As someone who’s no stranger to the intricacies of Windows and NTFS, I thought I had seen it all—until I encountered a folder on my external drive that refused to be deleted. What should have been a straightforward task turned into a head-scratching journey through NTFS permissions, hidden attributes, and the peculiarities of Windows itself.
Here’s what happened, how I fixed it, and what I learned along the way.
The Problem
I was trying to delete a folder on an NTFS external drive. When I attempted to delete it, Windows 11 prompted me to “Provide administrator permissions.” No problem, I thought—as an administrator, I authorized the operation. But then it hit me with another message: “You need permission from [my own user account] to perform this action.”
Wait, what? I was logged in as that user, and I was the owner of the folder. The permissions were explicitly set to allow Authenticated Users full access. By all logical reasoning, this operation should have succeeded. Yet it didn’t.
What I Tried
1. Checking Permissions and Ownership
First, I dove into the folder’s security settings:
- Ownership was already assigned to my current user account.
- Authenticated Users had “Modify,” “Read & execute,” “List folder contents,” “Read,” and “Write” permissions.
It seemed airtight. But then I noticed something hidden in the advanced permissions menu: “Delete subfolders and files.” This wasn’t explicitly listed, and I wondered if it was the missing link.
2. Forcing Deletion
When adjusting permissions didn’t work, I turned to the Command Prompt. Using commands like rmdir and icacls, I tried to forcefully take ownership and delete the folder. Nothing changed. I even ran a disk check (chkdsk), thinking there might be corruption. Still no luck.
3. Testing with a Copy
In a fit of curiosity, I copied the problematic folder to the same parent directory and tried deleting the copy. Strangely, the copy deleted without issue. The original folder, however, remained defiant.
The Unexpected Solution
In a final, almost desperate attempt, I manually deleted all the files inside the folder—a task Windows allowed me to do without resistance. Once the folder was empty, I deleted it, and this time it worked without a hitch.
This made no sense at first. If I had permissions to delete all the files individually, why couldn’t I delete the folder with its contents in one go? I’d already applied consistent permissions across the parent folder and all child items. Yet, for reasons known only to NTFS and Windows, it worked.
Lessons Learned
1. NTFS Permissions Are More Granular Than They Appear
It turns out that NTFS treats folder deletion as a multi-step operation. To delete a folder, you need:
- “Delete” permission for the folder itself.
- “Delete subfolders and files” permission for all child objects.
If any child file or subfolder blocks deletion, the entire operation fails.
2. Windows Explorer Adds Its Own Quirks
Windows Explorer processes deletion recursively, meaning it checks permissions for every file and folder inside the target directory. Any mismatch can halt the operation. Sometimes, using Command Prompt (rmdir /s /q) or Linux bypasses these quirks entirely.
3. Always Check for Hidden Attributes
Files or folders with Read-Only, Hidden, or System attributes can cause unexpected issues. Removing these attributes with the attrib command can resolve stubborn problems.
4. Ownership Is Necessary But Not Always Sufficient
Being the owner of a folder doesn’t automatically grant all permissions. Explicit permissions, especially for deletion, must still be in place.
Final Thoughts
While I eventually solved the problem, the experience left me reflecting on the complexity of NTFS permissions. They’re powerful and flexible, but they can also create situations where logic seems to break down. The next time you encounter a “stubborn” folder, remember: sometimes the simplest solutions—like deleting the contents first—can bypass even the most baffling issues.
Have you encountered similar challenges with NTFS? Share your story in the comments!
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