[Guide] How to Take Ownership (Permission) of a File or Folder Manually in Windows?

We here at AskVG post various themes, skins and other customization stuff which require you to replace or modify existing system files in Windows. You need to take ownership of that file or folder before modifying or replacing it.

We always suggest you to use take the ownership automatically using following context menu option method:

How to Add “Take Ownership” Option to File or Folder Context Menu in Windows

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But sometime people complain that they are unable to take ownership of the file and we suggest them to take the ownership manually.

Since taking the ownership manually is a bit complicated task, today we are going to post a detailed guide with screenshots which will help you in taking ownership and granting full permission and control to yourself on a file or folder in Windows.

So without wasting time, here are the required steps:

1. Go to the folder which contains the file or folder on which you want to take ownership. Right-click on the file or folder and select Properties.

2. It’ll open its Properties window. Now go to “Security” tab and select your username from the given list. You’ll see that it doesn’t have full control.

File_Permissions_Details.png

3. Click on “Advanced” button and it’ll open a new window.

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For Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7:

Go to “Owner” tab. You’ll see that the owner would be set to “TrustedInstaller“.

Change_Ownership.png

Click on “Edit” button, select your username given in “Change owner to” section and click on “Apply” button. It’ll ask for confirmation, click on OK button.

If you are not a Windows 8 or later OS user, jump to Step 4.

For Windows 8/8.1, Windows 10 and later:

Click on “Change” button near “TrustedInstaller” as shown in following image:

Change_Owner_Windows_8_File_Folder.png

It’ll open new dialog box. Now type your username and click on “Check Names” button. It’ll automatically convert the username to correct format.

Set_Owner_Windows_8_File_Folder.png

Now click on OK button.

4. Exit from both Ownership dialog boxes and come to the first Properties window again. Now select your username again and click on “Edit” button. It’ll open a new window:

Assign_Full_Permissions.png

Select your username and click on “Allow” checkbox given for “Full control” option. Click on “Apply” button and then OK. It’ll ask for confirmation, click on Yes button.

5. That’s it. Now you’ll have full permission on the file or folder.

Full_Permissions.png

Now you can modify or replace it without any problem. Before doing anything, first take a backup of the file by renaming it to some other name.

Also check:

[Guide] How to Restore “TrustedInstaller” as Default Owner of a File or Folder in Windows?

[Guide] How to Take Ownership (Permission) of a Registry Key in Windows?

Published in: Windows 10, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Vista, Windows XP

About the author: Vishal Gupta (also known as VG) has been awarded with Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award. He holds Masters degree in Computer Applications (MCA). He has written several tech articles for popular newspapers and magazines and has also appeared in tech shows on various TV channels.

Comments

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  1. 1- when i open video file with vlc media message shown File reading failed: VLC could not open the file “E:\New folder\SURA E REHMAN(QARI SADAQAT ALI).mp4” (Bad file descriptor). Your input can’t be opened:
    VLC is unable to open the MRL ‘file:///E:/New%20folder/SURA%20E%20REHMAN%28QARI%20SADAQAT%20ALI%29.mp4’. Check the log for details.
    &
    2 – when i open video file with vlc media message shown Windows Media Player cannot access the file.The file might be in use, you might not have access to the computer where the file is stored, or your proxy settings might not be correct.

    3 – then i open video file property in general,advanced open,Encrypt contents UN chick,click OK,apply massage shown ACCESS DENIED you will need to provide administrator permission to change these attributes,click
    CONTINUE Massage shown ERROR APPLYING ATTRIBUTES an error occurred applying attributes to the file: ignore/ignore all/try again/cancel i press ignore all result Encrypt contents not UN chick. why?
    &
    4 – in security advance section inherited from not properly work,not changing applying,not changing ownership applying i very triaged, i no have code or password & backup.
    please help me.

  2. history i install win8.1 few month used then this problem crate then i format the win8.1 & install win 7 but problem still then again i install win 8.1 but problem still why ?…

  3. Thanks for this very useful post.
    For Win10 users – as with Mike’s comment regarding Win 8.1 – I found that I couldn’t change the settings of the specific file I needed to rename/replace – but I was able to change them on the Windows folder itself, first selecting the option for permission changes to apply to all files and subfolders. I was then able to rename my file and replace it with a different version.
    Incidentally – this was because the WinHlp32.exe file supplied with Win 10 is not backwards compatible with some apps developed back in XP times – so (following advice in another forum) I replaced the Win 10 version with the XP version (after renaming the Win 10 one, for safety) – and that worked perfectly. Similar logic may apply elsewhere.

  4. I had a problem relevant to this thread, a Windows 10/Cortana issue:

    Thank you each, one and all! I have spent hours on the Internet trying to do this very thing (take ownership of folders/files) so that I could repair damages done that I will not blame on the good folks at Microsoft (ahem). As many visitors are likely to know, the Microsoft instructions don’t come close to describing the relevant screens or their functions. Do you get how grateful I am for your direction?

    I know that there is a great deal of work behind these posts. I hope you know that those of us who benefit are grateful.

    Mike

  5. HELP !!
    i m not able to enter C: drive (windows 8.1), not even able to run any software as admin.
    Can’t run system restore, elevated cmd. Nothing works in my case due access denied.

  6. Msoft’s programmers are mad. Tried to rename iexplore.exe inside a system folder. Wouldn’t let me, so tried to delete it. It went. Then tried to Undo delete from the Explorer menu, and it said I didn’t have permission. Ha! Bit of an own goal there, Msoft. Incidentally, the Take Ownership on the context menu doesn’t appear for some files, including that iexplore.exe.
    The hidden admin account… It’s the first thing I do following a fresh Win install, then I delete the account created during the install, so always work as Administrator. It doesn’t, though, give you full control, as proven by the messages received in the above example. You still have to be prepared to get down and dirty. Sometimes you have to have more than one go at a file before you can fully own it – using the instructions in the article and the other mentioned tools. OK all the way out, then try again. Try again after a reboot. Persist. Being told I can’t do something on a machine that I own and built used to send me into conniptions, now I just enjoy the chase, and savour the victory when it happens. (I often turn off at the wall without shutting down, just to annoy the thing.) 😉

  7. After a bit of tinkering I fixed most of the issues in Windows 10.

    tl;dr: replace owner on subcontainters and objects

    After step 3 when you change the owner and click OK, you are returned to “Advanced Security Settings” window. Underneath the owner (which you have just changed from trustedinstaller to you) is a checkbox for “replace owner on subcontainters and objects”

    In step 4, it can be helpful to give “users” full control too.

  8. Step 4, owner is changed to Administrator, trying to change permissions: “Access denied”

    Changed owner to my username, trying to change permissions: “Ok”

    What, but it works.

  9. HI CHECK THIS OUT IT WORKS!

    How to get permission from TrustedInstaller to delete a folder
    It’s quite simple to delete such folders you just need to become an owner of the folder and gain the necessary permissions. Here are the steps you should follow to do so:

    Right click on the folder and select “Properties” from context menu. Then open “Security” tab. Folder security options
    Click “Advanced” button.
    In “Owner” field click “Change” to change folder owner from TrustedInstaller. Change folder owner from TrustedInstaller
    Click “Advanced” button in “Select user or group” window. Advanced User Settings
    Click “Find now” button then select your user name from the list. Click Ok, then Ok, again. Select User
    Check “Replace owner on subcontainers and objects”. Click Ok. Apply new folder owner
    Once again click “Advanced” button in folders’ security options.
    Click “Change permissions” then “Add” button.
    Click “Select a principal” and find your user name like in step 5.
    Check “Full Control” in permissions. Click Ok. Set full access to folder
    Check “Replace all child object permission entries with inheritable permission entries from this object”. Change folder permissions
    Click Ok button.
    Once you’ve done all the steps, you are now able to delete the folder and you will not see any Acess Denied messages saying that you require permission from TrustedInstaller.

  10. It did not work. I do not know if Windows updated something to prevent this BUT, when I get to the final step to allow Administrators to take Full Control of the System 32 folder, all the options are grayed out, both Allow and Deny. I am beginning to really detest Windows 10!

  11. The process to gain ownership permission back cannot be completed on my window 8. After right clicking on the app and selecting “property”, then to “security” to “advance”, the “change” stage refused to give me further access permit. Please urgently need help. Thank you.

  12. When i try to get through the third step an error will pop up when i click ”check names” telling me that my username doesn’t exist even though i typed it correctly

  13. I need to restore TrustedInstaller to a registry key in W10. I followed your guidance except when W10 display an Error Message, and would not accept the needed entry, NTSERVICE\TRUSTEDINSTALLER, in the “Select User of Group box”. Therefore TrustedInstaller was not added to the owners list…..
    i followed the directions carefully, i understand the process for working with a registry key, and never had any problems assigning or restoring user names, except TrustedInstaller, for a registry key….
    I need to restore TrustedInstaller as the rightful owner of a registry key to repair an DCOM Error Event (10016). I am at a loss as to what I am doing wrong??

  14. I want to change the sounds in C:\Windows\Media, I followed these steps, but I receive errors for all the files in this folder (Windows 8.1)…

  15. That skips one very important step:

    While changing ownership, you’ll have to check the “Replace owner on subcontainers and objects”.

    Then you have to make sure your name is listed in the Permissions window as a Principal, with Full Control.

    Plus, don’t forget to exit and re-open the Properties window when prompted to do so.

    Other than that, it works well 🙂

  16. By the way, I encountered a problem that involved myself for several months. Please read carefully and please help. After installing Windows 10, all data and files are encrypted, unwanted, and without permission and copyrights. Do not open or open them. Please help with thanks

  17. You may also have to disable inheritance to take power away from TrustedInstaller.

  18. When the notify screen was supposed to show all I saw was a black screen and could do nothing.

    If I quickly located and ended the process “sipnotify.exe” in the task manager the computer ran smooth until the next restart. Deleted the update “KB4493132” and was fine until the next round of updates witch I left that box unchecked as to not download it. Microsoft added it with a core update. And Black screen was back.

    Found this article and followed the steps to safely remove sipnotify.exe file
    Worked perfectly. Was able to delete the file and restart computer.

    Thanks! 9/26/2019

  19. Thanks so much for this. It has been driving me mad. Your explanation has finally helped me to delete those unwanted files. Time consuming but satisfying!

  20. how can I uninstall a software? when i try to uninstall it, it says that the administrator has blocked me but i am the administrator

  21. ^^ Which software are you trying to uninstall? You can also share a screenshot to better understand the problem.

  22. With step 4:
    On my properties page there is no edit button but all the permissions are set on the same window as step 3.
    Inconveniently, this still doesnt let me edit the files.
    Any fixes for this?

  23. I downloaded files from One Drive. It compressed them and made a zip folder. I opened the folder and was trying to move the pictures to another drive but after 10 min only 50 were moved. I cancelled the move progress window. Now I can’t open the zip folder. I’ve tried all of the suggestions but none work. I think this is a unique problem. Please email me if you have a solution to this problem. Thanks.

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