wish with them.


The only way was to delete files starting from the lowest level folder in that folder. I got that error message with every folder which had subfolders. I deleted all files/subfolders working my way up.


A folder can disallow a parent from overwriting its permissions, so it stops working at a certain depth.

Use Process Monitor and filter for ACCESS DENIED events to figure out this depth

Every time an ACCESS DENIED event occurs change the permissions as explained by @Sahil.


You can use Handle too see what processes are opening files within your folder.

handle C:\Path\To\Folder\You\Are\Trying\To\Delete

Example:

C:\Windows\system32>handle C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv

Handle v3.45
Copyright (C) 1997-2011 Mark Russinovich
Sysinternals - www.sysinternals.com

svchost.exe   pid: 1500  type: File  134: C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\config\schema
svchost.exe   pid: 1500  type: File  1B4: C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\config\schema
svchost.exe   pid: 1500  type: File  1BC: C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\config
svchost.exe   pid: 1500  type: File  1CC: C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\config
svchost.exe   pid: 1500  type: File  1D0: C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\config
inetinfo.exe  pid: 1572  type: File  3C:  C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\en-US\inetinfo.exe.mui
inetinfo.exe  pid: 1572  type: File  188: C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\MBSchema.bin.00000000h
inetinfo.exe  pid: 1572  type: File  190: C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\MBSchema.bin.00000000h
inetinfo.exe  pid: 1572  type: File  1BC: C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\MetaBase.xml
inetinfo.exe  pid: 1572  type: File  1D4: C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\MBSchema.xml
svchost.exe   pid: 1884  type: File  1AC: C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\config\schema
svchost.exe   pid: 1884  type: File  1C0: C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\config
svchost.exe   pid: 1884  type: File  1C4: C:\Windows\System32\inetsrv\config

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Windows 7