Cannot delete file with long name

Question

So I accidentally dragged something from a browser to my desktop which created the following file name:
"data image_png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAABAAAAAYACAIAAABn4K39AAAGqnRFWHRwYXJhbWV0ZXJzAHRpZmEgbG9ja2hhcnQsIGZpbmFsIGZhbnRhc3kgdmlpIHJlbWFrZSwgY2l0eXNjYXBlIGJhY2tncm91bmQsIG5pZ2h0dGltZSBiYWNrZ3JvdW5kLCBoaWdoIGRlZmluaXRpb24sIGludHJpY2F0ZSBkZXRhaWwsI"

So the full name of the file is Data, then a space, then the rest

Now I cannot delete the file and I can't rename the file.

I ran command prompt as an administrator and did the DIR /X trick to try to get a shortened file name. The file name only comes up as DAT when I do that.

When I delete dat it says "Could not Find".

I've tried using Chkdsk to fix the error.

I've try rebooting in Safe Mode to delete it that way, none of which has worked.

Answer 1

Hey, how you doing?

Thank you for contacting us and welcome to the Microsoft Community.

My name is Vitor. I'm an Independent Advisor and I'll be glad to help you today.

Check suggestion of Igor Leyko in: https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/for...

Check if the suggestions above helped you and tell me if it worked.

Thanks

Vitor S.

Answer 2

This issue appears to be unique to Firefox.

To delete the file,

1. Shift-right-click the file name in Explorer and select Copy as path.
2. Open a Cmd window (⊞-R cmd).
3. Enter *del \?* and then right-click to paste in the copied path. The result should look something like this:

del \?"C:\Users\SomeUser\Downloads\DATAIM~1.URL" 4. Press Enter to delete the file.

Note: In Windows 11, Copy as path is also available with just a right-click (i.e. shift not needed).

Answer 3

Right click Start > Run > type cmd [enter]

type cd desktop [enter]

type del data*.* [enter] or just del *.* but only if there are no other files on the desktop