Fixed: Unspecified Error While Copying Files Or Folders In Windows 11/10

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Summary: When you try to copy a file or folder on Windows 11/10, you may receive errors notifying “Error Copying File or Folder. Access is denied” or “Error Copying file or folder: Unspecified error”. Can this error be fixed? This post will show you how to effectively deal with unspecified an error while copying files or folders in Windows 11/10.

Reasons for Error Copying Files or Folders

Under normal circumstances, the Windows operating system consists of copying and pasting, and the files can be transferred or backed up to other devices. However, “Error Copying File or Folder Unspecified Error” pops up while you are copying files from one drive to another can be a result of various events:

  • There needs to be more space on the target partition.
  • The target drive is write-protected.
  • The destination partition has a file system limit.
  • The target drive is corrupted.
  • The file or folder that you want to copy is too large.
  • There is a conflicting application running on the PC.

There are different reasons for Error Copying Files or Folders. And, of course, there are other solutions accordingly. In the next part, we will show you how to handle this problem effectively in various situations.

Methods to Fix Unspecified Error While Copying Files or Folders

Method 1: Change the File or Folder Permission

If the file or folder you’re trying to duplicate is encrypted or locked, and your permissions do not grant you complete control, you must modify its permissions.

  1. Press Win + E to open File Explorer, right-click the file or folder you intend to change permission and select Properties from the active list that pops up.
  2. In the Properties Window, click the Security tab.
  3. Search for and click on your name under the Group or user names section.
  4. Hit the Edit button to change the permission.
  5. Above the list of Permissions for Authenticated Users, you’ll find the Full control option. Check the Allow box to grant permission to the file or folder.properties-security-permissions for System
  6. Then click OK, go and try copying the file or folder.

Method 2: Compress the File or Folder

Compressing the file or folder is useful when the file or folder size is too large, particularly if it exceeds 4GB.

  1. Press Win + E to open File Explorer, right-click the file or folder you intend to compress and select Send to > Compressed (zipped) folder.compressed zipped folder
  2. Fill in the zip folder info with a name and press the Enter button.

You can now copy the zipped folder to a target location or memory without encountering the unspecified error message.

Method 3: Clear the Target Partition Space

This method is most effective for removing temporary and nonessential files to create more space, particularly if the not enough partition space issue is causing the error message while copying a file or folder.

  1. Press Win + E to open File Explorer, find and right-click the target storage.
  2. From the appearing option list, select the Properties option.
  3. Then select Disk Cleanup at the bottom. After calculating the files on the partition, each will be listed with their sizes.
  4. Select the files you do not want and click OK.

Method 4: Run the CHKDSK Command

If your hard drive has bad sectors, you may also encounter the “Access Denied While Copying Files” error. Therefore, it is recommended that you run the CHKDSK command. It marks terrible sectors and prevents file corruption by repairing file system errors.

  1. Type cmd in the Search box, and select Run as administrator.
  2. Then type in the command: chkdsk C: /f /r /x and press Enter. Remember to replace C with the drive letter of the partition to be repaired.
  3. Press the Y button to confirm the check at the next system reboot.
  4. Last, restart your computer and try copying your file or folder to see if it works.

Method 5: Format Target Partition as NTFS or exFAT

While the total size of files you can copy to FAT32 may be up to 2TB, each file cannot exceed 4GB. If you try to copy a file larger than 4GB to a partition with a FAT32 file system, you will fail (you can check the drive’s file system in the contents). Why?

To format a drive: if the archive you want to copy exceeds 4GB, you can use WinRAR or ZIP to compress the file to get a smaller library. However, if this doesn’t work or the target storage device is inaccessible to you with a “parameter is incorrect” message, you can directly convert the target partition or disk to NTFS or exFAT, which can be done by formatting.

  1. Use Win + E to open file Explorer and select the disk you want to format.
  2. Right-click it and select Format.
  3. Select the File system like NTFS, uncheck the Quick format checkbox, and click the Start button.format-memory-card

NOTE: Since formatting will erase any existing files on the target drive, you should back it up elsewhere before formatting. 

Method 6: Remove the Write Protection

Suppose your devices, such as a flash drive or memory card, are write-protected when an error occurs while copying files or folders on your computer. In that case, you can use the diskpart command to remove the write protection on the device by following the steps below:

  1. Type cmd in the Search box, and select Run as administrator.
  2. Then type in the command: diskpart and click Yes at the Prompt to request notification.
  3. Then enter the following commands in order (Replace X with the drive letter of the write-protected drive.):
    list disk
    select disk X
    attributes disk clear readonly

remove the write protection-cmd

After that, you should be able to use the target drive partition to save files and folders without any issues.

Method 7: Disable Real-time Protection

The real-time protection protocol of your Windows security may also cause the unspecified error message. Here is how to turn off real-time protection:

  1. Press Win + I to open Settings, and choose Update & Security > Windows Security, then click Virus & threat protection.virus & threat protection
  2. In Virus & threat protection settings, switch the Real-time protection option from on to off.

Method 8: Register jscript.dll & vbscript.dll

In a case where your computer may have accumulated invalid entries, there is a need for you to re-register Dynamic-link library (DLL) extensions for jscript and vbscript.

  1. Type cmd in the Search box, and select Run as administrator.
  2. Then type in these commands and press Enter:
    regsvr32 jscript.dll
    regsvr32 vbscript.dllcmd-regsvr32
  3. Close the Command Prompt window, then reboot your computer and try to copy-paste any file or folder again.

Method 9: Switch User Accounts

You may not have permission to copy-paste files or data to files/folders with your current account. Therefore, switching to another account with higher privileges on the computer and copying the data should resolve the issue.

Conclusion

In this article, we’ve discussed all the reasons that might cause the unspecified error when copying files or folders in Windows 11/10, and meanwhile, corresponding fixes are provided as well. Additionally, if you have any feedback or suggestions, you’re welcome to share them in the comments section below without hesitation.

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