When trying to access or work with files and folders you may get "Access Denied" or other errors. You may encounter the following issues when working with files or folders in Windows.
Issue 1: You may get an "Access Denied" error message
Issue 2: You may be unable to access, edit, save, or delete files and folders
Issue 3: You may be unable to open a folder after installing a new version of Windows
Issue 4: You may be working with files and folders
Problems working with files and folders in Windows can be caused by permissions issues, corrupted user accounts or even corrupted files. These issues often occur after upgrading to another version of Windows, connecting to other computers over a network or even just connecting an external hard drive into your computer.
To resolve the issue, view the section that best describes your scenario and follow the steps listed in that section.
Note: You may not always get an “Access Denied” error message for these types of issues, if the steps for your particular scenario don’t resolve your issue, try the steps for other scenarios.
An access denied error message can occur for one or more of the following reasons:
The folder ownership may have changed
You do not have the proper permissions
The file may be encrypted
Here are three things you can try that may help resolve issues with "Access Denied" error messages:
1. You may not have ownership of a file or folder
If you recently upgraded your computer to Windows 8 from a previous version of Windows, some of your account information may have changed and you may no longer have ownership of some of your files or folders. You might be able to resolve this by taking ownership of the file or folder. To take ownership of a file or folder, follow these steps:
Long press the folder you want to take ownership of, then tap Properties. (If you are using a mouse, right click the folder, then click Properties.)
Tap or click the Security tab, tap or click Advanced, then tap or click Change.
Tap or click Edit. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
Type the name of the person you want to give ownership to and click Check Names.
The person that you’re giving ownership will have their account displayed in the box, click OK.
If you want that person to be the owner of files and subfolders in this folder, select the Replace owner on subcontainers and objects check box.
Click OK.
2. You may not have the proper permissions
Problems accessing files or folders may be related to permissions. Permissions are rules associated with files and folders that determine whether you can access or make changes to the files or folders. To check the permission of the file or folder, follow these steps:
Long press or right-click the file or folder, and then select Properties.
Tap or click the Security tab.
Under Group or user names, tap or click your name to see the permissions you have.
To open a file, you need to have read permission. To change permissions on a file or folder, follow these steps:
Important: You may need to be logged on as an administrator to change file and folder permissions:
Long press or right-click the file or folder, and then tap or click Properties.
Tap or click the Security tab.
Under Group or user names, tap or click your name to see the permissions you have.
Tap or click Edit, then check the check boxes for the permissions that you need and then click OK.
3. The file or folder may be Encrypted
Encrypting files is a way to protect them from unwanted access; you will not be able to open an encrypted file without the certificate that was used to encrypt it. To see if the file or folder is encrypted, follow these steps:
Long press or right-click the file, and then tap or click Properties.
Tap or click the General tab, and then tap or click Advanced.
If the Encrypt contents to secure data check box is selected, you need the certificate that was used to encrypt the file to open it.
You should get the certificate from the person who created or encrypted the file or folder, or have that person un-encrypt it.
An access denied error message can occur for one or more of the following reasons:
The folder ownership may have changed
You do not have the proper permissions
The file may be encrypted
Here are three things you can try that may help resolve issues with "Access Denied" error messages:
1. You may not have ownership of a file or folder
If you recently upgraded your computer to Windows 7 from a previous version of Windows, some of your account information may have changed and you may no longer have ownership of some of your files or folders. You might be able to resolve this by taking ownership of the file or folder. To take ownership of a file or folder, follow these steps:
Right-click the folder that you want to take ownership of, then click Properties.
lick the Security tab, click Advanced, then click the Owner tab.
lick Edit. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
Click the name of the person you want to give ownership to.
If you want that person to be the owner of files and subfolders in this folder, select the Replace owner on subcontainers and objects check box.
Click OK.
2. You may not have the proper permissions
Problems accessing files or folders may be related to permissions. Permissions are rules associated with files and folders that determine whether you can access or make changes to the files or folders. To check the permission of the file or folder, follow these steps:
Right-click the file or folder, then click Properties.
lick the Security tab.
Under Group or user names, click your name to see the permissions you have.
To open a file, you need to have read permission. To change permissions on a file or folder, follow these steps:
Important: You may need to be logged on as an administrator to change file and folder permissions:
ight-click the file or folder, and then click Properties.
lick the Security tab.
Under Group or user names, click your name to see the permissions you have.
lick Edit, then click the check boxes for the permissions that you need. Click OK.
Encrypting files is a way to protect them from unwanted access; you will not be able to open an encrypted file without the certificate that was used to encrypt it. To see if the file or folder is encrypted, follow these steps:
Right-click the file, and then click Properties.
Click the General tab, then click Advanced.
If the Encrypt contents to secure data check box is selected, you need the certificate that was used to encrypt the file to open it.
You should get the certificate from the person who created or encrypted the file or folder, or have that person un-encrypt it.
Problems accessing, editing, saving, or deleting files or folders, can occur for one or more of the following reasons:
The folder ownership may have changed
You do not have the proper permissions
The file may be encrypted
The file may be corrupt
The user profile may be corrupt
Here are some things you can try that may resolve the issue:
1. Take ownership of a folder
If you recently upgraded your computer to Windows 8 from a previous version of Windows, some of your account information may have changed and you may no longer have ownership of your files or folders. You might be able to resolve this by taking ownership of the folder. To take ownership of a folder, follow these steps:
Long press the folder that you want to take ownership of, and then tap Properties. (If you are using a mouse, right click the folder, then click Properties)
Tap or click the Security tab, tap or click Advanced, and then tap or click Change.
Type the name of the person you want to give ownership to and click Check Names.
The user name that you’re giving ownership to should be display, click OK.
If you want that person to be the owner of files and subfolders in this folder, select the Replace owner on subcontainers and objects check box.
Click OK.
2. You may not have the proper permissions
Problems accessing files may be related to permissions. Permissions are rules associated with files and folders that determine whether you can access them or make changes to them. To check the permission of the file or folder, follow these steps:
Long press or Right-click the file or folder, and then tap or click Properties.
Tap or click the Security tab.
Under Group or user names, tap or click your name to see the permissions you have.
To open a file, you need to have read permission. To change permissions on a file or folder, follow these steps:
Important: You may need to be logged on as an administrator to change file and folder permissions:
Long press or right-click the file or folder, and then tap or click Properties.
Tap or click the Security tab.
Under Group or user names, tap or click your name to see the permissions you have.
Tap or click Edit, then select the check boxes for the permissions that you need. Tap or click OK.
Encrypting files is a way to protect them from unwanted access and you will not be able to open and encrypted file without the certificate that was used to encrypt it. To see if the file is encrypted, follow these steps:
Long press or right-click the file, and then tap or click Properties.
Tap or click the General tab, then tap or click Advanced.
If the Encrypt contents to secure data check box is selected, you need the certificate that was used to encrypt the file to open it.
You should get the certificate from the person who created the file.
4. The file may have become corrupt. Files can become corrupt for several reasons, the most common reason is that you have a file open and your computer freezes or loses power for some reason. Most corrupt files can’t be repaired and you should either delete the file, or if you previously backed up your computer’s hard disk, try to retrieve an older version of the file to replace the corrupted version.
5. Your local user profile may have become corrupt Occasionally, Windows might not read your local user profile correctly, this may cause problems accessing files and folders. You may need to create a new local user profile. To create a new local user profile, you must first create a new local user account. When the account is created, the profile is also created. To create a new local user account, follow these steps:
Swipe from the right edge of the screen, tap Settings, and then tap Change PC settings. (If you are using a mouse, point to the upper right hand corner of the screen, move the mouse pointer down, click Settings, and then click Change PC settings)
In the navigation pane, tap or click Users.
Tap or Click Add a User, then tap or click Can they sign in without a Microsoft account?
Tap or click Local account.
Enter your new account name.
If you would like to use a password, enter and verify the password you would like to use. If you chose not to use a password then click or tap on Next without entering a password.
Problems accessing, editing, saving, or deleting files or folders, can occur for one or more of the following reasons:
The folder ownership may have changed
You do not have the proper permissions
The file may be encrypted
The file may be corrupt
The user profile may be corrupt
Here are some things you can try that may resolve the issue:
1. Take ownership of a folder
If you recently upgraded your computer to Windows 7 from a previous version of Windows, some of your account information may have changed and you may no longer have ownership of your files or folders. You might be able to resolve this by taking ownership of the folder. To take ownership of a folder, follow these steps:
Right-click the folder that you want to take ownership of, and then click Properties.
Click the Security tab, click Advanced, and then click the Owner tab.
Click Edit. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
Click the name of the person you want to give ownership to.
If you want that person to be the owner of files and subfolders in this folder, select the Replace owner on subcontainers and objects check box.
Click OK.
2. You may not have the proper permissions
Problems accessing files may be related to permissions. Permissions are rules associated with files and folders that determine whether you can access them or make changes to them. To check the permission of the file or folder, follow these steps:
Right-click the file or folder, and then click Properties.
Click the Security tab.
Under Group or user names, click your name to see the permissions you have.
To open a file, you need to have read permission. To change permissions on a file or folder, follow these steps:
Important: You may need to be logged on as an administrator to change file and folder permissions:
Right-click the file or folder, and then click Properties.
Click the Security tab.
Under Group or user names, click your name to see the permissions you have.
Click Edit and then click to check the check boxes for the permissions that you need and then click OK.
Encrypting files is a way to protect them from unwanted access and you will not be able to open and encrypted file without the certificate that was used to encrypt it. To see if the file is encrypted, follow these steps:
Right-click the file, then click Properties.
Click the General tab, and then click Advanced.
If the Encrypt contents to secure data check box is selected, you need the certificate that was used to encrypt the file to open it.
4. The file may have become corrupt Files can become corrupt for several reasons, the most common reason is that you have a file open and your computer freezes or loses power for some reason. Most corrupt files can’t be repaired and you should either delete the file, or if you previously backed up your computer’s hard disk, try to retrieve an older version of the file to replace the corrupted version.
5. Your user profile may have become corrupt Occasionally, Windows might not read your user profile correctly, this may cause problems accessing files and folders. You may need to create a new user profile. To create a new user profile, you must first create a new user account. When the account is created, the profile is also created. For more information on creating user profiles, see Fix a corrupt user profile
Problems accessing files and folders after upgrading to a new version of Windows can occur for one or more of the following reasons:
The folder ownership may have changed
The files are being stored in a Windows.old folder from your previous system
Here are two things you can try that can resolve the issue:
1. You may not have ownership of a folder
If you recently upgraded your computer to Windows 8 from a previous version of Windows, some of your account information may have changed and you may no longer have ownership of your files or folders. You might be able to resolve this by taking ownership of the folder. To take ownership of a folder
Long press the folder you want to take ownership of, then tap Properties. (If you are using a mouse, right click the folder, then click Properties.)
Tap or click the Security tab, tap or click Advanced, then tap or click Change.
Tap or click Edit. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
Type the name of the person you want to give ownership to and click Check Names.
The person that you’re giving ownership will have their account displayed in the box, click OK.
If you want that person to be the owner of files and subfolders in this folder, select the Replace owner on subcontainers and objects check box.
Click OK.
2. You need to recover files from the Windows.old folder
If you recently upgraded your computer to Windows 8 from a previous version of Windows and did not reformat your hard drive, you might still be able to access your old files from the Windows.old folder.
Fix it for me
To fix this problem automatically, click the Fix it button or link. In the File Download dialog box, click Run, and follow the steps in the Fix it Wizard.
Manually retrieve your files by following these steps:
Tap the folder icon from classic desktop, then select Computer or press the Windows+E from the keyboard.
Double tap or double-click the drive that Windows is installed on (typically, the C: drive).
Double tap or double-click the Windows.old folder.
Double tap or double-click the Users folder.
Double tap or double-click your user name.
Open the folders that contain the files you want to retrieve. For example, to retrieve files in the Documents folder, double tap or double-click Documents.
Copy and paste the files that you want from each folder to a folder in Windows 8. For example, if you want to retrieve everything from the Documents folder, copy all the files and folders, and then paste them into the Documents library in Windows 8.
Repeat steps 5-7 for each user account on your computer.
Problems accessing files and folders after upgrading to a new version of Windows can occur for one or more of the following reasons:
The folder ownership may have changed
The files are being stored in a Windows.old folder from your previous system
Here are two things you can try that can resolve the issue:
1. You may not have ownership of a folder
If you recently upgraded your computer to Windows 7 from a previous version of Windows, some of your account information may have changed and you may no longer have ownership of your files or folders. You might be able to resolve this by taking ownership of the folder. To take ownership of a folder
Right-click the folder that you want to take ownership of, and then click Properties.
Click the Security tab, click Advanced, and then click the Owner tab.
Click Edit. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.
Click the name of the person you want to give ownership to.
If you want that person to be the owner of files and subfolders in this folder, select the Replace owner on subcontainers and objects check box.
Click OK.
2. You need to recover files from the Windows.old folder
If you recently upgraded your computer to Windows 7 from a previous version of Windows and did not reformat your hard drive, you might still be able to access your old files from the Windows.old folder.
Fix it for me
To fix this problem automatically, click the Fix it button or link. In the File Download dialog box, click Run, and follow the steps in the Fix it Wizard.
Manually retrieve your files by following these steps:
Click the Start button, then click Computer.
Double-click the drive that Windows is installed on (typically, the C: drive).
Double-click the Windows.old folder.
Double-click the Users folder.
Double-click your user name.
Open the folders that contain the files you want to retrieve. For example, to retrieve files in the Documents folder, double-click Documents.
Copy and paste the files that you want from each folder to a folder in Windows 7. For example, if you want to retrieve everything from the Documents folder, copy all the files and folders, and then paste them into the Documents library in Windows 7.
Repeat steps 5-7 for each user account on your computer.
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