You need permission to make changes in this folder

Question

Good morning,

Every week I run:

1. CMD ipconfig/flushdns
2. Temp
3. %temp%
4. Prefetch

I try to keep everything clean and smooth. I now have some files when trying to delete giving me a message Error Message.PNG

So I've tried to change the account permission's but I only see this: Problem #1.PNG

After clicking on Family and other users I get this: Problem #2.PNG

So I can't remove these files witch aren't needed Problem #3.PNG

So I would appreciate you help in resolving this issue.

Thanks,

Ed

Answer 1

When you clear out the Temp folder, you select everything in the Temp folder and click Delete.

Any files that cannot be deleted are locked because they are in use by either Windows or some software installed on your PC, that is normal, and those files should not be removed, this is normal in Windows.

You could try disabling all apps that start with Windows in Task Manager - Start-Up, then boot your PC into Safe Mode to test if you can clear out the rest of the Temp folder, if not, then it is Windows using those folders.

Answer 2

The message indicates that the files or folders have permissions that do not allow the current account to delete them. On NTFS volumes this is controlled by the Access Control List (ACL). To delete such files, the account must either already have delete permission or take ownership and then grant itself permission.

Use these steps on the affected folder or file:

1. Sign in with an account that is a member of the local Administrators group.
2. Right‑click the file or folder, select Properties, then go to the Security tab.
3. Select Advanced.
4. If the current account is not the owner, change the owner to the current account (or to the Administrators group), apply the change, and close the dialogs.
5. Reopen Properties → Security → Advanced, and grant the current account (or Administrators) Full control on the file or folder.
6. After permissions are updated, delete the file or folder.

If the ACL is non‑canonical or cannot be edited in the GUI, use cacls.exe from an elevated Command Prompt to rewrite the ACL and then delete:

1. Open Command Prompt as administrator.
2. Run a command of this form (adjust drive and path):

      cacls C:\path\to\folder /t /g administrators:F
   

   This grants the Administrators group full control on the folder and all subitems.
3. After the command completes, delete the folder or files normally.

If a UAC prompt appears when accessing a folder (for example, under Windows.old or system locations), selecting Continue adds the account to the ACL for that folder so it can be accessed and then cleaned up.

Note that some system folders and files are protected and should not be deleted manually; use built‑in tools such as Storage Sense or Disk Cleanup for system cleanup where possible.

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References:

• You can't delete a file or a folder on an NTFS file system volume
• How to delete a Windows Live OneCare Backup file
• Retrieve files from the Windows.old folder after a Windows upgrade
• When you select Continue for folder access in Windows Explorer, your user account is added to the ACL for the folder
• Automatically diagnose and repair Windows file and folder problems