If it happened to us that when we checked our mobile device and also our computer we found files that we cannot delete in the traditional way as we do with others, we are in the presence of files that are called “protected by the operating system ”.
The cause of this may be because it belongs to applications that are being used and the removal could cause them to malfunction. Another source may be that applications that we no longer have installed left these files.
The third reason why these protected files may exist is for those who use the operating system for normal operation. In this article we will talk about which files we can delete and why they exist on our devices , we will also present you with the best tools so you can delete them without problems.
Index:
Why is there data that cannot be deleted from my computer? ?
If we have little space on our hard drive to store data, one of the first steps we do is to delete the temporary files, cookies and all other junk files that we have in the browser or in the same operating system.
When we realize that we still need more space, we begin to analyze what data we can erase. This is when we have doubts about what data we cannot delete from our team .
The operating system consists of different hierarchies of folders, which save the commands for a correct and efficient work of the software. Some of this data is intended to facilitate and manage resources so that hardware can be accessed as well as other parts of the software.
In this way, the operating system considers these data as vital within it, so they are protected and are generally hidden.
It follows that we cannot erase that kind of data to obtain more disk storage , since it would significantly harm the operating system and the proper functioning of the hardware.
Is it dangerous to delete these files protected by the system?
There are, as we named above, other files that are protected by the system and are those that are being used by other applications that, if we delete them, the most we can cause is that those same programs do not work properly.
It follows that we have to perform a previous analysis to determine if the applications that we have installed on our device are all necessary, so if we find some that are not, we can delete them and at the same time we can erase all the data that the operating system protected for them to work.
We conclude, then, that after a previous study deleting this kind of data protected by the system is not dangerous , we simply have to be careful to eliminate them only and not touch any other.
Steps to remove an indelible file from your easy Windows or Mac computer and fast
We will show below how to delete a file that is protected on our computer:
From the terminal
To delete the files generated by the Windows operating system we will have to:
- Go to file explorer
- Select «Local disk (C)»
- Choose the folder «Program files (x86) »
- We look for the option we want to delete
- We right click on it
- In the pop-up menu we choose the option «Properties»
- We look for the “Security”
- tab Choose the alternative “Advanced options” and we click on it
- In the next window we will see owner, we choose «Change»
- We write the username we have in the box enabled for the writing
- We click on «Check names»
- The name will appear from the location, for which we will select «Accept»
- We look for the option «Replace owners in subcontainers and objects» and activate this option
- We will ask a box about Windows security if we really want to apply these changes, we choose “Accept”
- In the “Security” tab, we look for the option edit
- We select the administrator user and enable all permissions to have total control
- Next, we choose accounAccept for
- Again on allowApplicate
In this way we can return to the folder we wanted to delete.
To delete a protected file from our Mac, we will do this guide:
- We look for the option «Applications»
- We click on >Utilities before
- Select «Terminal» to be able to execute the different operating system commands
- For this step we will have to know the file path, once we know it we will write the command «sudo chflags nouchg »
- We click on « Enter »
Another option we have is once we are in «Terminal»:
- We write the «sudo rm -r
» - Click “Enter”
- This way we will forcefully eliminate it.
From the resource monitor
To use this simple Windows tool we will perform the steps mentioned below:
- We go to the bottom left of the screen in “Start”
- We immediately write “Resource Monitor”
- At this moment a window will appear with the application first, we click on it
- Select the «CPU»
- Next, we look for “Associated identifiers”
- In the search bar we will write the name of the file we want to delete
- Choose «Search»
- The file to delete is found, we right click and select the option “End process”
Safe mode
When we cannot delete a file we can restart our computer, but if the problem continues we will have to do it in safe mode.
For this we will have to follow these steps on our computer with Windows operating system:
- We choose the option representedConfiguration of
- We go to “Update and security”
- We click in accounRecovery with
- We select «Advanced start»
- Choose «Restart now»
- We go to “Troubleshoot”
- We look for the alternative “Advanced options”
- We select «Startup Settings»
- Next, we choose “Restart”
- Press F4 in the option “Settings home »
- We go to « File Explorer »
- We look for the file we need to delete and click on « Accept »
- Then we restart our PC normally.
Third-party applications
There are different third-party programs that do this work for us. We will detail this topic later, showing you what are the best tools to delete protected files.
How to delete a file that is not deleted in Android and iOS ?
As with our computer, the same thing happens in our mobile devices, there are data that are protected and we cannot delete them.
Immediately we will present the steps that we must perform to delete this kind of files according to the operating system we have on our mobile.
Delete on Android
To delete a file we will have to download the SD Maid application. Once installed we will perform these steps:
- We open the application and go to representedExplorator for
- We look for the file we want to delete
- Choose «Delete»
Delete on iPhone
For our iPhone we will download Try iMyfone Umate Pro, we will do these steps once the application is installed:
- Open the app
- Choose allowScan Scan
- Select the file we need to delete
- Choose “Ok”
Download iMyFone Umate Pro Windows
Download iMyFone Umate Pro macOS
List of the best tools and apps to remove protected data in the mobile or computer
When we need to eliminate non-woven data on our mobile and computer we can choose these 5 tools that are considered by users as the best that exist today.
They are:
This Is My File
It is available for Windows for free. It takes up very little space on the hard disk, so it makes us a fairly simple and powerful tool.
It gives us as additional tools an antivirus so that we also detect those temporary and garbage files that we can do automatically.
It also offers the option to generate a copy of the deleted file.
Download This Is My File Windows
EaseUS Partition Master Free
It has different options to hire this service which has a completely free version and the others with Premium service offers a 30-day trial.
Among the most outstanding features of this app for Windows is to delete those files that occupy a place on the disk including those that are protected, it can generate migrations of the operating system to an SSD.
Download EaseUS Partition Master Free Windows
WCleaner
Available for Android mobile devices, with this application we can delete all kinds of files that exist on our phone.
Those data that we have downloaded by applications especially from social networks plus all those images or backups that we have and that are blocked with this application can not be erased quietly.
Undeleter
Thanks to this application we can examine and find all those files in which we cannot delete it in a simple way. With this tool, we not only detect the files but also we can delete them with very few steps.
Your download is completely free and available for Android phones.