Can’t Delete File In Ubuntu

Sometimes you’ll notice that one of your files has a lock icon next to it. This usually means that for some reason, you are no longer the owner of the folder/file.

This can happen for a variety of reasons, but it’s fairly easy to correct, albeit a real nuisance sometimes. Here are a list of commands to take back ownership of just about any folder or file on Ubuntu.

Note about the examples and commands below:

• You can usually leave out GROUP as I did in my examples
• If you see a ‘\’ slash, it’s because my folder name had a space in it and this is needed to let Ubuntu know that there is a space in the file/folder name, not a new command.

An empty folder

Command: sudo chown USERNAME:GROUP /LOCATION/OF/FOLDER
Example: sudo chown randy /home/randy/Desktop/Delete\ Me

A folder with files inside

Command: sudo chown -R USERNAME:GROUP /LOCATION/OF/FOLDER
Example: sudo chown -R randy /home/randy/Desktop/Delete\ ME

A file

Command: sudo chown USERNAME:GROUP /LOCATION/OF/FILE
Example: sudo chown randy /home/randy/Desktop/myfile.jpg

Several files

Command: sudo chown USERNAME:GROUP file1.jpg file2.htm file3.png
Example: sudo chown randy image1.jpg index.htm bob.png

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