Unable to delete Word file in an Android Device

Question

I am trying to delete a file but Word (android GalaxyNote5) is saying I do not have permission to delete 

**The post was moved to the appropriate forum category by the moderator.**

***Subject edited for clarity by the moderator.***

Answer 1

Please, read a few messages before posting an "answer".

Your approach does not actually _delete_ the file. It is still lin the hidden data folder of Word application.

Your approach only hides it.

There are only two ways right now to actually delete the file - clear Word's data or to have root access to device. Both are described earlier.

Microsoft, fix this already =_=

Answer 2

If you have to delete all data from the app, and lose all your work, then Microsoft hasn't solved anything.

Having to root the device, is not a solution either.

And if it's true that the method I outlined does indeed leave a hidden copy of the file, then that is also a problem that Microsoft needs to fix.

Also, no one I could see has provided a clear answer how to delete these files from the cloud.

Ps I have read a couple of pages of comments at the start and at the end, and there doesn't seem to be a clear solution to the problem, and what works for one person may not work for another.

Deleting a file shouldn't be as hard as pulling teeth out.

Answer 3

You are right, it shouldn't be the way it is. And any problems or bugs must be fixed on their side.

But, unfortunately, this is how it works right now. You can check it by opening multiple big documents (just to see the difference in actual free space on your device) and then removing them from Word's list (as this application still claims that it lacks permissions to remove them).

Answer 4

I agree, Microsoft needs to fix the bugs, and it shouldn't take years to resolve what seems to be a simple issue.

Especially since this contravenes Australian legislation where I live, which explicitly gives people the right to access, copy, edit if necessary, or remove if necessary, their personal information that is held or controlled by a third party.

In my case I couldn't delete a personal file sent to me by a solicitor (lawyer) in 2013 by email, which I recently opened in my new Word app. 

And after at least an hour trying to remove the file from the app, followed by half an hour or so googling for answers and reading Microsoft support forums, I was advised (after another half an hour or so on chat support) to contact someone from 6 years ago, whose company may or may not exist anymore, and ask them to find an old document and unshare it, is not acceptable (and what if the person did not want to unshare it?).

So, if what you wrote is true, and deleting all data or rooting the phone, or contacting the original file creator to "unshare" it as I was advised by Microsoft, are the only effective ways to delete a file, then that is woefully inadequate.

Therefore I have asked the chat support agent to notify the person(s) responsible to address this legal issue, and I have been told that it has been forwarded to the right personnel who, according to the chat support representative, should contact me regarding this problem.

I hope they do something about a problem that, according to the forum has existed for years, and give users a reasonably practical way to delete files from their Word app.

I really did not expect such poor app design from Microsoft, and the fact that it wasn't fixed as a matter of priority, totally confounds me.

Ps. Thanks for the advice, but after just one use, I have no intention of using the Word app on Android in the future, at least not until this problem is resolved.

Answer 5

Yes, I'm in approximately the same situation.

However, as you could have noticed, this issue has a long history. Just check the first post in this thread.

The problem with moving to some other application is that I cannot find any other application that renders heavy and complex office files correctly. And this is one of the main points for me.