Open Resource Monitor; 2. Look for relevant processes in the "CPU" or "Memory" tab; 3. End the program process that occupies files or folders. When deleting or renaming a folder prompts to be occupied by other programs, you can locate the specific process through the resource monitor and end it, thus solving the problem.

You are about to delete or rename a folder, and the prompt pops up: "The action can't be completed because the folder or a file in it is open in another program". This is common, but it does cause a headache. The solution is actually not complicated. The key is to find which program occupies this file or folder.

1. Close the relevant program (the most common solution)

Many times, the system has clearly told you that "there is a file occupied by another program", and the first step is to manually close these programs .

• Check if there are any software that is opened, such as Word, Excel, picture viewer, video player, etc., especially programs that you have recently operated the contents of the folder.
• If you preview certain files (such as PDFs) in your browser, it may also be that the browser locks it in the background.
• Right-click on the taskbar → "Task Manager" → Check for suspicious processes and right-click to end them.

Tips: If you are not sure which program is being used, you can try restarting the computer and then performing it. Most temporary locking issues will disappear after restarting.

2. Use Resource Monitor to find occupant processes

If the above method doesn't work, you need to have a deeper investigation - Windows comes with a very useful tool called Resource Monitor .

The steps are as follows:

• Press Ctrl Shift Esc to open Task Manager
• Switch to the Performance tab → Click "Open Resource Monitor" at the bottom
• Find "Associated Handles" next to the "CPU" tab
• Enter the folder name or file name you are having in the search box
• It lists all processes that are accessing the file/folder
• Right-click the corresponding process → end the task

Note: It is recommended to back up important data before operation to avoid instability caused by manslaughtering critical processes of the system.

3. Check whether it is occupied by system services or indexing functions

Sometimes it is not caused by the program you open on your own initiative, but the system itself is processing these files.

• Windows Search Index Service : Sometimes it scans folder content in the background, causing a brief lock.
• Antivirus software or synchronization tools (such as OneDrive, Dropbox): These tools usually run in the background and may scan or cache files.

You can try:

• Temporarily turn off antivirus software or synchronization tool (remember to restart it afterwards)
• Or exclude folders from the index:
  • Right-click the folder → Properties → Advanced → Check "In addition to file properties, it is also allowed to index the contents of files on this drive."
  • Uncheck → Apply

4. Force unlock using third-party tools

If you don't want to mess around with the command line or resource monitor, you can also use some small third-party tools to quickly solve the problem:

• Unlocker : The interface is friendly, you can see which process is occupying and select Release by clicking.
• LockHunter : powerful, capable of forcibly unlocking most locks
• Process Explorer (Microsoft official tool): Recommended by advanced users, similar to task manager but more detailed

Tip: Pay attention to the source when downloading these tools and avoid downloading versions with bundled software.

Basically these are the methods. In most cases, closing the program or restarting the computer can do it; if it doesn't work, then check the process and services step by step. Although this problem is annoying, it can generally be solved as long as the thinking is clear.

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