Unable to display current owner for permissions in Windows 10

Dear Mary B,

Thank you for reaching out to the Microsoft Q&A.

Seeing the "Unable to display current owner" error is a frustrating sign of a deeply corrupted security descriptor on a file or folder. It means that Windows itself cannot read the ownership information, which is why the graphical user interface (GUI) fails and gives you no options to proceed.

You could try following these methods below to solve this issue:

1. Use Command Prompt to forcefully take ownership:
   • Go to Start, type Cmd, right-click on Command Prompt > Run as administrator
   • Run this command to take ownership of the Folder:

          takeown /f "C:\path\to\your\problem\folder" /r /d y
     

   • After taking ownership, run this command to grant your user account permissions to access the folder:

          icacls "C:\path\to\your\problem\folder" /grant YourUsername:F /t
     

   • Restart your computer then try again
2. Try the process in Safe Mode:
   • Go to Settings > Update & Security > Recovery.
   • Under Advanced startup, click "Restart now".
   • After your PC restarts, you'll see a blue screen. Navigate to Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Settings and click "Restart".
   • Press 4 or F4 to boot into Safe Mode.
   • Once in Safe Mode, try to change the owner using the normal File Explorer method again. If it still fails, use the Command Prompt method from Solution 1 while in Safe Mode.

I hope this could help. If you have any further issues, we are happy to assist.

To assist others who might have similar questions and to help us improve our support system, we kindly encourage you to "Accept the answer" if it successfully addressed your concern. Accepting an answer lets other users know that this solution worked for you, and it also helps us track the effectiveness of our support efforts.

Best regards, 

Bryan Vu | Microsoft Q&A Support Specialist 

Hi Mary,

The ownership of certain folders can't be modified if a filter driver has locked the folder. Which folder which you're trying to access? If possible, please post a screenshot.