Can't Delete Files From External Hard Drive? Easy Fixes Here!

Can't delete external hard drive files? Try these methods!

External hard disk files take up space, and deleting them is imperative. However, some users report that they cannot delete files on external hard drives. This article will provide several solutions.

Unable to delete external hard drive files

Permanently deleting useless files on external hard drives can not only free up disk space, but also effectively prevent data leakage. However, you may encounter problems where you cannot delete files, such as the following users:

Unable to delete folders from external hard drive. This drove me crazy. This external hard drive does not allow me to delete folders. No error message. I click on the folder I want to delete, and the normal "Delete Dialog" appears, about "Recycling" the file. Then the dialog closes, but the folder and all files remain on the drive as if nothing happened.

Typically, external hard drive files may not be deleted due to the following reasons:

• You do not have permission to delete a specific file.
• The external hard disk is in write-protected state.
• There is a file system error in the drive.
• The drive is attacked by viruses.

Here are some effective methods, please continue reading.

Solution to the problem of not being able to delete external hard disk files

Method 1: Obtain file/folder permissions

If you do not have permission to delete files/folders, follow these steps to obtain permissions:

Step 1. In File Explorer, right-click the file that cannot be deleted, and then click Properties .

Step 2. Go to the Security tab and click the Edit button.

Step 3. In the new window, click Add .

Step 4. Type Authenticated Users in the text box and click OK .

Step 5. Next, make sure the Authenticated Users name is selected and then select Full Control next to the Allow box.

Step 6. Click Apply > OK .

Now you can try to delete the file again and check if it can be deleted successfully.

Method 2: Cancel the write protection of external hard drives

If the external hard drive is in write-protected state, you may also be unable to delete its files. How to unwrite protected properties? Please follow these steps:

Step 1. In the Windows Search box, type diskpart , and right-click it in the Best Match Results to select Run as Administrator .

Step 2. In the command line window, type the following command. Press Enter after each command.

• list disk
• select disk x (x refers to the disk number of the external hard disk)
• attributes disk clear readonly

Method 3: Check for external hard drive errors

As mentioned earlier, a corrupt file system may also cause the failure to delete external hard drive files. To fix the file system, you can run the error checking tool.

Step 1. In File Explorer, go to this computer section.

Step 2. In the right panel, locate and right-click the external hard drive, and select Properties from the context menu.

Step 3. Go to the Tools tab and click the Check button to detect and repair file system errors.

Step 4. Wait for the process to complete and check if the "Unable to delete files from hard disk" issue has been resolved.

Method 4: Reformat the external hard drive

The ultimate solution to the inability to delete external hard drive files is to format the drive. Formatting the hard drive deletes all data on the hard drive and allows you to set up a new file system. You can format the external hard drive from File Explorer.

Notice:

Step 1. In this computer section, right-click the external hard drive to select Format .

Step 2. In the pop-up window, select the file system, set the volume label, select the Quick Format option, and click Start .

If you receive an error message that Windows cannot complete formatting, you can use the free hard disk formatter MiniTool Partition Wizard to format the external hard disk.

Step 1. Download, install and run the MiniTool Partition Wizard.

Step 2. Select the partition you want to format and scroll down to click Format Partition from the left panel.

Step 3. Click the Apply button in the lower left corner.

Summarize

In short, if you cannot delete files from an external hard drive, you can try to get file/folder permissions, unwrite protection for drives, check for drive errors, and format the drive.

Before formatting your drive, you need to recover its data using MiniTool Power Data Recovery.

If you have any questions about MiniTool software, please contact us.

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