I suppose many of you at least once have seen the following error message when trying to delete a file.

unlocker

The error messages that   appear could be various,  but the effect is always the same: the file you want to remove can not be deleted and remains. This often happens because the file you want to delete, move or rename is actually in use  or some restrictions are applied.When such things happen, everybody start to make various experiments, to escape from this problem. Dozens of variations and combinations are tested, including the suspension of certain programs and applications and finally, in most cases  restart of the system. Sometimes the users manage to delete the file, but it costs them much time and effort.

Today I will suggest you a free software application that will save you a lot of time. If you are one of the many users who seek an easier way to delete a file that is seemingly undeletable , then maybe this article will help.

Unlocker is a small program that is very easy to use and will help you delete files that you can not remove in the standard way. Installation of the program is standard and easy, as you will not meet any obstacles. I was impressed by the huge list of different languages that are available in the program, including English. I will say only a small detail in the installation, that comes to the window in which you must select the components to be installed.

You have the opportunity to choose up to five components:

unlocker-choose-components

” Check for updates” -  If you select this component, after the installation and during the operation with the program, it will automatically check for newer versions. The convenience here is, that you will not need to manually download a new version but it will do so for you.

“Explorer extension” -  Enabling this option will allow Unlocker to be integrated in the contextual menus that appear when pressing the right button on a file.

“Assistant” – This component will monitor your actions and if you try to delete a file that is locked,  a window that looks like the one below will appear.

unlocker-187

If you have enabled the components “Assistant”, after the installation, Unlocker  will show its icon in the tray ( in the lower right corner). Of course you can always turn off the assistant by pressing right button on its icon in the System Trey and select “Close” from the menu. unlocker-autostart11However,if the option “Autostart” is enabled, the next time you restart your operating system, the assistant will be started again.  In case you do not want Unlocker to be launched along with the operating system, simply click once on the option “Autostart”, to turn it off (deselect it).

“Sendto shortcut” – If you enable this option, an additional element called “Unlocker” will be placed in the ” Send To” context menu.You can send any file for processing with Unlocker by this contextual menu . I think this element  is unnecessary if you have enabled the ” Explorer extension” , as the functions of these two components overlap.

” eBay shortcuts” – select it if you want the application to place eBay shortcuts on the desktop.

Note that none of these options can be changed after the installation of the software until you re-install it. Once we are ready and have installed, fully functional and operational program, let’s see  its capabilities and how to use it.

From now on, whenever you encounter a locked file or folder, you can rely on Unlocker. Just right click on that file and select “Unlocker”. Then it will scan the file to determine whether it is locked by any application. If the file or folder is not locked, you will see a small window like the picture below.

unlocker-choose-actionIn this window, the program reports, that there is no locking handle found on the specific file and you will be asked to choose an action to perform. You have two options: first is if you do not want to do anything with the file and then just have to click “Exit”. The second is if you want to perform a certain action with it. In this case look at the left side of this window where is a drop-down list of operations you can perform.

” No action” – This option is equivalent to the button “Quit”.

” Delete” -  Gives you the opportunity to delete the file.

“Rename” – use it to rename the file.

“Move” – you can move the file to a new location.

In case of detected locking handle, you will see a window containing information divided in several columns, located in its upper part. The first column “Process” contains information about the process that has locked the file. In “Path locked” is given the full path and file name of the object. In the “PID” column you will find the number of the process and the “Handle” column shows the handle number. In the last column “Path of the process” is specified the full path to the process that has locked the file.

In the lower left corner of the window you have the same drop-down list of operations that have been described above.

In the lower right  corner of the window is located group of four buttons:

“Kill process” – By pressing this button you can stop the process that has locked the file, then you can delete it.

“Unlock” – This function doesn’t stop the whole process but just removes the locking handle on the file.

“Unlock all” – same as the above but unlocks all files in the list.

“Quit” – Stops the program without taking any action.

Now after the review of the program I’m sure that it will be useful for everyone, so next time you receive an error message when trying to delete a file, just don’t panic and try it.