Why does Windows sometimes say a file is ‘in use’ even when I’ve closed the app that was using it?
Windows reports files as 'in use' due to handles held by other processes like antivirus, network references, or DLLs mapped into memory.
“One of the workarounds I have, by the way, for this is renaming the file.”
A SysInternals tools creator explains why Windows locks files even after closing an app, citing antivirus scans, network references, and DLLs mapped into process address space. The content is a Windows OS troubleshooting tip with no meaningful AI industry signal.