So I was trying to delete a folder on my desktop but received some strange errors.
It was like the folder did not exist, but I could still see it and it prevented me from deleting it.
I got the following errors when trying to delete the folder:
- Could not find this item
- Error 0x80004005:Unspecified error
Btw. I am sitting on a Windows 10 machine, but I bet this also works for Windows 7, 8, 8.1 and so on.
Thankfully after trying some different workarounds, I found the one that worked for me. That is not to say it gonna work for you, but after trying several it might do…
Solution
I opened CMD (command prompt) in admin mode and found the folder/directory with the CD command.
Then I typed “dir /x” to get the 8.3 format of the folder. I renamed the folder with the REN command, and the folder was renamed. After this I exited CMD and deleted the folder manually. You could probably also use the DEL command after renaming the folder.
Step by step
- Open CMD in admin
- Navigate to the folder with CD command
- Use dir /x to find the 8.3 format (example: FOLDER~1)
- Ren <8.3foldername> <new shorter foldername>”