Delete file containing invalid characters in windows

Question

I have some files that contain colon character in the filename (eg. 1d67c0d23e859ed4a259749e4a720d9e:default-sink). When I try to remove them from command line with the command:

c:\backup> del /F *.*

I get "The system cannot find the file specified." for each file. If I specify an individual file:

c:\backup> del /F "1d67c0d23e859ed4a259749e4a720d9e:default-sink"

I get "The filename, directory name, or volume label syntax is incorrect.". If I try to use rd on the parent folder I get

How can I remove these files?

These files were created on the NTFS partition when I was booted into Linux. Guess I will have to use Linux boot disk as it seems windows doesn't like colon in filenames at the file system driver level. — grom, Feb 03 '10 at 06:18

score 26 · Answer 1 · edited Feb 12 '17 at 13:50

26

There is a Microsoft KB article listing possible ways to delete such files at:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320081

The way I typically use is the native API method:

del "\\?\c:\path\1d67c0d23e859ed4a259749e4a720d9e:default-sink"

According to:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa365247%28VS.85%29.aspx

The : is a reserved character on NTFS, the native API method I mentioned above is the recommended way to delete such files.

edited Feb 12 '17 at 13:50

Joe

2,103

answered Dec 23 '09 at 00:43

Ausmith1

1,199

5

This doesn't work for the colon, as it is interpreted as a named data stream. – psusi May 03 '13 at 18:06
This worked for my case. the file I was having the issue with contained a comma , – Maher Fattouh Mar 13 '16 at 03:07
Thanks, this worked for me. The file ended in a period. CA848D8F. – Mastro Jul 15 '16 at 01:19
1

Doesn't work. My filename contains a backslash. – Pacerier Mar 11 '17 at 11:19
1

If the file name contains : as the OP has asked about, this method doesn't work. Use chkdsk or delete it from a live linux. – Sourav Ghosh Nov 20 '18 at 18:27
My filename contained a colon. I deleted the folder using this method. (deleting the folder by other methods did not work. I didn't try deleting the file /using quotation marks as required/ or /using the 8.3 name/ – user165568 Jan 31 '19 at 04:48
what to do if I have this exact error on FAT32? – Suncatcher Mar 08 '24 at 03:08

Mark Henderson · Answer 2 · 2009-12-22T03:49:20.737

18

I guess you can try the 8.3 name?

del /F 1d67c0~1

Note that on NTFS drives you can explicitly disable the 8.3 functionality, so if that's the case you're outta luck for this option. To get the file name dir a dir /x

There used to be a freeware tool called delinvfile but they've gone and changed it to shareware/paid

edited Dec 22 '09 at 03:49

answered Dec 22 '09 at 03:40

Mark Henderson

69,083

How I could be able to do this on an NTFS volume created with theformatcommand with 8.3 names support disabled? – user2284570 Feb 02 '15 at 14:33
1

@user2284570 this method won't work. When I wrote that answer, Microsoft had 8.3 names enabled, but these days it is disabled by default. – Mark Henderson Feb 02 '15 at 20:42
@MarkHenderson, My filename is 7:2. How do I use 8.3 name for filename of 7:2? – Pacerier Mar 11 '17 at 11:17
@Pacerier see my previous comment. This method won't work on modern operating systems. Windows XP or older. – Mark Henderson Mar 11 '17 at 12:49
Files with a colon in the name have blank 8.3 filenames and because of the colon it is impossible to add one. – BoarGules Feb 06 '20 at 22:47

score 13 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 23 '13 at 18:06

13

This worked for me:

Ran chkdsk /f
Rebooted PC
Then I was able to select and delete the file

answered Nov 23 '13 at 18:06

JohnB

497

score 9 · Answer 4 · edited Jun 03 '16 at 19:12

9

Close all the files, if any opened, that are saved in the drive which is containing such files. Now, Open the drive properties.

"My Computer" -> "Right Click on the this drive" > properties

Then, go to "Tools" tab and click "Check now" under 'Error checking' label.

Click here for larger image

This will unmount your drive and will scan the complete drive for errors, eventually it will delete such files with illegal names. On finishing it will show a messages saying some files were fixed.

I successfully deleted such files from my external hard disk.

edited Jun 03 '16 at 19:12

zkanoca

113
1
8

answered Nov 23 '14 at 15:12

vaibhavatul47

191

File I was trying to remove contained a question mark on windows 10, and only this method helped me. Scan the drive and it will ask you whether to repair, click repair and the file will be gone. – Umur Karagöz Apr 02 '20 at 23:45
This worked on Win7 to clean up a file with a ? in the file name that was rsync'd over from a Linux system. Other approaches listed above didn't work. – user2070305 Oct 12 '22 at 00:35

score 5 · Answer 5 · answered Dec 22 '09 at 21:44

5

7zip can delete files that Windows fails to; I've used it in the past when dealing with overlong filenames, but I've never tried it on files with colons in. They would normally be used to denote ADS.

answered Dec 22 '09 at 21:44

Dentrasi

3,772

This is because 7-zip use cygwin. – user2284570 Feb 02 '15 at 14:40
1

Doesn't work for both my files. First file have filename with backslash and second file has filename with colon. – Pacerier Mar 11 '17 at 11:22
No, it's because 7-zip uses the Windows API instead of the shell. It has the same limitations as the API: it thinks colons indicate streams. – user165568 Jan 31 '19 at 04:54
7zip worked for me – user1278519 Oct 10 '19 at 06:18
I used 7zip to rename the file, then delete it. Worked over the network. – Zachary Scott Apr 15 '22 at 18:17
This is the only trick that worked for me. Somehow I ended up with a folder with a trailing space on a ReFS drive that Windows would list, but could not find. – Mmm Jan 10 '23 at 02:43

score 4 · Answer 6 · answered Dec 22 '09 at 05:37

4

I have Subsystem for UNIX-based Applications installed on my PC (Windows 7). From the Windows shell, I can create a file with touch 1d67c0d23e859ed4a259749e4a720d9e:default-sink, then remove it with rm *:*

answered Dec 22 '09 at 05:37

Joe Internet

1,449

POSIX compliant utilities (such as SFU) can delete such files. – Ausmith1 Dec 23 '09 at 01:00
@JoeInternet : sigghh Microsoft removed the all non windows subsystems with 2012 and up. – user2284570 Feb 02 '15 at 14:16
1

... but a unix subsystem is back again in win 10. – user165568 Jan 31 '19 at 04:49
rm from MinGW or Git works too. – jpangamarca Mar 15 '23 at 02:25

score 1 · Answer 7 · answered Oct 08 '16 at 10:34

1

I have a dual boot system, and non of the above answers worked for me. If the file is located in a disk that is mounted by your other OS (Ubuntu 16.04 LTS for me) you can simpy delete it using your other OS ;)

answered Oct 08 '16 at 10:34

Ang Black

11

This is fairly reasonable when in a bind (though cannot be done to an online machine). Also, native dual boot isn't required, as we can boot a live distribution to do this such as the Fedora installer disk or Knoppix. HOWEVER, one should be careful when in an environment like this, as the NTFS3G driver that we use to mount this system won't respect most Windows permissions / ACLs (which is exactly why it's so effective at getting rid of "stuck" files). – Spooler Oct 08 '16 at 11:48

score 1 · Answer 8 · answered Dec 22 '09 at 04:44

Try renaming the parent folder to a single character (a, 1, etc.) and then try to delete the parent folder. If it doesn't work then move to the first child folder and rename it to a single character and try the delete again. I often use this method for files with invalid characters (don't ask me how they get created because I don't know) or for files where the path exceeds the maximum (again, don't ask how this occurs).

score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Jul 17 '21 at 12:30

7zip comes to my rescue - I have a PDF file that has a name that is not only long (can deal with by finding out the short name), it has " " in it. 7zip cannot delete it, but it can RENAME it! I rename it to 1, and the next thing is just putting it in the recycled bin.

score 0 · Answer 10 · answered Oct 26 '17 at 00:14

0

I had a folder with a commma in the name. I tried a few of the above suggestions and could not get them to work.

I was able to delete the folders with cygwin. Installing that app isn't for everyone, but it will do the job.

answered Oct 26 '17 at 00:14

Rich MacDonald

101

score 0 · Answer 11 · answered Jan 15 '19 at 05:54

None of the above suggestions worked for me. I used WinRar. Open winrar and you will see a list of files, where you will the suspect file "filename " (which was created by you as "filename : some_text.txt". Rename the file in Winrar and provide it an extension (like .txt or .doc).

Go back to Windows Explorer you will see "filename .txt" (Or doc). Delete it from there.

score 0 · Answer 12 · answered Dec 18 '09 at 02:48

0

Have you tried quoting the filenames? Giving the exact command that you're running would be handy.

answered Dec 18 '09 at 02:48

womble

97,049

I have added it to the exact command I'm running to question. – grom Dec 22 '09 at 02:57

score 0 · Answer 13 · answered Dec 18 '09 at 02:54

0

Have you tried using a wildcard? For instance 'del 1d67c0d23e859ed4a259749e4a720d9e*.*' might work.

answered Dec 18 '09 at 02:54

Michael Kohne

2,344
1
18
29

You I tried wildcards. No luck – grom Dec 22 '09 at 02:55
1

The next thing that I think of is to boot the system with a linux cd (like system rescue cd), mount the volume there and try the delete from there. You might get interesting results at that point, as who knows what's really going on in the filesystem. – Michael Kohne Dec 22 '09 at 18:32
@MichaelKohne : I think using a Unix path implementation is the right solution too. But why using linux? windows is run as an NT subsystem, and there is already a POSIX/Unix NT subsystem. – user2284570 Feb 03 '15 at 13:02
1

@user2284570 - because given the fact that they were created with Linux, it seems likely that the linux NTFS driver allowed something that it shouldn't have, which even the Windows POSIX shell may not be able to slip past the filesystem driver. Much simpler to boot a live linux CD, remove the bogus file, and reboot back to Windows. – Michael Kohne Feb 03 '15 at 13:26
@MichaelKohne : No, because UNC paths already work (native subsystem), and the with the POSIX subsystems there is no direct access to alternate data streams, so you can use:inside files. – user2284570 Feb 03 '15 at 13:40

score 0 · Answer 14 · answered Dec 22 '09 at 18:33

Have you tried dir /X to find out the actual 8.3 name, and then tried deleting that name?

Or, could that file have an alternate data stream? You might want to look at it wil the tool at http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/alternate_data_streams.html to see what that can tell you (I've never used that tool, it just came up when I searched).

Delete file containing invalid characters in windows

14 Answers14