Fix: The Action Cannot be Completed Because the File is Open in Windows Explorer

When attempting to delete, transfer, or rename a file on a Windows machine, some users see the error ‘action cannot be completed because the file is open in windows explorer.’ Microsoft Office files (Word and Excel files) and PDF files are the most commonly affected.

The issue isn’t limited to a single Windows version; it can be found in Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10.

What is causing the action cannot be completed because the file is open in windows explorer error?

We looked into this issue by looking at a variety of user reports and the repair procedures they utilized to remedy the problem. According to our findings, there are a few typical scenarios that are known to cause this error message:

  • The file preview window of Windows Explorer is causing the error – This is most commonly reported with PDF and picture files. As it turns out, Windows Explorer’s previewing feature can malfunction in some circumstances, preventing the user from manipulating the file. In this scenario, the problem can be solved by turning off file previews in Windows Explorer.
  • The file is being actively used by another process – This is one of the most typical causes of this type of issue. The file you’re trying to open is most likely being used by the process behind Windows Explorer (explorer.exe) or another process. In this scenario, the problem can be remedied simply terminating the conflicting process.

If you’re having difficulties resolving the error “action cannot be completed because the file is open in windows explorer,” this article will walk you through a few tried-and-true troubleshooting procedures. Below are two approaches that other people in a similar scenario have taken to remedy the problem.

We recommend that you follow the procedures below in the order that they are presented if you want to be efficient.

Method 1: Turning off File previews in Windows Explorer

The majority of customers who have encountered the ‘action cannot be completed because the file is open in windows explorer‘ error have found that deactivating file preview in Windows Explorer solves the problem. As it turns out, this feature is known to occasionally malfunction on all modern Windows versions, preventing users from working with PDF and other image-type files.

The problem was rectified for affected users after they followed a series of instructions to disable thumbnail previews in folder settings. This is what you must do:

1. To launch the Run dialog box, press Windows key + R. Then, to open the File Explorer Options screen, type “control folders” and hit Enter.

2. Go to the View tab in the File Explorer window, then navigate to Advanced settings, and make sure the box labeled Always show icons, never thumbnails is enabled.

3. To see if you can handle the file without seeing the ‘action cannot be completed because the file is open in windows explorer‘ message, click Apply to save the modifications.

If you’re still having trouble with the error, try the next method down below.

PRO TIP: If the issue is with your computer or a laptop/notebook you should try using Restoro Repair which can scan the repositories and replace corrupt and missing files. This works in most cases, where the issue is originated due to a system corruption. You can download Restoro by Clicking Here

 Method 2: Identifying & closing the process that has the file open

A couple of users who were having trouble resolving this issue were able to do so by using Resource Monitor to locate and close the programs that were utilizing the file that was causing the error. This procedure is carried out entirely within Windows (no additional software is needed).

Here’s how to find and close the process that’s causing the ‘action cannot be completed because the file is open in windows explorer‘ error:

1. To launch the Run dialog box, press Windows key + R. Then, to open the Resource Monitor utility, type “resmon.exe” and click Enter.

2. Navigate to the CPU tab in the Resource Monitor program and scroll down to Associated Handles. Next, type the name of the file that caused the problem. The file that causes the problem in our situation is called last day.xlsx. So we typed ‘last day‘ into the search box and discovered that Excel.exe was the process that was using it.

Note that this search can be done on any file type.

3. Right-click on the process that is using the file triggering the error and select End process.

Note: Because Windows Explorer is referenced in the error message, the process listed here is almost certainly explorer.exe.

4. Check to verify whether the ‘action cannot be completed because the file is open in windows explorer‘ error has been fixed by repeating the procedure that previously caused it.

If you’ve any queries, check this video:

That’s about it.

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