PowerToys
PowerToys copied to clipboard
microsoft
[File Locksmith] just displays busy circle
Microsoft PowerToys version
0.64.0
Installation method
PowerToys auto-update
Running as admin
Yes
Area(s) with issue?
File Locksmith
Steps to reproduce
- I opened a PowerPoint file
- open File Explorer and right-click the PPTX file and choose "What's using this file"
- File Locksmith opens and the screen just shows the busy, rotating circle. I waited 5 minutes with no change.
- I also tried on a file that was not opened by any process with the same result
- I tried rebooting. Same results.
✔️ Expected Behavior
tell me that the file was in use by PowerPoint
❌ Actual Behavior
Just the busy circle
Other Software
No response
Follow up on this. When I choose the option "What's using this file", if I look at task Maanger, I see PowerToys.FileLocksmith using between 0.6% and 1.2% CPU on my 8th gen Core-i7. It is using 46.9MB RAM.
I read in the comments section at "deskmodder.de" that someone has the same problem with an Excel file.
( https://www.deskmodder.de/blog/2022/11/02/powertoys-0-64-0-jetzt-mit-locksmith-und-hosts-file-editor-und-weiteren-highlights/#comment-223104 & https://www.deskmodder.de/blog/2022/11/02/powertoys-0-64-0-jetzt-mit-locksmith-und-hosts-file-editor-und-weiteren-highlights/#comment-223106 )
I should have been clearer ;-)
Although I gave the PowerPoint file as an example, I get the same results for any file type, folders, and groups of files and folders.
I have a second computer where File Locksmith works fine. So it is something local to my desktop computer, but I don't have a clue as to how to track down what is causing the problem. If anyone on the dev team wants me to try various things or provide log files or whatever, I am happy to help in any way I can.
I have tried uninstalling and reinstalling PowerToys.
I have Lock Hunter (https://lockhunter.com/) which does pretty much the same function (tells you what is locking a file and allows you to unlock it) and it is functioning fine. I tried uninstalling Lock Hunter in case (I can't imagine why) it was causing the problem for File Locksmith, but that didn't help
Hi there!
We need a bit more information to really debug this issue. Can you add a "Report Bug" zip file here? You right click on our system tray icon and just go to report bug. Then drag the zipfile from your desktop onto the GitHub comment box in this issue. Thanks! 
I'm getting the exact same problem. Doesn't seem to work with any file in any location. PowerToysReport_2022-11-04-21-54-37.zip
Same here. Process Hacker's "Find Handles and DLLs" finds the process just fine, while File Locksmith seems to search infinitely. PowerToysReport_2022-11-05-12-51-23.zip
Same problem here, Just doesn't work with any types of files. PowerToysReport_2022-11-05-10-10-06.zip
Not working here either - except, instead of a busy circle, mine shows "No results" on each file:
Bug report: PowerToysReport_2022-11-07-05-06-41.zip
Infinite spinning circle happens to me too, except only in administrator mode, and only with the latest 0.64.1 release. After uninstalling 64.1 and reinstalling 64.0, it works in both user and admin mode again. I'm on an insider build (22621.755) not sure if that is affecting it. For me it happens with any file, whether in use or not.
Here's the bug report using 0.64.1 PowerToysReport_2022-11-08-12-05-43.zip
Funnily enough, I was trying to compile the latest build before the 64.1 was released, and with that it was doing the same thing. I assumed I messed something up when compiling.
I also tried installing PowerToys 0.64.1 in a Windows 11 virtual machine, it works fine in there.
Edit: I've just ran Windows update, now on 22621.819, but no change.
Edit2: I rebooted into safe mode, where I guess everything is run as admin by default. In safe mode, it does not have the infinite spinning problem.
Some additional things I tried:
- Enabling the default Administrator account and logging into that desktop. There it opens directly to the elevated mode which also keeps spinning forever.
- Creating a new user account. Same behavior, keeps spinning after escalating.
Can confirm it only displaying busy circle (for folders and files) even in elevated state.
But, switching to safe mode, displayed all processes attached.
just installed 64.1 as 64.0 also gave the eternal spinning circle, but that did not help. Now I have a zip file which I try to add to this message PowerToysReport_2022-11-09-11-14-09.zip hope this helps.
64.1 installed. I am still getting the spinning circle on any file with File Locksmith
LockHunter (https://lockhunter.com/) has no problem
PowerToys bug report log attached PowerToysReport_2022-11-09-07-45-52.zip
Hi @ChrisJohnTaylor , @kevinf100 , @fixator10 , @Church-17 , @ctp9 , @ThioJoe , @Rialtho-the-Magnificent , @dougwebb ,
Could you please try a 0.0.1 x64 dev build so we can try to see if my fix solves this for you? (It's a signed build) https://github.com/jaimecbernardo/PowerToys/releases/tag/0.0.1-test-fix-locksmith-hanging
Please uninstall your current PowerToys installation, then install this debug build. Replicate the bug. Let us know if File Locksmith is working now. Uninstall this build and install an official release of PowerToys again.
Thank you, in advance.
Hi @jaimecbernardo
Actually, I had updated to 65.0. (it was 64 that I was running when I bugged this originally). I had not checked to see if the problem had been resolved. I just checked and File Locksmith was working for me under 65.0. I installed the 0.0.1 dev build you pointed to and it is still working :-)
I will go back to the release build of 65.0
Thanks!
@jaimecbernardo v65.0 did not work for me with Locksmith. Uninstalling v65.0 and trying 0.0.1 x64 dev build had Locksmith working. Uninstalling the dev build and installing v65.0 broke Locksmith again. v65.0 and older is broken for me. Dev 0.0.1 works for me.
I'm now on v0.65.0 and still a no go. Only spinning circle both in normal as well as admin mode.
@Rialtho-the-Magnificent , did you try the build I shared in this comment? https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/issues/21621#issuecomment-1351672011
No I did not and I'm not willing to do this. I'm just an 'ordinary' user and not a developer or similar. I find it very unprofessional to even come up with this type of solution.
@Rialtho-the-Magnificent - Pretty harsh! You reported a bug and the developers think they have a fix. They want people who reported the bug to try the fix and see if it works for them. Very professional in my opinion.
That may well be, but I do not want to play the proverbial 'guinea pig' and as far as testing is concerned. I noticed responses from others that the 'solution' did not work for them. So no, thank you very much. I want to keep my system as 'clean' as possible hence my rejection to install all kinds of temporary 'solutions' that eventually clug up my system.
Well I'm a developer. Test build works for me, as far as not getting stuck on the spinner. Weirdly on some files it works, such as the firefox.exe file. But with Visual Studio 2022 open in a solution, I tried both the .sln file and a C# file I had open in the editor, and File Locksmith couldn't detect that either one was in use. Maybe that's a new bug, or maybe VS is privileged in some way that's related to whatever you needed to do for the spinner hang.
well, for your information: I only tested it on a spreadsheet, i.e. a file with extn: xlsx open with libreoffice. Not sure if that is even relevant.
No I did not and I'm not willing to do this. I'm just an 'ordinary' user and not a developer or similar. I find it very unprofessional to even come up with this type of solution.
@Rialtho-the-Magnificent 🤡🤡🤡
@jaimecbernardo Anyway the 0.65 release version actually works fine for me, but I tried your test build and that worked fine also. Though for me the problem only was when running as admin, so not sure if it was a slightly different issue than the others who had it spinning no matter what.
Hi, It's OK for users to distrust a build that's not release through official channels :) We've got enough tests anyway. Thanks a lot for helping out here. ;) The fix has been merged and should be out in the next release. Please remember to uninstall the dev build I sent and install an official release again.
Awesome, thanks!
I still do not understand why this problem persists. Checking which process is accessing which file is something that appears to me as a trivial thing. Is that not kept in tables in the OS that you can easily check? I seem to remember (20+) years ago that I used a similar (non microsoft) solution to check what program was reading which file. That worked like a charm. That is why I'm now surprised that this 'problem' is now an issue.
@thioJoe are you the same Thio Joe that posted these ridiculous YT videos with tips that were not really tips? What was yóur problem back then?