Cannot Delete File After Closing It in Word for WindowsLast reviewed: July 30, 1997Article ID: Q69946 |
The information in this article applies to:
SYMPTOMSIf you try to delete a Word for Windows document after you close the document in Word, sometimes one of the following error messages occurs, indicating that the file is open:
If you delete the document from The message reads ------------------------------- ----------------- The MS-DOS command prompt Access Denied. Windows File Manager File Manager cannot delete <filename>: Access is denied. Make sure the disk is not full or write-protected. Word 6.0 for Windows Find File Word cannot delete the file. dialog box <filename> is not accessible or is in use. Word 2.x for Windows Find File Word cannot delete the file. dialog box <filename> is in use. CAUSEBefore you closed the document in Word, you copied a selection in the document to the Windows Clipboard. By design, when you copy text to the Clipboard, Word places a pointer to the original document on the Clipboard instead of an actual copy of the selection. The pointer keeps open a Windows file handle to the document, even after you close the document in Word. As a result, if you try to delete the document, the system considers it to be open and aborts the delete operation. Similarly, if you reopen the file, Word considers the file to be open elsewhere, so the file opens as read-only. This occurs more frequently in Word 2.x than Word 6.0 because Word 6.0 does the following, whenever possible, to minimize the number of times it has to maintain a pointer to the original file after you close a document:
WORKAROUNDSMethod 1: a. After you close the original document. b. Open a second document and Copy some text from the document to the Windows Clipboard. This releases the Windows file handle c. Close the second document. d. You should now be able to delete the original document.Method 2: Exit and restart Word for Windows.
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