Hey everyone, I'm having a bit of trouble here. I created a PDF file after editing it with a PDF editor, but now I'm stuck trying to delete it because it has an extremely long name. I tried using the command prompt with the "del\\?\ files path" command, but that didn't work either. Just to add a bit more context, I'm using Windows 11 and I'm on a company network where I don't have admin rights to install any programs. Any ideas on how I can get rid of this file?
4 Answers
You can also use the command "dir /x" to find the old-style 8.3 filename. Once you have that, try deleting it using that name instead. It’s a bit tricky, but it can work when long filenames or paths are an issue.
If you're on a managed network, it's best to reach out to your IT support team. They might have specific permissions set that restrict file deletions, especially with files that have long paths.
Just a heads-up, the default maximum file path length on Windows is 256 characters. If your PDF path is exceeding that, you'll need to rename the file or simplify the path—like moving it to a shorter directory, such as C:temp, before trying again.
You might be dealing with a filename length limit. Try renaming the file to something shorter, and see if you can delete it after that. Sometimes even shortening the folder names in the file path can help. If that doesn't work, consider mapping the folder to a drive letter first, like Q:, and then try deleting it from there.
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