[Fix] “Could not find this item” When Deleting a File or Folder in Windows

When you attempt to delete a file or folder on your Windows computer, the “Item not found” error may appear. Here is the full error message:

Fix “Could Not Find This Item” When Deleting

First, make sure you refresh the screen by pressing the F5 key. This is to check if the file or folder really exists, or if it has been already deleted by some program and only the ghost icon appears. If the file or folder appears even after refreshing the screen, then try one of these methods to delete the file or folder.

Method 1: Delete the file or folder from Command Prompt

1. Press and hold the Shift key and right click on the file or folder
2. Select Copy as Path in the context menu.
3. Open a Command Prompt window (cmd.exe)
4. Type the following command to delete the item:
   If it’s a file:      del [drive:\path\filename]If it’s a folder:    rd /s /q [folderpath]
   It’s always better to include the complete path to the file or folder when deleting. Note that you can paste the file/folder path from the clipboard (which you copied in Step 2 above) to the Command Prompt by pressing Ctrl + V.

Method 2: Delete the file or folder from Command Prompt Using Short File Name format

Use the 8.3 (short file name) file/folder name to delete the item from Command Prompt. Follow these steps:

1. In the Command Prompt window, change to the parent directory of the file or folder.
2. Type DIR /X to find the short file/folder name (8.1 name). For example, the short file name for a file named togglethumbs.vbs may be something like toggle~1.vbs.
3. Then delete the file or folder using its short file name from the Command Prompt.

Method 3: Rename the file or folder

Once you find the short file/folder name, you may try renaming it. To rename a file or folder, use this command-line syntax:

1. Open a Command Prompt window.
2. Then, use the following command-line syntax to rename the item:    REN drive:\path\OldName Newname
3. Exit the Command Prompt.
4. See if you can delete the file via File Explorer.

Method 4: Dealing with File/Folder Names ending with DOT or Space

When the file or folder name contains reserved characters or the names end with a dot (.), or space, deleting the file or folder may cause the above-said error.

If you find (using DIR /X command) that the file or folder name has a trailing space or a dot (.) at the end, use the following syntax (“\\?\“) to delete the item:

In the Command Prompt window, type:

To delete a folder:     rd /s “\\?\D:\bad\folder\path ”  (Note the trailing space)    rd /s “\\?\D:\bad\folder\path.”  (Note the trailing dot)

To delete a file:    del “\\?\c:\path_to_file_that contains a trailing space.txt ”  (Note the trailing space)

del “\\?\c:\path_to_file_that contains a trailing dot.”    (Note the trailing dot)