How to force Windows to delete a directory that is in use?

Asked Mar 13 '15 at 20:31

Active Apr 09 '17 at 09:07

Viewed 5,623 times

I have a directory under C:\Users\myuser\.ssh and I need to delete it but Windows won't let me.

From Windows Explorer:

Folder In Use Screenshot

From a Cygwin shell:

myuser@mymachine /cygdrive/c/Users/myuser/.ssh
$ rm -rf id_rsa
rm: cannot remove `id_rsa': Device or resource busy

Any ideas how to force this deletion?

edited Apr 09 '17 at 09:07

asked Mar 13 '15 at 20:31

smeeb

Reboot once, and then delete it? Stop the process that's accessing it? What exactly have you tried already? – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 Mar 13 '15 at 20:35
Perhaps also see: [Windows 7: File In Use when deleting file](http://superuser.com/questions/73255/windows-7-file-in-use-when-deleting-file) – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 Mar 13 '15 at 20:37

0 Answers0