I'm sure we've all had this problem. You close a document that you've had opened. Then you try to either delete it or rename it but you are prevented with the warning "File in Use. The action can't be completed because the file is open in Word. Close the file and try again."

Short of restarting my entire PC, how do I solve this problem?

In the past I had noticed this problem if that document was the first one opened in Word and Word remains open (but not that particular document).

Do you get the same problem if Word itself is quit?

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Andrew Lockton
Chrysalis Design, Melbourne Australia

The error suggests that a so-called lock file has been left behind. Its name will be similar to the corresponding file that you have been working on, but the lock file name starts with ~$. See also http://www.gmayor.com/what_to_do_when_word_crashes.htm.

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Stefan Blom
Microsoft Word MVP

Microsoft 365 apps for business
Windows 11 Professional

If you have the preview pane in Windows Explorer on and you used Explorer to launch word you will not be able to delete or rename. The previewer has the doc open.

Thank you for this information. I don't use the previewer so was unaware that it would have this effect. (I generally have at least two versions of Word open when I'm on my computer.)