Windows 10: unable to delete icon ~ item not found message

Hello, I am running Windows 10 Home Edition on a Dell XPS 8700 desktop computer. The computer is running Version 2004 (OS Build 19041.928). I was downloading a .pdf file using the Free Download Manager program yesterday and when it was completed there was an icon on my desktop but it could not be opened and if I clicked and I select adobe to open it I get a message that "There was an error opening this document. This file cannot be found." I then tried opening it using another .pdf program with a similar result stating file not found. Check if the file was moved, renamed or deleted. I right clicked and tried deleting the file and I get a message Item Not Found Could not find this item This is no longer located in C:\Users\my user name\Desktop. Verify the item's location and try again. But the file was never moved anywhere. Try Again or Cancel are my options and using try again only results in the same message. I have tried to delete the file but the same pop up message appears. If I try to simply move it to the recycle bin nothing at all happens. I then shut down my computer for the evening and thought I would try again today. As soon as my computer was up and running today, I again tried with the exact same results. I then went and made sure that that there were no new updates to install and then got a message that there was one so I did the updates, restarted the pc and again tried to do something or delete that file all with the same results. I have since then tried running super anti-sypware > system tools > super delete file remover and I get a message for the file saying that file not found. Check the file name and try again. I tried using lock hunter and find out if something was locking the file and it states that no processes locking this file or folder have been found and clicking the delete button does nothing, all options under other are greyed out so lock hunter is of no help either. I have opened the command prompt (admin) and run the sfc /scannow and no problems were found. I then restarted the computer and tried to delete the file but the same thing happens. I also went to the free download manager and deleted anything in the download list and tried again, but again it can't get rid of that icon. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank You So Very Much

:)

 

unable to delete icon ~ item not found message

Hello,
I am running Windows 10 Home Edition on a Dell XPS 8700 desktop computer. The computer is running Version 2004 (OS Build 19041.928).

I was downloading a .pdf file using the Free Download Manager program yesterday and when it was completed there was an icon on my desktop but it could not be opened and if I clicked and I select adobe to open it I get a message that "There was an error opening this document. This file cannot be found." I then tried opening it using another .pdf program with a similar result stating file not found. Check if the file was moved, renamed or deleted.

I right clicked and tried deleting the file and I get a message
Item Not Found Could not find this item This is no longer located in C:\Users\my user name\Desktop. Verify the item's location and try again. But the file was never moved anywhere. Try Again or Cancel are my options and using try again only results in the same message. I have tried to delete the file but the same pop up message appears. If I try to simply move it to the recycle bin nothing at all happens.

I then shut down my computer for the evening and thought I would try again today. As soon as my computer was up and running today, I again tried with the exact same results. I then went and made sure that that there were no new updates to install and then got a message that there was one so I did the updates, restarted the pc and again tried to do something or delete that file all with the same results.

I have since then tried running super anti-sypware > system tools > super delete file remover and I get a message for the file saying that file not found. Check the file name and try again.
I tried using lock hunter and find out if something was locking the file and it states that no processes locking this file or folder have been found and clicking the delete button does nothing, all options under other are greyed out so lock hunter is of no help either.

I have opened the command prompt (admin) and run the sfc /scannow and no problems were found. I then restarted the computer and tried to delete the file but the same thing happens. I also went to the free download manager and deleted anything in the download list and tried again, but again it can't get rid of that icon.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You So Very Much

 

unable to delete icon ~ item not found message

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The File not found errors remind me of problems many experienced when Controlled Folder Access first came on the scene. You might try disabling that while trying to rid yourself of this problem.

1. Open the Start Menu & begin typing "Controlled". Controlled Folder Access should be offered as a result.
2. Open & turn off Controlled Folder Access.

--- Other thoughts ---
Do you still have these seemingly identically named files in the Desktop folder?:


04/14/2021 07:47 PM 290,082 all labs to march 2021.pdf
04/14/2021 06:00 PM 297,980 all labs to march 2021.pdf

If so, could you open PowerShell to the folder location and Copy & paste the following commands one-at-a-time and copy hte results to your reply:

( Move other PDFs out of the folder )

• gci *.pdf
  • The above should list both files. Curious if Mode (Attrubutes) are the same on both files.

If the above command returns both files, please continue with the folloiwing. If only one or none are returned, please post back with detail.

• gci *.pdf | %{ ( [UInt16[]][Char[]]$_.Name ).ForEach({ '{0:x4}' -f $_ }) -join '|' }
  • Checking for non-printing characters and non-stndard spaces
• If you want to try another deletion method that might work with non-standard characters, try:
  • gci *.pdf | Remove-Item -LiteralPath { $_.FullName }

Final Thought

A brute-force method that might work would be to:

1. From the Location tab in its Properties dialog, Re-direct the Desktop folder under This PC to a newly-created folder (of any name) in the same folder as the original Desktop folder. But when prompted, don't move the files. Once you do this, you'll have two folders both displaying the name Desktop. The original, with the files from your Desktop, will no longer have the Location tab in its Properties.
2. Copy all files except the problematic ones from the old folder to the new one.
3. In the old folder with the problem files, Shift + Rt-Click in the folder background & select Open PowerShell window here
4. Copy & paste these two commands into the window & press Enter.

ri desktop.ini -force
(gi .).Attributes -= 'ReadOnly'

1. If there are no errors, type sl .. to move up one level.
2. TYpe gci -ad to list folders. You should see hte Desktop folder we just left and your newly-created folder displaying its true name.
3. Now, you can try to delete the old Desktop folder with the bad files inside it with this command:

ri Desktop -Recurse -Force


Good Luck!!!

 

unable to delete icon ~ item not found message

Hi.... there are several methods listed in this help article for dealing with this. Seems to be somewhat common. See if any help, particularly the delete from command prompt.

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