how to delete locked folders/files

Question

How to delete locked folders/files? When I try to delete them an error occurs: "Error removing file: Permission denied" I am root. See the image below to know what kind of folders/files.

enter image description here

thanks

I am sorry, I have no idea what you are talking about, I'm new... — Leonardo, Mar 23 '15 at 20:18
Try going to the terminal at typing in "sudo nautilus", then press enter. Type your password when prompted, this will open the file explorer (nautilus) and give it root permissions — Henry, Mar 23 '15 at 20:20
Sorry, but if you're new, then are you sure you really need to delete these? — user300458, Mar 23 '15 at 20:24

score 8 · Answer 1 · edited Mar 03 '19 at 16:28

8

Try the following: launch Terminal and enter

sudo rm -rf '/path/to/locked/folder'

And be VERY careful with the path to folder!

edited Mar 03 '19 at 16:28

pomsky

68,507

answered Mar 23 '15 at 20:20

user300458

2,108
2
17
20

score 8 · Accepted Answer · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:24

8

Launch your file explorer as root using:

gksudo nautilus

This will open your file explorer, and grant it root, so it should be able to view/delete the directory/file.

If you are like me, and don't care about the warnings in this question you can use this instead:

sudo nautilus

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:24

Community

1

answered Mar 23 '15 at 20:21

Henry

342
1
11

gksudo nautilus (not sudo) – user300458 Mar 23 '15 at 20:22
sudo works as well, I never understood why people used gksudo, it always caused my more trouble because I needed to install it, as it was not included with my system. And I find it more annoying to have to wait for the window to open, then type in my password, possibly blocking other open windows. I prefer if it just asked for my password in the terminal, it's quicker and less obstructive. – Henry Mar 23 '15 at 20:23
https://askubuntu.com/q/11760/300458 – user300458 Mar 23 '15 at 20:25
Edited my answered to include both sudo and gksudo – Henry Mar 23 '15 at 20:32
IT WORKED ONLY WITH GKSUDO – Leonardo Mar 23 '15 at 20:58
It's works for me with sudo – Henry Mar 23 '15 at 21:03
Do not use sudo nautilus, see this: https://askubuntu.com/q/270006/480481 – pomsky Mar 03 '19 at 16:27

score 4 · Answer 3 · edited Mar 03 '19 at 16:33

4

Steps:

Open Terminal.
Run command:
```
sudo su
```
Command above would ask for your password.
Once the correct password is given, you would give following command.
```
chmod a+rwx folder/file 
```
and go to home and just delete the folder/file.
Exit for root user type exit.

edited Mar 03 '19 at 16:33

pomsky

68,507

answered Oct 24 '16 at 20:53

jsingh

887

@Zanna: sudo su works on my system and I didn't change the root account or the sudoers configuration in a relevant way. But it's unnecessary because one could just run sudo chmod ... instead. – David Foerster Oct 25 '16 at 10:02
@DavidFoerster I thought I had deleted that comment already! but yes indeed it's completely unnecessary – Zanna Oct 25 '16 at 10:03
1

This answer is basically the same as kos' but with less detail and worse practices. – David Foerster Oct 25 '16 at 10:04
yeah agree with that too – Zanna Oct 25 '16 at 10:04

kos · Answer 4 · 2015-03-23T20:50:45.053

The lock symbol means your user currently have no write permission on the file/folder. To change this:

Check the current owner/group/permissions status by right clicking the file/folder, clicking Properties and then switching to the Permissions tab.
Open a Terminal by hitting Ctrl+Alt+t.
- If you are the Owner of the file (i.e. the Owner field shows your username): add write permission to the owner by running this command: chmod u+w <path_to_file_folder>
- If you are not the Owner of the file, but you are in the Group group (i.e. the Group field shows your username or a name of a group to which you belong, e.g. sudo): add write permission to the group by running this command: sudo chmod g+w <path_to_file_folder>
- If you are not the Owner of the file and you are not in the Group group: add write permission to the others by running this command: sudo chmod o+w <path_to_file_folder>
Run exit

And then just delete the file/folder from Nautilus.

Alternatively:

Open a Terminal by hitting Ctrl+Alt+t.
- Remove the file/folder as root by running this command: sudo rm -rf <path_to_file_folder>

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Jul 05 '16 at 15:50

Here is something , that I found was easier to do instead of opening terminal. Right-Click the file and open properties. Then switch to the permissions tab. Then wherever it says Access: change it from whatever it is to Create And Delete Files. This should remove the lock and then you can delete the file normally.

how to delete locked folders/files

5 Answers5

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