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Having the ability to create folders and prevent them from being deleted on Windows 10 is quite an awesome skill to know, especially if you are using a shared PC. Although these folders aren’t 100% undeletable, they are immune to all basic and intermediate user knowledge, even some more advanced users may have trouble removing these specially crafted folders.
How to Delete All Collected Telemetry Data on Windows 10. (Tracking Data)
As you can imagine, there are dozens of scenarios where you may wish to create and use undeletable folders. Once you have created an undeletable folder, the only way to remove it from your computer is to use specific commands or the hidden administrator account, something most Windows users aren't familiar with. Creating these kind of folders is relatively easy, however, isn’t as simple as creating a standard folder, instead, you will need to use some of Windows more advanced tools or for a slightly easier approach some third-party software.
How to Make A Folder Undeletable on Windows 10. (Built-in Windows Tools)
To create a new unremovable folder on Windows 10 the first thing you need to do is open the Command Prompt tool. To do this, right-click the start menu and select Command Prompt from the list. Next, you will need to change the directory Command Prompt is working from, to make this change type D: into the window and press Enter. If the drive or partition you are working with has a different letter assigned to it simply use that instead.
Note: Alternatively you can use the Shift + Right-Click shortcut from the location you wish to create the folder and select Open Command Window Here. If you don’t have this option on your system, check out the following guide on how to restore/create it.
If you need to go further into a drive or directory, you will need to use the following command once you have set the drive.
cd foldername
For example, if you want to go to your documents > backdrops folder you will enter:
cd documents
cd backdrops
If you wish to go even further into subfolders continue entering cd plus the folder name until you get to your destination. When you have Command Prompt showing the directory you want to create the folder in, enter the following command to create a folder.
md foldername\
Note: Change foldername to either of the following codes: con aux, lpt1, lpt2, lpt3 up to lpt9. The command should look something similar to the examples below. I find lpt1 is the best option.
md con\
md lpt1\
Unfortunately, you can’t use your own custom folder name. Once the folder has been created, you’ll still be able to right-click and select Delete or Rename, however, the options will fail to remove/rename the folder. The same will happen whenever any of the shortcut keys are used.
How to Remove an Undeletable Folder From Windows 10. (Built-in Windows Tools)
If you wish to remove an undeletable folder you have created on Windows 10, follow the same steps involved in the creation process and navigate to the directory where you created the folder. Once you have Command set to the correct folder, enter the following command.
rd foldername\
Note: Change foldername to the name of the folder you created in the earlier step. For example
rd con\
rd lpt1\
How to Make A Folder Undeletable on Windows 10. (Third-Party Tools)
If you don’t wish to use Command Prompt to create these kind of folders, you can download a small third-party program called SuperFolder. Using SuperFolder simply select your directory, then click Create SuperFolder. If you ever wish to delete it, open the program again, select the same directory and choose Delete SuperFolder.
How to Make A Folder Undeletable on Windows 10 Using Folder Security Permissions.
Another way you can prevent folders from being changed or deleted is to use Folder Security Permissions. To do this, right-click on the folder you wish to change and select Properties. In this window, change to the Security tab, click Edit, then select Creator Owner and place a tick in Deny box next to Modify. This will prevent any changes being made to the folder.
Note: You may need to use the hidden administrator account if you ever wish to remove or rename this folder in the future. If you deny all the boxes, you will have no choice but to use the hidden administrator account.
