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WilliamWolfe-9904 avatar image
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WilliamWolfe-9904 asked DanielZhang-MSFT edited

Cannot Delete Dropbox Folder

I have uninstalled Dropbox, but have a folder c:/Users/Username/Dropbox that I cannot delete. Even using DOS command I get the error message that the folder/files are in use. This is just not so. How do I get rid of it?

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cooldadtx avatar image
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cooldadtx answered

The folder is still in use by some process. This is very common for programs that integrate with the shell as the shell extension that provides the functionality is loaded until a reboot. Once you reboot you should be able to delete the folder.

If you have already rebooted then most likely there is an extra process hanging around that didn't get cleaned up properly. Use Process Explorer to find out who has a handle to any files under that folder. Once you've found the process the steps needed to clean up the process and remove the folder generally are obvious.

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Viorel-1 avatar image
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Viorel-1 answered

If the problem persists even after restarting the computer, then try using the Handle or Handle64 tool (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/downloads/handle) to find the cause of file locking. Check these commands: 'handle64 c:/Users/Username/Dropbox' or 'handle64 Dropbox', and show the results.

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WilliamWolfe-9904 avatar image
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WilliamWolfe-9904 answered

I cannot find anything with the words 'Dropbox' in Process Explorer. Running Handle spins a lot of data off the screen, but no way to stop or save the data.

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WilliamWolfe-9904 avatar image
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WilliamWolfe-9904 answered cooldadtx commented

I found a Dropbox Key(s)
88723-screenshot-2021-04-16-213454.jpg



Should I just delete these keys?


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Registry keys have nothing to do with locked files. A process is running that locks it.

So you rebooted your machine and you still cannot delete the folder because it says a process is using it? It isn't a permissions error like "You do not have permissions" right?

In Process Explorer click the Find\Find Handle option. Then type 'dropbox' and click Search. You're saying it shows nothing and yet the folder is locked?

Look at the processes that are running, do any of them say Dropbox or equivalent? Check your scheduled Tasks to see if you have an extra task still scheduled.

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WilliamWolfe-9904 avatar image
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WilliamWolfe-9904 answered

Tried to run process explorer, but when opening Explorer all I get are folder icons instead of a list of files for the selected folder. Nothing to my knowledge has changed since last night, View settings are ser for 'Details'. This applies of all folders selected via Explorer.

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WilliamWolfe-9904 avatar image
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WilliamWolfe-9904 answered cooldadtx commented

Interesting - Rebooted and the Explorer problem went away

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Like I said apps that have shell integration use a shell extension. The extension doesn't unload until a reboot and hence you generally cannot get rid of any locks they have until then. Sounds like your problem is solved now.

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