If you’re having trouble accessing a file or folder, it’s likely because you don’t have the correct permissions. To check your permissions, open File Explorer and go to the folder where the file or folder is located. If you see an Access is Denied or You don’t currently have permission to access this folder message, then you’ll need to get administrator privileges to access the file or folder. ..
Access Is Denied Error
This particular error is typically caused by permissions on a file. However, it can also be caused by other issues like a corrupted user profile, encryption on the file or if the file is in use. We’ll talk about file in use errors in the next section.
If you are not the owner of the folder, you will need to set permissions for your user account in order to gain access. To do this, open the Windows Control Panel and click on the Administrative Tools tab. There, you will find a list of tools that will help you with setting permissions for folders and files. On the left hand side of this window, you will see a list of accounts that have administrator rights. In this list, you will see your user account name and it’s permission level. If you are not the owner of the folder or if your user account is not at the top of this list, then you will need to set permissions for your user account in order to gain access.
If you get the message “You have been denied permission to access this folder,” that means you are not the owner of the folder and you will need to take ownership before you can change its permissions.
Take Ownership of Files and Folders in Windows
There is a lot of taking ownership when it comes to files and folders. To get started, you need to right-click on the file or folder, choose Properties and then go to the Security tab. There you will find a lot of information about how to protect your files and folders from unauthorized access.
If you have no access to the folder, you’ll see a message stating you need administrator privileges to view the security properties. Go ahead and click on Continue. This will pop up another dialog where you get the option to change the owner. ..
In the Change owner to box, select your user account or Administrators. I personally choose my own account because that’s the default behavior in Windows when you create a new folder/file. Also make sure to check the Replace owner on subcontainers and objects box. Click OK and you’ll get another message saying you don’t have permissions to read the contents, do you want to replace permissions and grant yourself Full Control. Click Yes. Now that you have Full Control of the folder, it’s time to make some changes! In the Contents pane, right-click on the file or folder that you want to change ownership of and select Properties from the context menu. In the Properties dialog box, click on the Security tab and then click on Advanced button. In the Advanced Security Settings dialog box, make sure that both Owner is set to your user account and Replace owner on subcontainers and objects is checked. Click OK and close all of the dialog boxes. ..
Close any open dialogs and go back to the Explorer screen. Once there, again right-click on the file/folder and choose Properties and go to the Security tab. It should now look a bit different.
If you want the default Windows permissions that would be applied, you can follow the next couple of steps. Click on the Advanced button and then click on Change Permissions.
Remove all permissions from your user account. This will create a new user account with no permissions.
You should reset your user account’s permissions to include SYSTEM and Administrators, as well as any sub-folders with files. If the folder has many sub-folders, you can check the Replace all child object permissions with inheritable permissions from this object box. Close all dialogs and you should be good to go!
If you are having trouble accessing a file or folder, it is always a good idea to check the permissions on that file or folder. You can do this by opening the Properties window for the file or folder and looking at the Security tab. ..
The other issue is if the file is encrypted. You can always try checking to see if the file is encrypted or not by right-clicking and choosing Properties. Then click on the Advanced button from the General tab and uncheck the Encrypt contents to secure data box.
If someone else has encrypted the file/folder, you will not be able to access it until you can decrypt it using their user account. The last issue if the file itself is corrupt. In that case, you will have to search for software that can help repair corrupt files, though this is a very rare cause of the problem.
File in Use or Sharing Violation Error
If you are getting the Access is Denied message when trying to share a file, there may be a sharing violation. To troubleshoot the issue, try the following procedure: ..
You can find out which processes are locking up a file by running Process Explorer from Microsoft. Right-click on the executable file after unzipping and choose Run as Administrator. Then don’t worry about all the crazy colors and bars, just go to the top and click on Find and then Find Handle or DLL.
Search for: file.txt
If Notepad.exe is locked on your computer, you can use the following steps to unlock it:
- Select the item in the box and then close the search box.
- You should be back at the main process explorer screen.
- At the bottom, a row should be highlighted and it should be the path to the file that you had selected in the search box.
The program is not working properly.
Cannot delete file: Error 5 Access is denied There has been a sharing violation The source or destination file may be in use The file is in use by another program or user Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected and that the file is not currently in use
Windows 10 is a very lightweight operating system that can tell you a lot about Windows processes. However, if someone denies you access to the program manually, you will not be able to get into the folder or file unless you are given permissions from an Administrator! Have any questions, post a comment. Enjoy!
