Trying to delete a file

Avast One
1

I am trying to delete a file. I am told I cannot delete it because it is “open in Avast Antivirus”. I haven’t used the file for many years. How can I remove it from this so I can delete it

2

I don’t know about Avast One, but in Avast Free you can pause shields temporarily. Try pausing File Shield or similar, and then deleting the file.

There is also an option to disable Avast Self Defense (I suggest only doing so for a moment) but unless the file is related to Avast you shouldn’t have to touch this.

3

Thanks for your prompt response. I turned off File Shield but it didn’t help. It says the file is still open somewhere.

4

You don’t say what this file is ?
Or why you want to delete it ?

As Rundvleeskroke said.

But this essentially relies on what the file is, it won’t make a difference if it isn’t an Avast file (which is what I asked)?

5

David thanks for your response.

I didn’t think it made a difference. There are two Excel spreadsheets.

I have been moving files from one external HD to another and consolidating copies. I moved a large directory of several files to the internal HD to check through.

When I had finished and putting the files in more appropriate locations I then deleted the entire temporary directory. All the files and the sub folders deleted themselves successfully, except for two files and the subdirectories they are in.

Despite moving them onto the internal HD I now cannot move them, delete them or rename the files or folders.

6

This isn’t something that I have experienced, but it is an extremely long time since I used an external HDD drive (but I have been using for over 20 years), mainly for backups.

I just wonder if there isn’t still some sort of connection (in windows) that may be holding on to them. But not knowing what these files are I would guessing why windows might be holding/locking them.

Have you tried a system restart which I would assume complete this transfer.

7

There are unlocker tools, but if a reboot doesn’t fix it, an easier way may be to boot Windows into safe mode and then try deleting the files. If Avast isn’t running, it shouldn’t be able to lock the files.

8

double