Getting an ‘access denied’ error when trying to open a Windows folder? All of a sudden you are locked out of all the files saved in that folder. This can’t be good, but before troubleshooting we need to understand why the Windows 10 folder is giving access denied popup errors.
Some users encounter an access denied error when trying to open a file saved in a folder instead. While we focus primarily on the folder side, these solutions should also give you access to the files in question because of how Windows handles and handles these two items.
Let’s start.
1. Administrator Rights
The user account you use to access the folder does not have the necessary administrative rights to access the folder. If it is your work laptop, change the user account or contact the system administrator responsible for the IT equipment.
2. Google Drive Conflict
You may see this error if you are trying to access a folder you synced with Google Drive. Google Drive can cause conflicts with File Explorer work, forcing the folder to show an access denied error. A quick way to test this is to close the Google Drive process from Task Manager. A simple reboot will re-enable your favorite cloud storage app.
Stage 1: Press Ctrl+Shift+Esc to open Task Manager. Find ‘googledrivesync.exe’ under the Processes tab, right click on it and select End task.
3. Folder Encrypted/Password Protected
The folder may be password locked or encrypted by an administrator or someone with control or access to your Windows computer. You will need to contact your admin guy/girl or superior to unlock it.
If your Windows user account has the correct rights and permissions, you can try to crack the password yourself. Right-click the folder and choose Properties or press Alt+Enter. Go to General tab > Advanced and deselect ‘Encrypt content to protect data’. Save these new settings.
4. Folder Corrupted
The folder containing your files may be corrupted. This can also corrupt the files inside. Fortunately, you can recover data from a corrupted folder without any difficulty.
5. Change Folder Permission
Stage 1: Right click on the folder giving the access denied error and select Properties. You can also press Alt+Enter to open it.
Step 2: Under the Security tab, select the Edit button. In the popup that follows, select your username and give it Full Control.
6. Folder Location Changed
Moving a folder in Windows is easy. Just cut (Ctrl+X) and paste (Ctrl+V) anywhere. You may have moved the folder to a different location but it still appears there due to cache issues or some bug. Press F5 to refresh the screen and check again.
7. Add Account to Admin Group
If a user account does not have administrative privileges, it can add the account to the Administrator group.
Stage 1: Press Windows key+X to select Computer Management or search for it from the Start menu.
Step 2: Go to System Tools > Local Users and Groups > Users and double-click the user account name to open it.
Stage 3: Click the Add button under the Membership tab.
Step 4: In the next popup, enter the word ‘Administrators’ and select the Check Names button to find the administrator account. Then click OK.
Step 5: You will now be taken back to the previous popup where you will see the Administrators entry. Click once and select OK.
Check again if you still get an access denied error when opening this folder.
8. Enable Built-in Administrator Account
Every Windows installation copy comes with a built-in administrator account that you can enable using Command Prompt. Once enabled, switch to the administrator account and you should be able to access this forbidden folder. The default administrator account acts like a super account with all privileges enabled by default.
9. Controlled Folder Access
Continuing the point above, Windows Security Suite also has a ransomware module to protect against such threats. You can find it under Windows Security > Virus & threat protection.
Disable Controlled folder access here and try again. You should be able to access the folder now.
10. User Account Corrupted
Not only files and folders, but also your Windows user account can be corrupted. Creating a new standard or admin user account is quick and can help fix a few common errors like folder access denied.
11. Disable User Account Control
Stage 1: Search for UAC in the start menu and open ‘Change User Account Control settings’.
Step 2: Drag the slider towards the bottom of the screen to Never notify and save settings.
The Windows access denied error should not appear again when opening this folder.
12. Registry Editor Hack
We recommend backing up the registry files before making any edits in case something goes wrong. These are system-level files and can corrupt your computer. You don’t want this.
Stage 1: Search for Registry Editor in the start menu and open it.
Step 2: Navigate to the folder structure below.
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Services/LanmanWorkstation/Parameters
Stage 3: In the right window pane, right-click to select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value and name the file ‘AllowInsecureGuestAuth’.
Step 4: Double click to open the file and enter the value as 1 and save the changes.
13. Run Malware Check
Typically, you’ll see some sort of ransomware request message displayed on the screen informing you that your computer has been hacked. The hacker locks you out of critical system and user folders/files and then asks for money, possibly in Bitcoin. Some third-party apps like Malwarebytes also offer ransomware and malware control. You should get Malwarebytes and run a check just to make sure the folder is not infected.
in the cloud
Using a cloud storage service like OneDrive or Google Drive can fix such problems. You will not face such problems again in life, as there is a copy of the file on the servers of the cloud service provider. Some premium cloud storage apps also offer to save multiple versions of the same file so you can undo any edits or changes made.
Consider using cloud storage for important files, but if you are concerned about privacy and security, get an HDD/SSD and make regular backups. For now, we hope one of the solutions worked for you.
Next: Want to count the number of files and subfolders in a folder? Here are 5 ways to count files and subfolders and see how much space they take up.
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