There is nothing else open, but windows still won't let me delete the folder.

Try Unlocker it almost always does the trick.

Process Explorer (the sysinternals tool) will show you which process has the handle open to the file.

I would say 'just reboot' but because I'm petty and also because I've had shit not release even after a reboot:

• Boot a live iso
• Mount the drive
• Delete that shit with the utmost prejudice
• Reboot
• Sunglasses (yeaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhh)

E: fancy formatting

first lmao

second, I'd get powertoys for windows, it has a feature that shows you what processes are holding onto a particular file/directory so you can kill the process and get the file dealt with.

flock by default is doing great :)

I think I've had a similair problem before! Turning off the "preview pane" might help if you have that option enabled. I've had trouble with renaming files that were also open in the preview pane in the past, but turning it off fixed the issue

Looks like a restart fixed it, but I think it refused to delete since you had the folder open. Your task manager showed 2 instances of windows explorer. I bet it was minimized and got overlooked

Almost seems like you might have some sort of virus or malware.

There's a magic registry key that can force delete folders and files before Windows has even finished booting. It's intended to be used during Windows updates, but when used creatively, can perform some brute force fixes.

This link isn't exactly relevant, but I'm not home right now to dig that deep into the registry to offer that sort of advice at the moment.

https://www.solveyourtech.com/how-to-force-delete-a-file-windows-11-step-by-step-guide/

If that doesn't help, hit me up later and I'll do my best to turn the registry inside out..