Destination Folder Access Denied Error

Many users have reported getting a “Destination Folder Access Denied” error window when they try to copy, move or delete a file or a folder either locally, or from a shared resource. It mostly occurs when there are multiple users configured on a system, and/or after you have updated your operating system and are trying to modify an existing file or folder on your old operating system. The situation can be different, but issue’s root cause is the ownership properties of the target file/folder.

This problem is often seen in multi-user account system. Files and folders do appear in other accounts but are not available for any modifications. By transferring ownership, you make the selected file or folder available in your account and provide your account the privilege and permission to modify or perform all or certain tasks as per your requirement.

The error may say:

 Destination Folder Access Denied.
 Need Permissions to Perform this Action.

Fix Destination Folder Access Denied Error

Fix Error Solution #1: Take Ownership of Item in the Command Prompt

1. Right click on Windows button and click on “Command Prompt(Admin).”
2. Now suppose you want to take ownership of a folder Software inside D drive whose full address is: D:\Software
3. In the cmd type takeown /f “full path of file or folder” which in our case is: takeown /f “D:\Software”
4. In some cases the above might not work so instead of that try this (double quote included):  icacls “full path of file” /grant (username):F  —> Example: icacls “D:\Software” /grant aditya:F
5. A message will be displayed that this completed successfully. Restart.

Fix Error Solution #2: Manually Take Ownership of an Item

1. Go to the file or folder you want to delete or modify. For example D:/Software
2. Right click on the file or folder and click “Properties” and click on the Security tab and on the Advanced button.
3. Click the “change” option next to the owner label (You should make note of who the current Owner is so you can change it back to it later if you like.)
4. The Select User or Group window will appear.
5. Select the user account via the Advanced button or just type your user account in the area which says ‘Enter the object name to select’ and click OK. If you select advanced button then Click on “Find now.”
6. In the ‘Enter the object name to select’ type the username of the account which you want to give access to. Type the name of your current user account for example: Johnson
7. Optionally, to change the owner of all sub folders and files inside the folder, select the check box “Replace owner on subcontainers and objects” in the “Advanced Security Settings” window. Click OK to change the ownership.
8. Now you need to provide full access to the file or folder for your account. Right-click the file or folder again, click Properties, click the Security tab and then click Advanced.
9. Click the Add button. The “Permission Entry” window will appear on the screen.
10. Click “Select a principal” and select your account.
11. Set permissions to “Full control” and Click OK.
12. Optionally, click “Replace all existing inheritable permissions on all descendants with inheritable permissions from this object” in the“Advanced Security Settings” window.

That’s it. You just changed the ownership and got full access to the file in Windows 10 using the File Explorer app.