Are you facing the error "You don't currently have permission to access this folder" ?
This guide is for you.
Sometimes Windows users may experience this issue which prevents them from accessing, deleting, or even renaming their files and folders.
The same limitations exist even when the user has signed into their computer using an administrator account.
Here at Ibmi Media, as part of our Server Management Services, we regularly help our Customers to resolve related Windows Servers errors.
Nature of the Windows Server error "You don't currently have permission to access this folder" ?
Sometimes, when we try to open a system folder such as "C:\Windows\System32\Config" in File Explorer, the User Account Control window appears to warn that we do not don't currently have permission to access this folder.
However, we can get access through the UAC privilege elevation by clicking Continue.
When we click Continue, UAC temporarily elevates the privileges of the explorer.exe process and grants NTFS full control permissions to our account:
1. Removing a user or group from "Group or user names" on the folder's "Security" tab.
2. Application of an explicit "Deny" to the user or group.
3. A conflict between the share permissions and the New Technology File System (NTFS) permissions.
Tips to resolve 'You don't currently have permission to access this folder' ?
Apply the tips given below to fix this error.
1. Run File Explorer as Administrator on Windows Server
The Windows Explorer process starts when a user logs on with the standard user access token.
We cannot elevate the Explorer.exe process in the standard way. Also, we will not be able to start the second explorer process in the “Run as admin” mode.
Therefore, we need to end the current explorer.exe process in our user session first.
We can kill the explorer.exe process from Task Manager or with the following command in the PowerShell console:
taskkill /f /FI “USERNAME eq $env:UserName”/im explorer.exe
SUCCESS: The process “explorer.exe” with PID 3208 has been terminated.
In order to run the explorer.exe process as administrator, use the following command:
c:\windows\explorer.exe /nouaccheck
(NO|UAC|CHECK)
These commands will terminate the explorer.exe process for the current user and start a new one.
Furthermore, it will inherit the elevated access token that powershell.exe is run with.
We can make sure that Windows Explorer is now running elevated in the Task Manager by Opening the Task Manager and taking the Details tab.
Here, we can right-click any column, click Select columns, and enable Elevated column to be displayed.
As we can see, explorer.exe is now having the attribute Elevated=Yes.
After that Explorer will be able to open any system folder without a UAC warning and all child processes run from Windows Explorer will run elevated.
This Windows Explorer elevation trick works on both Windows Server 2016/2019 and all Windows 10 builds.
On Windows Server 2012/R2 and Windows 8, in order to run the Explorer process elevated, we need to open cmd.exe as administrator and run the following command:
tskill explorer & explorer
2. Gain Access by Allowing Everyone
i. First, right-click on the folder that we are unable to access and select “Properties”.
ii. Then click on “Security” tab and under Group or user names click on “Edit”.
iii. After that, click on “Add” and type everyone. Click on “Check names” and then click “OK”.
iv. Finally, select “Everyone”. Under “Allow”, select “Full control” and click on “Apply” and click “Ok”.
3. Change the Ownership of the File/Folder
We can also try changing the ownership of the file or folder to fix the “You Don’t Currently Have Permission to Access This Folder” issue.
i. Firstly, right-click on the folder to navigate to “Properties”.
ii. Then go to the “group or username” section on the “Security” tab.
iii. And click on “Advanced”, and then “Change”.
iv. After that, type account name. Click on “Check names” and click “OK”.
v. Finally check “Replace owner on sub containers and objects” and click “OK”.
[Need assistance in fixing Windows error? We can help you. ]
Conclusion
This article covers methods to fix the 'You Don't Currently Have Permission to Access This Folder' issue for our customers.
If you happen to meet "You don't currently have permission to access this folder" issue when you are opening a folder, do not worry. You can fix the problem with the effective tips here.
To remove the folder access error:
1. Gain Access by Allowing Everyone
i. Right-click on the folder that you're unable to access and select "Properties".
ii. Click on "Security" tab and under Group or user names click on "Edit".
iii. Click on "Add" and type everyone. Click on "Check names" and then click "OK".
iv. Select "Everyone". Under "Allow", select "Full control" and click on "Apply" and click "Ok".
2. Change the Ownership of the File/Folder
You can also try to change the ownership of the file or folder to troubleshoot "You Don't Currently Have Permission to Access This Folder" issue on Windows 10/8/7.
i. Right-click on the folder to navigate to "Properties".
ii. Go to the "group or username" section on the "Security" tab.
iii. Click on "Advanced", and then "Change".
iv. Type your account name. Click on "Check names" > "OK".
v. Check "Replace owner on sub containers and objects" > "OK".
This article covers methods to fix the 'You Don't Currently Have Permission to Access This Folder' issue for our customers.
If you happen to meet "You don't currently have permission to access this folder" issue when you are opening a folder, do not worry. You can fix the problem with the effective tips here.
To remove the folder access error:
1. Gain Access by Allowing Everyone
i. Right-click on the folder that you're unable to access and select "Properties".
ii. Click on "Security" tab and under Group or user names click on "Edit".
iii. Click on "Add" and type everyone. Click on "Check names" and then click "OK".
iv. Select "Everyone". Under "Allow", select "Full control" and click on "Apply" and click "Ok".
2. Change the Ownership of the File/Folder
You can also try to change the ownership of the file or folder to troubleshoot "You Don't Currently Have Permission to Access This Folder" issue on Windows 10/8/7.
i. Right-click on the folder to navigate to "Properties".
ii. Go to the "group or username" section on the "Security" tab.
iii. Click on "Advanced", and then "Change".
iv. Type your account name. Click on "Check names" > "OK".
v. Check "Replace owner on sub containers and objects" > "OK".
