Power Automate: "Delete File" Fails Due to Locked File Error

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Posted on by AN-04030826-0

Hello,

I'm facing an issue in Power Automate when trying to delete a file. After using the "Delete file" action, I get an error stating that the file is locked.

Here's the process:

I retrieve a file from SharePoint, which is used as a template.

The file is moved to OneDrive.

An Excel script runs on the file in OneDrive.

The file is then moved back to a SharePoint folder.

I try to delete the temporary file from OneDrive, but I get a file locked error.

A workaround would be to keep the template in OneDrive, but the users prefer not to have it stored there.

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Building flows

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Michael E. Gernaey 53,960 Moderator on at

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Hi @AN-04030826-0

Before you delete, add a Wait action. Since its excel this happens a lot in many scenarios.

Add it to be 3-10 minutes (ugg yeah 10 minutes) and it should go away.

Wasn't sure if you already resolved this or not.

If this helps you, if you do not mind Marking it as such and maybe a like. :-)

If you have further questions, please let me know.

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AN-04030826-0 20 on at

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Hi @Michael E. Gernaey,

Sorry for the late reply. I’ve already tried, even waiting up to 10 minutes and also using a loop to wait for an hour — but it still didn’t work.

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HC-05020715-0 4 on at

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Hi @AN-04030826-0,

I don't know if you found a solution for your problem, but I did find a way to force delete the file in the OneDrive folder. There is a thread titled "Unlocking OneDrive file through API" that describes the steps. You can check it out here:

https://community.powerplatform.com/forums/thread/details/?threadid=c012cc48-22c4-4f1a-aec9-c03f6832ba20

The bonus is that copying from OneDrive to SharePoint can be done just with the Copy File connector from SharePoint. :)

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