// SHARED DRIVE FILE LOCKS
How to see who has it open on a shared network drive
‘The file is in use by another user’ and nobody will admit it’s them? Here’s how to see exactly who has a file open on a shared network drive, clear a stale lock safely, and stop it happening again. Rated 4.9 on Google.
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/01 — QUICK ANSWER
See who has the file open in about 30 seconds
To see who has a file open on a shared network drive, sit at the computer that actually shares the folder and open Computer Management. Under System Tools, expand Shared Folders and click Open Files — the list shows every file currently open across your network and the Windows username holding each one, so whoever triggered ‘file in use by another user’ is right there in the Accessed By column.
The catch most guides skip: this only works from the host — the PC or server that shares the folder out. You can’t see the list from your own machine mapped to the drive, and you’ll need administrator rights on the host to read it. If your ‘server’ is really just an ordinary desktop under someone’s desk, that’s where you go (or where you remote in). We cover that setup, and its wobbles, in our guide to a desktop PC used as an office server. The full click-by-click steps are below.
/02 — OPEN FILES, STEP BY STEP
Using Computer Management › Open Files
Here’s the reliable way to check, on the host PC that shares the folder:
- Right-click the Start button and choose Computer Management (or press Windows + R, type compmgmt.msc and press Enter).
- In the left pane, expand System Tools, then Shared Folders, then click Open Files.
- Read across the columns: Open File is the path, Accessed By is the Windows account that has it open, #Locks shows how many locks are held, and Open Mode tells you whether it’s open Read or Write+Read.
- Click Sessions (just above Open Files) to see which users, and which computers, are connected to the share right now.
If you genuinely need to free the file and the person is unreachable, right-click the entry and choose Close Open File. Treat this as a last resort: any unsaved changes that person made are lost the moment you do it, and force-closing a live database file (Sage or QuickBooks, say) can corrupt it. You’ll need administrator rights on the host both to see the list and to close anything on it.
/03 — WHAT THE MESSAGE MEANS
Why Excel just says ‘another user’
When Excel or Word says a file is ‘locked for editing’, it sometimes names the culprit — ‘locked for editing by John Smith’ — and sometimes just shrugs with ‘another user’. That isn’t Windows being coy. Office only shows a name if that person once typed one into File, Options, General, User name. On many small-office PCs that box was never filled in, or everyone signs in as the same generic account, so you get the unhelpful ‘another user’ every time.
That’s exactly why the Open Files list on the host beats the pop-up: it shows the real Windows account holding the file, not whatever name Office happens to have on record. If two people swear blind they don’t have it open and the message still nags, don’t trust the message — go to the host and read the truth from Open Files. More often than not, the ‘phantom’ user is a session someone left open on a machine they walked away from, or a laptop that dropped off the wifi mid-save.
/04 — THE HIDDEN ~$ LOCK FILE
Phantom locks and the hidden ~$ file
Alongside every open Office document sits a tiny hidden companion — the owner file. Open Budget.xlsx and Excel quietly creates ~$Budget.xlsx in the same folder; it’s the flag that tells everyone else ‘someone has this’. Word does the same, though its owner file drops the first couple of letters of the name. Close the document properly and Office deletes the owner file automatically.
The trouble starts when Office doesn’t close properly — a crash, a frozen laptop, or a network drop mid-save. The ~$ file is orphaned, and the document stays ‘locked’ even though nobody is actually in it. That’s a phantom lock.
To find it, open the folder on the drive, click View, then Show, then tick Hidden items. You’ll see the ~$ file sitting next to your document. Once you’ve confirmed on the host that nobody genuinely has the file open (check Open Files first), it’s safe to delete the stale ~$ file — it holds no data of its own, so you lose nothing. Deleting it frees the lock; it won’t, however, recover any work that was lost in the crash.
/05 — CLEAR A STUCK LOCK SAFELY
Closing a stuck session without breaking anything
Prefer the keyboard? From the host PC you can list and clear locks without opening Computer Management. Open Command Prompt as administrator and type net file — you’ll get a numbered list of every open file with the user holding it. Note the ID, then run net file [id] /close to release that one lock.
PowerShell gives you more detail. Get-SmbOpenFile | Select ClientUserName, ClientComputerName, Path lists open files with the exact account and the computer they’re on — handy for pinning down which machine stranded the lock. Close-SmbOpenFile then closes it. Both need an elevated window, and both must be run on the machine that shares the folder.
Whichever route you take, the same caution applies: closing a lock from underneath a live document throws away that person’s unsaved changes, and force-closing an open accounts or database file risks corrupting it. If the ‘stuck’ file is a shared Sage company or another multi-user database, stop and read our note on Sage 50 multi-user connection problems before you pull the plug — the right fix is usually to get everyone out cleanly, not to sever the lock.
/06 — WHY IT KEEPS HAPPENING
Why this keeps happening — and when to call us
If you’re hunting down locked files every few days, the deeper problem usually isn’t the file — it’s the setup. Most small offices share their folders from one ordinary desktop that everyone maps a drive to. The moment that machine sleeps, reboots for an update, drops off the wifi, or simply gets switched off at the wall on a Friday, every open lock is stranded and Monday starts with ‘file in use’ errors. It’s the classic sign of a desktop PC being used as an office server that has quietly outgrown the job.
Windows updates can make it worse: the Windows 11 24H2 update broke shared-folder access for a lot of small networks, which we walk through in our guide to shared folders not working after 24H2. If drives also keep vanishing, our note on a mapped network drive that keeps disconnecting is worth a read.
When to call us: if this is eating your team’s time, we’ll log in remotely — usually the same day — find who’s really holding the file, clear stranded locks safely, and tell you honestly whether your sharing setup just needs tidying or a proper move to a server or cloud. We’re a family-run Bournemouth firm offering small-business IT support with no-fix-no-fee. Call 01202 775566 and we’ll take a look.
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// GOOD QUESTIONS
Frequently asked
Where exactly do I look to see who has a file open?
On the computer that shares the folder, open Computer Management, then expand System Tools and Shared Folders and click Open Files. The Accessed By column names the Windows account holding each file. You must do this from the host machine, with administrator rights — you can’t see the list from your own PC mapped to the drive.
Can I check this from my own computer?
Not usually. The Open Files list lives on the machine that actually shares the folder, so you need to be sat at that PC or remoted into it with admin rights. If your ‘server’ is a desktop under a colleague’s desk, that’s where you look. There’s no reliable built-in way to see the full lock list from a client PC across the network.
The message just says ‘another user’ — how do I get the name?
Office only shows a name if that person filled one into File, Options, General. If it’s blank, or everyone shares one login, you’ll always see ‘another user’. Ignore the pop-up and check Open Files on the host instead — it shows the real Windows account, which is far more reliable than whatever name Excel or Word has on record.
Is it safe to delete the ~$ lock file?
Yes — but only after you’ve confirmed on the host that nobody genuinely has the file open. The hidden ~$ file (for example ~$Budget.xlsx) holds no data, so deleting a stale one just clears the phantom lock and you lose nothing. Deleting it while someone really is editing can cause conflicts, and it won’t recover work lost in a crash.
What happens if I force-close someone’s open file?
Any changes they hadn’t saved are lost the instant you close the lock. For ordinary documents that’s annoying; for a live database like Sage or QuickBooks it can corrupt the file. Only force-close as a genuine last resort, ideally after checking nobody is mid-edit. The safer route is always to get the person to close the file properly first.
Why do we get ‘file in use’ errors almost every day?
Usually because your folders are shared from an ordinary desktop that sleeps, reboots for updates or gets switched off — each time, open locks are stranded. It’s the tell-tale sign of a desktop being used as an office server. A tidy-up, or a move to a proper server or cloud, usually stops it for good. We can advise on which is right for you.
Can you just sort this out for us?
Happily. We’ll connect remotely — usually the same day — find who’s really holding the file, clear stranded locks safely and check why it keeps happening. We’re a family-run Bournemouth firm offering small-business IT support with no-fix-no-fee, so if we can’t help there’s nothing to pay. Call 01202 775566 or text 07520 615332.
Does moving to OneDrive or SharePoint fix file-locking?
It changes the game: OneDrive and SharePoint allow real-time co-authoring, so two people can edit the same Office file at once instead of one locking the other out. It’s not a magic fix for every setup, and it needs planning to move your files across without disruption. As Windows and Microsoft 365 specialists we can talk you through whether it suits how your team actually works.
Stuck on ‘file in use by another user’?
We’ll find who’s really holding the file and clear stranded locks safely — usually the same day, remotely, with no-fix-no-fee. Call 01202 775566 or text 07520 615332.
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