Fix: Error copying file or folder: Unspecified error in Windows 11/10

Copying and pasting files or folders from one drive to another is the easiest and error free process in Windows 11 or windows 10. But after receiving this major Windows 10 updates on their computer, users are experiencing a peculiar problem regarding file/folder transfer on their computers. When they are trying to copy-paste the files or folders from one drive to another, they are stuck with an error message saying “Error Copying file or folder :Unspecified error.” This error usually occurs when a set of .dll files gets unregistered from the computer. If you are experiencing this same kind of problem at your end, no need to worry. There are fixes available, following them you can easily solve this problem. But before going ahead for the solutions, you should try these workarounds initially to try out some simpler solutions for your problem.

Workarounds-

1. Try to copy-paste another file or file type. If you can transfer this file without any issues, then there are some issues with the previous file itself. Otherwise, if you are experiencing the same kind of problem again, there are some software issues which are causing this problem.

2. If you are experiencing this problem for the first time on your computer, a simple reboot can fix the issue for you. After rebooting, try to copy and paste files or folders and check if you are experiencing the same error again or not.

3. Temporarily disable the Antivirus on your computer. After disabling it, try to transfer the files again. Check if you are getting the same error again or not.

If any of these workarounds didn’t worked out for you, go for these fixes-

Fix-1 Re-register jscript.dll & vbscript.dll –

1. Press Windows key+R to launch Run. Now, type “cmd” and press Ctrl+Shift+Enter. Click on “Yes” to permit the User Account Control. Command Prompt window will be opened with Administrative rights.

 

Cmd

 

2. Now, in the Command Prompt window, copy and paste these commands one by one and hit Enter to execute each of them.

regsvr32 jscript.dll

regsvr32 vbscript.dll

 

Jscript Reg32



 

Close Command Prompt window.

Reboot your computer. After rebooting, try to copy-paste any file or folder, and check if you are experiencing the same error again on your device or not.

 

Fix-2 Change the Ownership of File or  folder-

Having only an administrative right over a file or folder can’t assure ownership or permission to copy-paste that file or folder in another drive. Follow these easy steps to check and give full control of the problematic file to your administrative account.

1. Right click on the problematic file or folder. Now, click on “Properties“. Properties window will be opened.

 

Properties

 

2. In the Properties window, go to the “Security” tab and then click on “Edit” to the change the permissions.

Security Edit

 

3. In Security window, under Group or users names: select  the administrative account you are using. Then, in the Permissions for Administrators box, check all the boxes for permissions (specially “Full control” ). Now, click on “Apply” and “OK” to save the changes on your computer.

 

Give All Permissions

 

4 – If you cannot modify the permission click on Add.

 

 

Permissions For Temp Add

5 – Now, write everyone in the text field and click OK.

Everyone Ok Min

 

6 – Now, select Everyone and select every permission (Full. control, Modify etc)

7- Click Apply and OK.

 

Group Or User Names Everyone Permissions For Everyone Full Control Allow Check

 

Now, try to copy-paste the file/folder again on your computer and check if you are still encountering similar problem at your end.

Fix-3 Compress the file then transfer-

Compressing the particular file or folder will shorten the file size considerably. Compress the problematic file or folder and then try to transfer it.

1. Right click on the problematic file/folder, click on “Send to” and then click on “Compressed (zipped) folder“.

 

Compressed (zipped) Folder

 

2. Now, try copy- pasting this zipped file/folder instead of the original file/folder. Check if you are experiencing the same problem again or not.

NOTE- After the transfer don’t forget to unzip the file/folder at the destination drive.

Go for the next fix if the problem still persists.

 

Fix- 4 Disable Real Time Protection-

1. Press Windows key+R to launch Run. Now, type “windowsdefender:” and then hit Enter. Windows Security window will be launched.

 

Windows Defender Run

 

2. Now, in Windows Security window, click on “Virus & threat protection“.

 

Virus And Threat Protection

 

3. In Virus & Threat protection settings, in “Real-time protection” option , toggle it to “Off“.

 

Real Time Protection Off

 

Reboot your computer. After rebooting, try copy-pasting the file/folder again.

NOTE:

Real-time protection protects your computer from potential threats and risks. Turning it off will make your device vulnerable to those threats. We suggest you to turn the real time protection “On” immediately after attempting the solution on your computer.

 

Fix-5 Change the destination format type-

If you are transferring the file/folder to another sd card/ external drive, then there is a possibility that the external drive or the sd card is of a different format than that of the source drive. Formatting it in NTFS format can solve the issue for you.

Important-
Formatting the drive will erase all the files and folders permanently. If there is anything important in the drive, create a backup of the important files and store it in another drive of your choice.

1. Press Windows key+E to open the File Explorer. Now, in the File Explorer window, go to “This PC” to see all the drives on your computer.

 

This Pc File Explorer

 

2.Now, right click on the destination drive. Click on “Format” to start formatting the drive.

 



Format

 

3. Now, under File system option, select “NTFS (Default)“. Now, click on “Start” to start the formatting process.

 

Ntfs Format Start

 

4. After formatting, click on “Close” to finish the formatting process.

Reboot your computer, after rebooting, try to the transfer the file/folder to this formatted destination directory. Your problem should be solved.

 

Fix-6 Remove Read-only status from destination driver-

If you are moving a file or folder to another drive which is a read-only drive ( in which you can’t make any changes), then you can face this unspecified error problem. Follow these steps to change the read-only status of the drive-

1. Press Windows key+R to launch Run. Now, type “cmd” and press Ctrl+Shift+Enter. Click on “Yes” to permit the User Account Control. Command Prompt window will be opened with Administrative rights.

 

Cmd

 

2. Now, in the Command Prompt window, type these commands one by one and hit Enter for each of them to execute them.

diskpart

list volume

select volume X 

attributes disk clear readonly

(Replace “X” with the drive letter of your write-protected hard drive.)

 

Read Only Clean

 

Now, reboot your computer to save the changes. After rebooting try to transfer the files to the drive.

 

Fix- 7 Create a NTFS format partition-

Still if you are in search of a solution for your problem, you might consider creating a new NTFS format partition of your hard drive.

Important-
Cleaning/Formatting the drive will erase all the files and folders permanently. If there is anything important in the drive, create a backup of the important files and store it in another drive of your computer.

1. Press Windows key+R to launch Run. Now, type “cmd” and press Ctrl+Shift+Enter. Click on “Yes” to permit the User Account Control. Command Prompt window will be opened with Administrative rights.

 

Cmd

 



2. Now, in the Command Prompt window, type these commands one by one and hit Enter for each of them to execute them.

diskpart

list volume

select volume X
clean
create partition primary

Note- Replace “X” with the drive letter of the destination drive.

 

Select Disk 0

 

3. Now, again type these commands one by one and press Enter after each of them to execute them one by one.

list disk 

Select partition 1

Active

Note- Replace the “1” as the disk “number” of the destination drive (you are getting the list of disks with ‘list disk’ command) you want to transfer your files or folders to.

 

Select Partition

 

4. Type this command and hit Enter, to format the destination drive in NTFS format, and label it as a name of your choice.

format fs=ntfs label=Y

Note- Replace the “Y” as the disk label of your choice.

 

Format Ntfs Cmd

 

5. In the final step of the process, assign the new created partition a drive letter of your choice. (It should be different than all the existing drive letters on your computer. You can check the existing drive letters in the File Explorer.) Just copy-paste this command in Command Prompt window, and hit Enter to execute the command.

assign letter=G

Note- Replace the “G” as the disk letter of your choice. (It should be different than all the existing drive letters on your computer. You can check the existing drive letters in the File Explorer > This PC.)

 

Assign The Drive Letter

 

Close Command Prompt window. Now, reboot your computer. After rebooting, try transferring the files/folders to the new partition you have just created. There will be no further issues of error during the transfer of the file or folder.

Tips-

Still if the problem continues to disturb you, then here are some additional tips to help you out-

1. Try transferring the files/folders on  the computer with another user/administrator account.

2. If you are facing this problem extracting a particular type of compressed file or folder, consider using another extracting tool. (Example- Like, if you are facing the problem unzipping the file with WinRAR, then you can extract the file using the .7z extractor.)