An ISO file is required to clean install or upgrade the Windows operating system. After that, you can delete that ISO file from your PC. Usually, the ISO files are large and have a size in GB. That’s why it is better to delete an ISO file instead of keeping it on your PC. What if Windows does not let you delete the ISO file? Some users experienced this problem. They can’t delete the ISO file as the file is opened in their systems. If you come across such an issue, the solutions provided in this article will help you. The exact error message you see could be:
File In Use, The action can’t be completed because the file is open in System
Can’t delete ISO file as the file is open in System
If you can’t delete an ISO file on your Windows computer, use the solutions provided below:
- Restart your computer and try again
- Eject or unmount the ISO file
- Boot in Safe Mode and delete the ISO file
- Take ownership of the ISO file
- Use the file deleter software
Let’s see all these fixes in detail.
1] Restart your computer and try again
This is the easiest fix. If this works, you need not proceed toward the other troubleshooting methods described below. Restart your computer and see if you can delete the ISO file or not. If this does not help, use the other solutions.
2] Eject or Unmount the ISO file
If you have used an ISO file, you definitely know that first, you have to mount it on your system. Mounting an ISO file creates a drive on your system. Now, you can open that drive and run the installation setup. You cannot delete an ISO file until it is mounted on your system. Therefore, if the operation of deleting an ISO file keeps failing, again and again, check if it is mounted or not.
Open the File Explorer. If you see that the ISO file is mounted, unmount it by using the Eject option. For this right-click on the mounted ISO drive and select Eject. After unmounting the ISO file, you will be able to delete it.
3] Boot in Safe Mode and delete the ISO file
This solution is for users who cannot delete the ISO file even if it is not mounted on their systems. Sometimes, background applications prevent you from deleting a particular file. Boot your computer in Safe Mode and then delete the ISO file. Safe Mode is a troubleshooting mode in which Windows boots up only with the necessary set of drivers.
4] Take ownership of the ISO file
Sometimes, problems occur due to permission issues. Such types of problems can be resolved easily by taking ownership of the particular file. But for this, you have to log in to your system as an administrator. Take ownership of the ISO file and then delete it.
5] Use the file deleter software
File deleter software lets you force delete the files. If you have tried all the above fixes but to no avail, you can use these free software to force delete the ISO file. But before you proceed, make sure that the file is not mounted as a drive on your system, otherwise, you may be in trouble.
I hope this helps.
Similar: The action cannot be completed because the file is open in COM Surrogate
How do I delete a file that has no delete button?
Usually, users use the right-click context menu to delete a file. If the Delete option is missing in the right-click context menu, you can try other ways to delete that file. Select the file and press the Delete button on your keyboard. If this does not work, repair your system files. You can also try creating a new user account. If nothing works, perform a System Restore.
Read next: Mount ISO option missing in Context Menu of Windows.
