How to delete a file being used by another program Here are some practical ways to dodge the pop-up and delete files that are in use by a program on your Windows PC.

If you receive File in Use. The action can't be completed because the file is open in another program even if file is closed in another program, see this.

OpenFilesView is a free download for Windows only. Note that there's a 32-bit and a 64-bit version; you'll have to grab the one that matches your system type.

Learn how to reset file, folder & user permissions to default in Windows using secedit & icacls, subinacl commands, Reset security & permission issues to default.