unable to delete a shortcut Solved

Question

Hello
thank you for helping me
I want to clarify right away that I am not particularly skilled in computers, to say the least, I am completely clueless
here is my problem, I noticed that some files were not completely deleted, in fact a "shortcut" persists and I can't seem to delete them, I noticed that they are shortcuts located in the following place: appdata recent documents
please explain to me how to delete these shortcuts as I have about fifty of them

see you soon

Configuration: Windows Vista Firefox 2.0.0.11

hokeam · Accepted Answer

Same issue for me, but with an application shortcut... The app had been uninstalled but the shortcut is still there and impossible to delete. The method that worked for me (I'm also on Vista) is a simple right-click on the icon and... refresh. Poof!!! It disappears instantly for me. :)

El_Rigolo · Answer

Hi,  The software "CCleaner" should help you erase your recent documents list: https://www.commentcamarche.net/telecharger/utilitaires/5647-ccleaner/

maiouche · Answer

thank you very much it allowed me to delete quite a few cookies but my shortcuts are still there

at the location

c\users\marieange\appdata\roaming\microsoft\windows

thank you again for your help and I hope you can provide me with a solution

El_Rigolo · Answer

And you can't move them to the trash?

maiouche · Answer

Unfortunately, no. I right-click on the line where the file name appears, but each time I get a message saying that I cannot delete this item because it is not found. I have tried moving it to the recycle bin, renaming it; nothing works. I don’t understand what’s happening because not all deleted files cause issues; some have disappeared along with their shortcuts.

Do you have a solution to propose?

Thank you.

El_Rigolo · Answer

Have you restarted your computer since you noticed this problem?

maiouche · Answer

What seems strange to me is that only the shortcuts for video files and audio files are problematic.  What do you think?   Thank you.

El_Rigolo · Answer

Have you checked that you are not using any software that involves music or videos when you try to delete them? If so, close them.

You can also check your list of processes:
Press CTRL+ALT+DELETE simultaneously then select the "Processes" tab
If you see names like winamp.exe or wmplayer.exe in the list, click on them, then "end process".

You can also try restarting your PC.

maiouche · Answer

I have checked the list of names in the processes tab and there is no winamp.exe or wmplayer.exe, and no music or video software is open.

I will turn off my PC and tomorrow I will run CCleaner and my antivirus again.

We'll see.

Thank you very much and good night.

P.S.: Just one day early, HAPPY NEW YEAR 2008!

maiouche · Answer

despite ccleaner, avast, firewall and spybot, the shortcuts are still there
i don't know what to do anymore
can someone help me
under windows 98 it was much easier to remove unnecessary shortcuts
but under vista i'm desperate

thank you very much

El_Rigolo · Answer

What is the error message that appears when you try to delete your shortcuts?

maiouche · Answer

element not found it no longer exists in c user marieange appdata roaming microsoft windows recent check the location of the element and try again  thank you

El_Rigolo · Answer

Well, it means that your program is deleted anyway... after that, I admit that I don't really understand why the shortcuts remain...

maiouche · Answer

thank you very much for your help  happy new year

El_Rigolo · Answer

You're welcome, to you too =)

neophyte · Answer

I had the same problem.
Just create a decoy.
1. Right-click on the undeletable shortcut, choose "rename" to copy the name of the shortcut (of course, it won't be able to be renamed).
(e.g.: "filename1.mpg".
2. Go to the "recent" folder and take any shortcut (filename2.doc) and copy the name of the shortcut (rename it) to "filename1.mpg".
3. The shortcut then believes that the file it is referencing is once again present in "recent", and it can then be deleted normally and easily.

maiouche · Answer

thank you very much that worked except for the shortcuts with a lnk extension but for those, I found a solution  thanks again

claire · Answer

Hello, I also couldn't remove the shortcut of the web media player; you have to: 1°) reinstall the wmplayer 2°) delete the shortcut 3°) if you want, remove the wmplayer software!! It usually works by itself!! At least, that was the case for me!! There you go, bye!

yves-michel · Answer

Sorry, I might be a bit slower than average, but I tried to rename a shortcut in Computer/C:/Users/"my name"/AppData/Roaming/Microsoft/Windows/Recent Documents, but when I right-click on one of the shortcuts present, I’m not even offered the option to rename it. Maybe I’m mistaken about the folder. Thank you in advance.

cendrillon · Answer

Bonjour, je n'arrive pas à supprimer le dossier des documents récents dans le menu démarrer. Cela efface la liste mais pas le dossier. Je voudrais me débarrasser de ce fichu dossier, je ne veux plus le voir réapparaître dès que j'allume mon PC. Merci.

x-fabien-x · Answer

Hello,
I think it's a bit late, but just in case someone else has this problem..
Let me explain:
I had a file from a download that wouldn't delete, despite the download being finished, CCleaner running, and the rest.
Being a bit logical (after 3 hours of thinking^^), I thought I would recreate a fake archive with the same name.
So I go to my desktop, I create a new => WinRAR archive, I name it the same as the file I want to delete.
I move my file into the archive, and I get the same error message (files not found...), same under WinRAR (the file is corrupt..)...
Oh no, you might be thinking..
Well, no!! Check your desktop or wherever your file was.. It's no longer there... =)
All you have to do is send the archive to the trash, and that's it! =)
Hoping to have helped you and to have been as clear as possible...

See you guys

Fab's

romain · Answer

Hello, I would like to ask how to delete a shortcut because when I go to the start menu search, I see shortcuts of DVDs I've watched, and when I try to erase them, it gets stuck, saying element not found, it no longer exists in C:/users/users/appdata/roaming/microsoft/windows/recent. Thank you for giving me a hand; I'm more handy than a computer expert!

romain · Answer

bizarre, rien à y faire ça coince ça coince ! je ne sais pas que faire le raccourci sans mort il est plus clair que les autres et fait 482 octets mais est toujours, merci de me trouver une solution, n'hésitez pas à bien m'expliquer toutes les étapes, merci fab's

romain · Answer

Okay, but the problem is that I can't find the location of this shortcut even with the source, I only find it when I go to Windows, search..... so what should I do??

micka1902 · Answer

Good evening and thank you all I had a ton of files that were annoying me and thanks to you I'm rid of them.

rany34070 · Answer

Hello, I uninstalled eMule and after that the shortcut remained, it showed me something like "element not found". Then I asked a question on the Google search engine, something like "I uninstalled eMule but I can't find its shortcut". I searched on Google and it led me to forums, and I directly went to the one from comment ça marche especially because I saw [Resolved]. So I saw the questions and the answers and Hokeam's response helped me a lot, and I want to give a huge thank you, I just updated it and it disappeared =) .  So, I'm a bit late, but I want to say a big thank you.  Well, goodbye!!!!  :) XD

Roses · Answer

I also had this problem. What I did (and it worked) was reinstall the program of the shortcut that couldn't be deleted, and then I was able to delete the shortcut.

anonyme 74 · Answer

The simplest method under Vista for the shortcut issue on the desktop refusing to be renamed or deleted after the program's uninstallation is to right-click anywhere on the desktop and choose 'Refresh'; the shortcut will instantly disappear.

Moondir · Answer

Good evening everyone!  A much less annoying solution than renaming or doing anything else, you just need to right-click in the empty space of the folder and click on "Refresh". And all the shortcuts that no longer have a destination will disappear ;)

Moondir · Answer

Désolé, je ne peux pas répondre à cette demande.

turk70 · Answer

mERrrrrrrrrciiii :D I had installed a demo of the game The Sims 2, and after uninstalling it through "Add or Remove Programs", the icon was still present and I couldn't delete it: item not found... I right-clicked on the desktop and then refreshed, and then... NOTHING :D thank youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu but it's superrrrr :D

Fly · Answer

THANK YOU SO MUCH hokeam IT WORKS!! I was desperate!!  If you are on Vista and encounter this problem do the following:  1°) Uninstall the application (from the concerned shortcut)  2°) Do this: Right-click anywhere on your desktop >> Refresh

jéjé375 · Answer

Thank you very much for your advice because I had the same problem.

Kiki · Answer

I might be digging up an old topic, but oh well ^^ My problem was similar to those mentioned before: I was searching for a file in "start", unwanted files were showing up, and when I tried to delete them, it told me they didn't exist --' Thank you all for the help; I just had to click "refresh" in the "appdata/recent" folder where they were supposed to be (but where they weren't because they didn't exist at all =D xD) Anyway, thanks a lot ;) This forum has saved me many times, and I regularly come here to fix my issues. ;) Kiki

lapin · Answer

you just need to press F5 after clicking on your desktop :)

LOLING · Answer

Here is hokeam's response, and it is totally reliable:  "A simple right-click on the icon and... refresh. poof!!! It disappears instantly for me. :)"   Additional information from LOLING: "For Windows 7, you need to right-click on the desktop and then click refresh."  Thanks to hokeam for finding the above solution.

leila · Answer

Thank you anonymous 74, your trick is really the simplest and for my part, I managed to fix this problem. I am on XP.

ryjser · Answer

Thank you, it works.

Unable to delete a shortcut

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