How To Fix Destination Folder Access Denied Windows 10/11

If you face the error “destination folder access denied,” even with full control, it could be due to ownership permission on the files or folder you are trying to access. Using an administrator account provides more control, but you might face this issue, especially when moving from an old OS to a newly installed one. This guide will explain all the steps required to fix the error on a Windows PC.

Why Does The Error Occur

When you cannot copy NTFS security to the destination directory because of the “destination folder access denied” error, you should understand that there is an issue with permissions on your PC. However, experts have identified more reasons for this error, and some of them are listed below:

Restricted Permission. Users who try to access a file or folder with restricted permissions will face the error.

Ownership. It would help if you had ownership to carry out any activity on a file or folder; without it, making changes would be impossible.

File/folder used by another app. Sometimes, the file/folder you are trying to access is being used by another program or process, which means you cannot use or change it now.

Corrupted User Profile. You can face this error when user profiles are not configured correctly or corrupted.

Limitations Imposed By Apps. Many third-party applications, such as antivirus and firewalls, can limit access to certain shared files and folders.

Disk issues. The “destination folder access denied” error can also arise due to a hardware error where the hard disk has bad sectors or is getting corrupted.

Best Ways To Fix “Destination Folder Access Denied Even With Full Control” Error

There are many reasons why the error occurs, we have listed a set of troubleshooting steps below. Remember to check if the issue persists after every successful completion of a method. You can ignore the remaining methods when you stop receiving this error.

Method 1: Modify Folder Ownership

Step 1: Right-click the file or folder you cannot move and choose Properties from the context menu.

Step 2: Click the Security tab and then the Advanced button.

Step 3: Next, click on Change to open a new window.

Step 4: Locate the “Enter the object name to select” section and type “Administrator”.

Step 5: Click the “Check Names” and “OK” buttons.
Step 6: Click the checkbox next to “Replace owner on sub containers and objects” and click Apply, followed by OK.

Read Also: Solved – Unable To Terminate Process Access Is Denied in Windows

Method 2: Modify Drive Permissions

Step 1: Right-click on the drive and choose “Properties”.
Step 2: Click the Security tab and then the Edit button.
Step 3: Select the Username in the “Group” box.
Step 4: Check all the boxes under Permissions for Users and check Allow next to all items.

Step 5: Click on Apply, followed by OK.

Method 3: Modify Network And Sharing Settings

Step 1: Press Windows + I to open Settings.
Step 2: Click on Network and then locate “Network and Sharing Centre.”

Step 3: Next, click on “Change advanced sharing settings.”

Step 4: Click on the circular button next to “Turn On Network Discovery.”

Step 5: Check the box next to “Turn On Automatic Setup Of Network Connected Devices.”

Method 4: Utilize Advanced Sharing

Step 1: Right-click on the folder you wish to move and choose Properties.
Step 2: Click the Sharing tab and then the Share button.
Step 3: Type the new user’s name and click on the Add button.
Step 4: After adding the user, click the dropdown next to the newly added user and select the Read/Write option.

Step 5: Click on The Share button and then click on Done.

Step 6: Click on the Advanced Sharing button under the Share Button in Step 2.

Step 7: Click on the checkbox next to Share this folder.

Step 8: Click on the Permissions button and click on Add.

Step 9: Enter your Username/computer name and click on OK.
Step 10: Make sure you have checked the box next to “Full Control.”
Step 11: Click on Apply and OK.

Read Also: How to fix Drive is not Accessible “Access is Denied” Error in Windows 11,10,8

Method 5: Use SFC and DISM

Step 1: Press Win + R to open the RUN box and type “cmd.”
Step 2: Press CTRL + Shift + Enter to open the Command Prompt in admin mode.
Step 3: Type the following command to run the System File Checker, followed by the Enter key.

sfc /scannow

Step 4: After the process completes, type the below-mentioned command to run the DISM tool and press the Enter key to execute it:

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth 

Step 5: After the command process is over, reboot the system.

Method 6: Use The Check Disk Tool.

Step 1: Press Win + R to open the RUN box and type “CMD.”
Step 2: Press CTRL + Shift + Enter to open the Command Prompt in elevated mode.
Step 3: Type the following command and press the Enter key:

Chkdsk  /f /r /x

Step 4: Wait for the process to complete. Type “exit”  and press the Enter key to close the command prompt window.

Method 7: Turn Off The User Account Control Settings

Step 1: Press Win + S to open Windows Search and type “UAC.”
Step 2: Click on the Change User Account Control Settings option.

Step 3: A new box will open. In it,  drag the slider towards Never Notify and click the OK button.

Bonus Tip: Use Advanced File Recovery To Recover Your Lost Files

Step 1: Download and Install Advanced File Recovery Software.

Step 2: Open the app and select the Drive you wish to recover files from.

Step 3: Next, click on the file type you wish to recover and hit the Start Scan button.

Step 4: Wait for some time, and a list of recoverable files will appear on the screen.

Step 5: Select the files you wish to recover and click the Recover Now button.

Here’s A complete review of the Tool

Have You Fixed Destination Folder Access Denied Windows 10/11?

We hope you can fix the error using the abovementioned methods. If the error persists, we suggest you try to take the hard disk back if possible and then format the drive. The Advanced File Recovery app can recover files even from a formatted hard disk. Do write to us in the comments section about how you fixed this issue.