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barrygb54's avatar
barrygb54
Copper Contributor
Feb 27, 2026

Unable to delete a directory on windows 11 - my solution

It's crazy, I couldn't delete 2 empty directories for the life of me. I tried ALL of the solutions, believe me. Hours. Redgedits, Reboots, Remove Empty Directories, too many solutions to list. I recall messages that the file wasn't found, or moved to a different locarion, and other errors that I cannot recall.

Then I gave up and just for the h3ll of it, got on my android tablet, and used my file app (Luckfick File Manager} and I accessed the share that my directories that I couldn't delete on my Windows 11 machine, and I deleted them from the android app. Not trusting my eyes, I ran to the PC and lo and behold - the directories in File Explorer were gone!!!! I think that they contained a funky character " ) " (Parentheses) - Screenshot of file in Recycle Bin below.

So, whatever you are using Android, or maybe APPLE, you can try this with your file app, it obviously has to have access to SMB shares and the directory must be shared SMB, and it may work. Let me know.

 

 

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2 Replies

  • Dukeka's avatar
    Dukeka
    Brass Contributor
    Feb 28, 2026

    It's possible that the directories were hard-linked to another location on your system, making them appear as empty but actually containing content elsewhere.

    • barrygb54's avatar
      barrygb54
      Copper Contributor
      Feb 28, 2026

      I use a filesystem viewer called "Everything" I searched for the file, and the program shows links, there was no links to the filesystems I deleted. In addition to the screenshot attached there was another directory similarly named that I deleted and had run the Recycle Bin before getting a screenshot. That filesystem was similarly named, with a parenthese in the filename that didn't include a closing paranthese. I was extremely frustrated so I didn't document the steps I tried, but I tried about everything that was suggested online, but still no joy. I even tried "DeleteEmptyFolders" from the Windows Store, and that showed the empty directories, and I clicked on remove, and it did not work. IF I were more adventurous, I would recreate the directory shown in the illustration " Close to the Edge (Super Deluxe " and try to remove it.... Maybe it was the fact the the name of the directory included this ( but not this )

      I'm just glad I was able to remove the directory. I made certain that the directory was indeed empty,