Opened folder and was presented with multiple documents that had a "locked padlock" covering part of the file icon. Also the following message when I attempted to open the file:
"You need permission to perform this action."
"You require permission from "everyone" to make changes to this file."
I am the administrator and have no user named "everyone".
I do not have the password.
How do I unlock these files?
Thanks, Cosmo
Do you mean a padlock that looks like this?
That means the file is encrypted with EFS encryption. Encrypt or Decrypt a Folder or File
If you didn't backup the encryption keys then the files are not accessible and you can not get them back. If the padlock looks different please post a picture so we can understand the issue.
As an aside "Everyone" means just that - any user - you don't have a specific user called "Everyone".
Ix07,
Yes, that's exactly what it looks like.
Files belonged to a former employee. I am curious why her user ID didn't show up.
Is there anyway short of reformatting to delete these files as there is a total of 230G?
Thanks, Cosmo
Maybe taking ownership of them would work. Have a look at this tutorial: Add Take Ownership to Context Menu in Windows 10
Good luck ...
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