Item claims it's no longer on your system, can't move/delete/get rid of it?

The Pool Man · Aug 15, 2022

Hi,

Instead of posting a question and making y'all share my misery, I solved it myself but want to share the solution.

PROBLEM --

I had an item on my desktop. I tried to delete it but the system told me it was no longer there. (WTF?) It must be a corrupted remnant of something that was once there.

DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME WITH

1. Booting into Safe Mode and trying to throw it out
2. Opening a CMD prompt and trying to code it away

INSTEAD DOWNLOAD THIS

Unlocker

Delete any file on your Windows PC

unlocker.en.softonic.com

That is all

Ghot · Aug 15, 2022

Unlocker is getting a bit long in the tooth.
IF you find there are things on Win 10 or Win 11 that you can't unlock with Unlocker...

UnLock IT Free - Unlock a File or Folder Locked by the System

EMCO UnLock IT is a Windows file unlocker utility that allows you to unlock a locked file or folder and rename, move or delete locked resources.

emcosoftware.com

FreeBooter · Aug 15, 2022

Here are the steps to unlock and delete a file that cannot be deleted.

Download Process Explorer: Process Explorer - Windows Sysinternals

Fabler2 · Aug 15, 2022

7-Zip can also remove these phantom items.

JAM83 · Aug 15, 2022

The Pool Man said:
Hi,

Instead of posting a question and making y'all share my misery, I solved it myself but want to share the solution.

PROBLEM --

I had an item on my desktop. I tried to delete it but the system told me it was no longer there. (WTF?) It must be a corrupted remnant of something that was once there.

DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME WITH

1. Booting into Safe Mode and trying to throw it out
2. Opening a CMD prompt and trying to code it away

INSTEAD DOWNLOAD THIS

Unlocker

Delete any file on your Windows PC

unlocker.en.softonic.com

That is all

Another way would just be right click on your desktop and hit "refresh" and it would have disappeared

A Guy · Aug 15, 2022

Lockhunter as well

LockHunter is a free 64/32 bit tool to delete files blocked by any processes

LockHunter is a foolproof file unlocker for 32 and 64 Windows

lockhunter.com

A Guy

torchwood · Aug 15, 2022

Had one of them......
i found out that its was the DWM "shortcut" which was not removed as part of the uninstall of the program
just cleared up shortcuts file .lnk entry
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\name ofshortcut

The Pool Man · Aug 16, 2022

Mine was a dragged URL from Firefox to the desktop. It lacked an icon but has a generic look, which was odd.

The Pool Man · Aug 16, 2022

JMedlock83 said:
Another way would just be right click on your desktop and hit "refresh" and it would have disappeared

That strikes me as something the OS should do upon each boot. It was there for at least 8 boots/days in a row.

I say this because on quirk of Windows I can't believe lingers on minute by minute, day by day -- is that if you empty a really full recycle bin -- it will not show all items as 'gone' until you do a refresh within that window. I don't get how hard it is for the system to do so itself without your knowledge.

Try3 · Aug 17, 2022

Windows has had refresh problems for the whole of this century.
There is no permanent fix. Personally, I reboot every day and this seems to minimise occurrences.
Most people report it affecting their desktops only.

Denis