https://activedirectorypro.com/view-open-files-windows-server/
There are times when a file is open on a windows server and you need to view what user or process has it open. These open files can be locked and prevent users from editing, cause errors when upgrading software, hold up a reboot, and so on.
In this article, I will show you how to quickly view open files on Windows servers and workstations.
Both methods use built in Windows tools and work on most Windows versions (I’ve tested this on Server 2012, 2016, 2019, and Windows 10).
https://www.youtube.com/embed/FVIXpNM-HHU?feature=oembed
If you don’t like videos or want more details then continue reading.
This first method is used to view open files on a shared folder. This is the best way to troubleshoot locked files that users have left open. If you need to see what process has a file open then check out method 2.
Step 1: Right Click the start menu and select Computer Management
Another way to access computer management is to type in compmgmt.msc into the start menu search box.
You will need to open up this console on the computer or server that has the shared folder. For example, I have a server called file1 with a shared folder named HR. To see the open files on this share I will need to open up the computer management console from the file1 server.
Step 2: Click on Shared Folders, then click on open files
I can now see that the user rallen has the HR folder and the file adpro.txt open.
If I needed to I can right click the file and select “Close Open File”. This is something that needs to be done when a file is locked.
That’s it for method 1.