How to Fix the “Could Not Find This Item” Deletion Error in Windows

We all sometimes need to remove files and folders to make room for new ones on our PC. On occasion, a substance, nonetheless, will not exit your system.

You make a few attempts to remove it, but each time you get the “Could not locate this object” error.

It may be annoying to encounter this obstacle. After all, despite the fact that you can see the file or folder you need to remove on your computer, you are unable to do it due to an obtrusive prompt.

Here are various solutions to help you get rid of this notice if you’re having trouble.

Restart Windows Explorer

Press Ctrl + Shift + Esc on your keyboard to open Task Manager.

Look for Windows Explorer on the Processes tab and select it

Click on Restart.

Try to delete the file or folder and see if the “Could not find this item” prompt will show up again.

Zip Up the Item and Then Delete the Zipped File

Right-click the item and select Compress to ZIP file.

Delete the zipped archive and, hopefully, it will go away, along with the file or folder you were initially trying to delete.

Using PowerShell

Right-click on the file you want to delete and select Copy as Path

Type Windows Powershell in your Windows search bar and select Run as Administrator.

Enter the following command and press Enter.

del [“drive:\path\filename“]

NOTE: Replace the text inside the bracket [ ] with the path you copied in the very first step by pressing Ctrl + V.