Solved: Can’t Delete Files from External Hard Drive in Windows 10

Error: Can’t delete files from external hard drive in Windows 10

As we all know, no matter how big the hard disk capacity is, we will face the problem of low disk space. There are several ways to free up space if it is an internal hard drive. But if it is an external hard drive, we usually choose to delete unnecessary files to free up space.

However, when deleting files we may encounter the challenge that the files cannot be deleted - no matter it is .xlsx, .docx, .pptx, .avi or .mp4. Even, there is no "Delete" option in the popup menu. Why can't I delete files from external hard drive and how to fix it?

The reason of cannot delete files from external hard drive

There are many culprits that can cause the unable to delete files from external hard drive, the most common reasons are as follows:

✍ The external hard drive is write-protected. A write-protected disk can only be read, and cannot be written, formatted, deleted, or other operations.

✍ The external hard drive is under virus attack. Viruses can interfere with you deleting files from the external hard drive, you can download antivirus software to scan your PC and clean up viruses.

✍ The file system of the external hard drive is corrupted. If you receive the message "The file or directory is corrupt and unreadable" when deleting a file, it means that the external hard drive's file system is corrupted.

✍ There is no permission to delete files from the external hard drive. You cannot delete files from an external hard drive if you do not have administrator rights to delete files.

✍ The target file is occupied by a running program or is being opened. The user cannot perform other operations on the running file, please make sure the files you need to delete are closed or not used by other programs.

How to fix can’t delete files from external hard drive in Windows 10

Please refer to these solutions to solve can’t delete files from external hard drive.

▶ Solution 1. Remove write protection from external hard drive

Disk is write-protected is one of the main reasons why files cannot be deleted, we can clear read-only familiarity through CMD.

Step 1. Press "Windows + R". In the pop-up Run dialog box, type "diskpart" and hit Enter to open the DiskPart.

Step 2. Type the following commands one by one and hit Enter after each:

● list disk - all of the disks connected to the computer will be displayed. ● select disk n - where n is the number of external hard drive. ● attributes disk clear readonly - change the properties so that it is no longer read-only.

After seeing “Disk attributes cleared successfully”, you can try to delete files from the external hard drive again.

▶ Solution 2. Check your external hard drive for errors

To get rid of The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable, you can do:

Step 1. Open File Explorer, right click the external hard drive and select “Properties”.

Step 2. Click "Tools", then click "Check" to check for errors.

▶ Solution 3. Get administrator permission

If you cannot delete the files from the external hard drive due to lack of permissions, try this:

1. Open File Explorer, right click the external hard drive and select “Properties”.

2. In the pop-up window, click "Security" and then "Edit".

3. Then, click the "Add" button and fill in your username in the blank box that appears. Then, click the "Check Names" button.

4. Select your username in the Group or Username section and allow "Full control". Then, click OK.

▶Solution 4. Force delete files by powerful PC Cleaner

If you are still unable to delete files from your external hard drive after trying these methods, then you can turn to AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional (Available for Windows 11, 10, 8, and 7).

This is an all-in-one tool, its "Delete large files" feature supports scanning the entire hard drive for files larger than 16MB, and after the scanning, it will be sorted by file size in descending order, you can delete the files according to needs.

Step 1. Download and install it. Then, double-click to open it. Click "Free up" on the top, and select "Delete Large Files".

Step 2. Here, select the external hard drive and click "Start Scan".

Step 3. Then, you will see all files larger than 16MB. In addition, you can also see the Location, Size and Last Accessed Time of these files. Then, check the files to be deleted and click "Delete".

Step 4. Please make sure the files you selected, because the deleted files cannot be recovered. Finally, click "Delete Now" to submit the operations.

Follow up: Wipe the external hard drive safely

One day, if you need to sell or discard the external hard drive, to avoid data theft by others, you can wipe an external hard drive in Windows 11, 10, 8, and 7.

Step 1. Launch AOMEI Partition Assistant, and right-click on the hard drive you want to wipe, and choose “Wipe hard drive”.

Step 2. Here you can choose a wiping method from the 4 options, and click “OK”.

Step 3. And you can view preview the operation on the main interface, and click “Apply” to execute the task.

Conclusion

This is the full guide on can’t delete files from external hard drive in Windows 10, 8, 7, as well as Windows 11. This article provides you with 4 methods, you can choose the one that suits you best.