Windows 10: Cannot delete a folder on a flash drive

Discus and support Cannot delete a folder on a flash drive in Windows 10 Drivers and Hardware to solve the problem; I have a Samsung flash drive. It has a huge folder with thousands of files on it. I want to empty the drive, but I'm unable to delete that folder. File... Discussion in 'Windows 10 Drivers and Hardware' started by ehalill, Sep 4, 2020.

  1. ehalill Win User

    Cannot delete a folder on a flash drive


    I have a Samsung flash drive. It has a huge folder with thousands of files on it. I want to empty the drive, but I'm unable to delete that folder. File Explorer just hangs or does nothing no error message. The same when I try to delete individual files in batches. Sometimes I've managed to delete some files, but most of them are still there. Again, File Explorer either hangs or does nothing when I try to delete the files.


    The drive doesn't appear to be faulty, as I can access and read the files just fine. I can even delete them one by one, but with the amount of files I have in that folder it would take me a year. Formatting the drive doesn't work Windows was unable to complete the format. Third party software doesn't work. Disk management fails as well. So do various command line options.


    How can I get rid of that folder? It would seem too drastic to ditch the whole drive which wasn't very cheap just because I cannot delete a folder...

    :)
     
    ehalill, Sep 4, 2020
    #1

  2. Trouble deleting a folder

    Thanks for the suggestion but it says "delete folder failed for E:\....." for each folder I try.

    *Confused Cannot delete a folder on a flash drive :confused:

    Will I be forever stuck with these unnecessary folders? *Oh Well Cannot delete a folder on a flash drive :eek:hwell:
     
    oli_ramsay, Sep 4, 2020
    #2
  3. topgundcp Win User
    Unable to delete a folder - Invalid folder name


    Suggestion:
    1. Run chkdsk x: /r to make sure that there's no HD corruption.
      x: is the drive containing the folder you want to delete.
    2. Try to delete the folder again. If still does not work, go to step 3.
    3. Download: Download - Linux Mint and create a bootable USB using: Rufus - Create bootable USB
    4. Boot up with Linux Mint and try to delete the folder again.
      NOTE: Unlike WinPE. Linux does not have any Windows permission imposed to it so it is easier to delete.
     
    topgundcp, Sep 4, 2020
    #3
  4. Cannot delete a folder on a flash drive

    Deleted folder on flash drive

    I erroneously deleted a folder on a flash drive. The folder contains ~ 22 files (Word docs and pdf's). Can I restore it to the flash drive?

    Thanks, John
     
    John J Vecchio, Sep 4, 2020
    #4
Thema:

Cannot delete a folder on a flash drive

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