Cannot delete folder from desktop... 'Item not found'

Can anyone help me?? I have an empty folder on my desktop that I cannot
delete. I get this message when I try and delete it....

Could not find this item.
This is no longer located in C:\Users\Marianne\Desktop. Verify the item's
location and try again.

tried it and when i tried to run the unlocker it says
'Error ebug Privileges'.... checked the site but cant figure out what I am
supposed to do next.

[fillopastry]

I had exactly the same problem. I figured it must have something to do with my registry file so I downloaded Registry Doctor, repaired registry problems and was able to delete the old user folder without any problems.

Right click on the folder and then select "Cut." THEN you can right click on the desktop background and hit refresh. I had my icon Cut and I noticed the icon image faded away, then I read people's replies on here and clicked refresh. Worked like a charm.

( I have a file on my desktop that is 0
bytes and will not delete. Keep getting "could not find this item". So I
tried the command prompt solution provided above. I ran it as an
administrator, viewed the contents of the directory (and it was there),
but when I tried to delete it - "Could Not Find C:..."
The file I'm trying to delete is a download gone bad - it has no
extension and the name is pretty long. Does that make a difference in
"how" I should delete it?

I had a file on my desktop that did not want to delete, and the "cut
and refresh" method did not work for me in Windows Vista.
The correct way to do it is to delete the file from the Command Prompt
with administrator privileges.

To do this, find Command Prompt in your Start menu by typing 'Command'
in the search box, then right-click it and select Run as
Administrator.
Then type 'cd %userprofile%\desktop' and press enter, that should take
you to your desktop folder. (If the file is located in another folder
you will have to navigate there yourself, this is not a treatise on
using the Command Prompt)
Type 'dir' to view the contents of the directory, which for this
example would be your Desktop folder.
Then type 'del filename.xyz' where xyz is the file's extension.

e.g. the offending file is called wontdelete.zip
You would type 'del wontdelete.zip' and press enter.

If there are spaces anywhere in the filename you will have to put it
in quotation marks.
e.g. del "w o n t d e l e t e.zip"

Sometimes the filename or folder is so complicated it might still say
'file could not be found'
Try searching for an shorter name using the dir command and * as a
wildcard

e.g. The filename or folder contains the word 'zip' in it, you would
enter 'dir *zip*'
As long as you get only the desired file or folder, you can now safely
enter 'del *zip*'
If you enter it when there are i.e. 4 entries then it would delete all
4.
It shouldn't take long to experiment with the dir command and
wildcards to narrow your search down.

[ameya_ahr]

this one failed as well ! I could very easily create a new folder with the same name ! And when i tried to delete both folders, the new folder got deleted and the problem child still standing tall !

So I have this folder on my desktop, and it is not getting deleted. I try to delete it, it says " It is no longer located in c:\- - - \desktop". Verify Items location and try again.
I have tried to delete it through command prompt. No avail.
Tried cutting the folder(it gets cut, i.e. its icon gets faded) then pressed F5 multiple times.. no use.
Tried deleting the icon from Safe mode .. same old message.

Can you please help?

Even rightclick+refresh is not working. Anyways, I kinda had least hopes from this solution since I had presumed F5 and Rightclick+refresh should not make much of a difference.

Recently i also had the same problem it was solved with the help of 7zip explorer.
download it from here
It is a explorer like windows explorer. After installing it open the program and go to the location where that specific file is located. you can't delete it directly with it. But you can change the name of the file. Some characters are not allowed in the names of a file. so change the name of the file to something without any special characters and spaces. now you can delete the file.

I just had the same problem, and this is the only fix that worked. The issue stemmed from a couple of files deep within a directory structure with unprintable characters as names.

I ran the command prompt as administrator, navigated to the folder with the files, and used the above "dir /a /x /p" command to get the 8.3 names (which were of the form "ABCD~1". Instead of renaming the files, I just deleted them using the 8.3 names. After that, I was able to delete the folders normally.

Drag another file into this folder or copy it into it.Then delete the folder. It works.
Take care to have a backup of the file you put in that folder if it is an useful one.

I have the same problem but my file is not on the desktop, when i type in the search bar for the file, i can see it but when i try to delete it, it says item not found. please help

Give this a shot. Right-click on your desktop, select 'New > Folder'. Name
the folder exactly the same as the problem folder. When asked, select 'Copy
& Replace'. You should now be able to delete the new folder.

Mmm, now why didn't it get replaced? Go figure. I suppose you can't drag the
problem folder into the new folder and then delete the new folder. Or better
yet, rename the problem folder and then try to delete. I know I was able to
delete it with a similar solution. Keep trying, you'll get it.
Clicking "cut" and refreshing worked perfectly for me!

You don't state what your problem is so it is difficult to assist you.

You can't expect people to routinely go back and search for what YOU are
referring to.

State again your problem - clearly and concisely!

Many times you can cure this by running chkdsk C: /f from an elevated
command prompt window.

You will be told that you can not run this now - do you want it to run
during the next boot up. Type Y and press the enter key.

Reboot.

Right click on the desktop and choose refresh.

Open a notepad file, save as the same name as the un-deleteable filename, when you 'save as', make sure to click 'all files' (dont save as .txt extension) and save the same extension as that un-deleteable file. It will prompt to replace, agree, and two identical files will appear and you can now delete both. Worked for me

Solution for Vista's "Item not found" error when deleting or renaming
files/folders

When you try to delete or rename a file/folder, you may receive a
window that says:
"Item not found. Could not find this item. This is no longer located
in [folder]. Verify the item's location and try again."

To solve, follow these steps:
1. Open up a command prompt (run cmd.exe from the Start Menu).
2. Navigate to the folder that the object resides in.
3. Run "dir /a /x /p" to display the contents of the folder, including
hidden files (/a) and 8.3 filenames (/x).
4. Find the 8.3 filename of the object to the left of the regular,
long filename.
5. Run "ren <8.3 name>" to rename the object, "del <8.3 name>" to
delete it if it's a file and "rd /s <8.3 name>" to delete it if it's a
folder.
Note: If renaming to a long filename, make sure to enclose the long
filename in quotations. If that fails, temporarily rename it to an 8.3
name and then rename it to what you want outside of the command
prompt.

Type in a command prompt

Dir "c:\Crookers - Knobbers remix.*"/s /a

which will search the whole hard drive

Unlocker is free .

[n1ner6er]

I had this same problem until just now. I created a new folder in the same directory (for me "desktop") with an identical name. This allowed me to delete the old folder. The new folder with the same name had the same "item not found" problem.

I tried the same thing again and I was able to delete the folder.

I really sought out many version of help with removing folders that were not found in my C:/ Drive and found a much simpler way...

Now, I don't know if it will work for everybody but it certainly worked for me. What I did was very simple.

I created a new folder (did not named it) and just dragged it over to the trouble folder.

Now this part can be very tricky because a duplicate folder may apprear. If this happens delete the old folder and keep the new one that appears.
Then create a new folder (no need to name it) and drag it over to the "New" Trouble Folder.

Then you'll notice that it will accept the un-named drop in folder and Whalla.....Now You Can Delete The Folder And No More Nightmares..!!!!

I really sought out many versions of help with removing folders that were not found in my C:/ Drive and found a much simpler way, of course with the help of other postings...

Now, I don't know if it will work for everybody but it certainly worked for me. What I did was very simple.

I created a new folder (did not named it) and just dragged it over to the trouble folder.

Now this part can be very tricky because a duplicate folder may apprear. If this happens delete the old folder and keep the new one that appears.

Then create a new folder (no need to name it) and drag it over to the "New" Trouble Folder.

Then you'll notice that it will accept the un-named drop in folder and Whalla.....Now You Can Delete The Folder And No More Nightmares..!!!!

[creep]

To solve, follow these steps:
1. Open up a command prompt (run cmd.exe from the Start Menu).
2. Navigate to the folder that the object resides in.
3. Run "dir /a /x /p" to display the contents of the folder, including
hidden files (/a) and 8.3 filenames (/x).
4. Find the 8.3 filename of the object to the left of the regular,
long filename.
5. Run "ren <8.3 name>" to rename the object, "del <8.3 name>" to
delete it if it's a file and "rd /s <8.3 name>" to delete it if it's a
folder.
Note: If renaming to a long filename, make sure to enclose the long
filename in quotations. If that fails, temporarily rename it to an 8.3
name and then rename it to what you want outside of the command
prompt.

Yep I agreed..the easiest way to remove the file that cannot be deleted from your window 7 desktop. It certainty worked for me after I finished writing this and reviewed it, I found that some of you already figured it out. I only create any kind files for the desktop and drag it in to the trouble folder and then delete it ALTOGETHER..

[Noodle]

This was on Windows 7 64bit (But same steps apply to vista)

I tried the renaming idea, and everything listed above...no joy! I could navigate within the file and even play the files within but i couldnt rename/delete/move/ anything!

Fired up my CMD prompt with admin permissions (Start > CMD > Rightclick > Run as Administrator )

Navigated to the folder in question.

C:\Windows\system32>cd C:\Users\Noodle\Downloads

Then i tried to delete the file [TOP TIP, Use tab to autocomplete long file paths]

C:\Users\Noodle\Downloads>del "Plumb - Hang On (The Remixes) "
Could Not Find C:\Users\Noodle\Downloads\Plumb - Hang On (The Remixes)

Now i noted the whitespace at the end of the filename, this isnt allowed! and prob while im having this error in the first place.

Now

C:\Users\Noodle\Downloads>dir /a /x /p
 Volume in drive C has no label.
 Volume Serial Number is ****-****

 Directory of C:\Users\Noodle\Downloads

08/04/2010  16:35    <DIR>                       .
08/04/2010  16:35    <DIR>                       ..
08/03/2010  23:05               282              desktop.ini
07/04/2010  19:08    <DIR>          PLUMB-~1     Plumb - Hang On (The Remixes)
07/04/2010  21:46         1,749,722 SMF_1-~1.ZIP smf_1-1-11_install.zip
               4 File(s)     43,270,168 bytes
               6 Dir(s)   2,131,468,288 bytes free

Now we have the old dos naming system without the whitespace!

C:\Users\Noodle\Downloads>del PLUMB-~1
C:\Users\Noodle\Downloads\PLUMB-~1\*, Are you sure (Y/N)? y
C:\Users\Noodle\Downloads>

Look! no error..

However when i checked the directory it was still there! *ARGH* but it's contents had been nuked....

However as people have mentioned, the older filenaming method works, sooo why not rename the folder to remove the whitespace which is causing all the hassle.

C:\Users\Noodle\Downloads>rename PLUMB-~1 Noodle
C:\Users\Noodle\Downloads>del Noodle
C:\Users\Noodle\Downloads\Noodle\*, Are you sure (Y/N)? y
C:\Users\Noodle\Downloads>

[bob obo]

well i found it worked for me this way ...

I right clicked on the desktop - selected personalization - then selected desktop icon settings

ticked all the desktop items, clicked apply and then it dissapeared.

then i reverted back to just the recycle bin, just how i had it - done

i was being bugged for days with 3 "item not found" on my desktop then i tried your cmd method in the last post and IT WORKED!!

they were slightly dodgy files too if you know what i mean so its good to get rid of them;)

Everyone - I tried to get rid of an undeletable file. The above method worked easily.

[Swaines]

Running on Vista

Basically, I have a file in the form of a .mp4 video. It was within a file called C:\Users\George\Desktop\extensions\{B13721C7-F507-4982-B2E5-502A71474FED} (sorry for the long name.)

This file has now been deleted also, and the only way I can see the video in question is by typing its name into the Start Search.
The file is called "Crookers - Knobbers remix" just so you know, and when the mouse is hovered over it, it claims to be 14 MB. (however right click -> properties says 0 bytes.)
However click on it and i get the dreaded message... The problem with the command prompt method is that I have no clue where to find the file...

Please help :)

[EricaG]

TRY THIS.

This un-removable folder on my desktop has been driving me nuts for months.

I tried Everything Everyone posted.

Then, I googled for a utility for deleting unwanted folders and files.

This WORKED, and it was simple as pie.

The utility's name is DelinvFile.

Click on Download and choose which download works best for you.

[pinoy1111]

I have the same issue with deleting a folder that is 0bytes and it show error when it trying to be deleted "cannot find folder" message.

I tried this and it works!!!

1) use the CMD prompt
2) navigate yrself to the place of that folder
3) use this commandline 'rd (Gears~1' for a folder with this name (Gears of War)

Perfect removal. Try it!!!

[aca027]

if you have total commander you can navigate to location where is folder that you cannot delete and then delete that folder.
this is the problem for windows explorer but not for total commander!!!

[Aang]

YOU ARE THE GENIUS MAN!!! i had a file on my desk top for ages, and today i mad by mistake another 14!!! you way is so easy and it WORKS!!! take a deep deep bow man!!