PowerShell script to check an application that's locking a file?

Question

Using in PowerShell, how can I check if an application is locking a file?

I like to check which process/application is using the file, so that I can close it.

Answer 1

You can do this with the SysInternals tool handle.exe. Try something like this:

PS> $handleOut = handle PS> foreach ($line in $handleOut) {          if ($line -match '\S+\spid:') {             $exe = $line         }          elseif ($line -match 'C:\\Windows\\Fonts\\segoeui\.ttf')  {              "$exe - $line"         }      } MSASCui.exe pid: 5608 ACME\hillr -   568: File  (---)   C:\Windows\Fonts\segoeui.ttf ... 

Answer 2

You should be able to use the openfiles command from either the regular command line or from PowerShell.

The openfiles built-in tool can be used for file shares or for local files. For local files, you must turn on the tool and restart the machine (again, just for first time use). I believe the command to turn this feature on is:

openfiles /local on 

For example (works on Windows Vista x64):

openfiles /query | find "chrome.exe" 

That successfully returns file handles associated with Chrome. You can also pass in a file name to see the process currently accessing that file.