---
tags:
  - PowerShell
  - Scripting
---

## Purpose
You may find that you cannot delete a VHDX file for a virtual machine you removed from Hyper-V and/or Hyper-V Failover Cluster, and either cannot afford to, or do not want to reboot your virtualization host(s) to unlock the file locked by `SYSTEM`.

Run the following commands to unlock the file and delete it:

```powershell
Dismount-VHD -Path "C:\Path\To\Disk.vhdx" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Remove-Item -Path "C:\Path\To\Disk.vhdx" -Force
```

## Related Documentation
- [Related Virtualization and Storage Documentation](<../../../reference/Virtualization and Storage/index.md>) — Find the connected deployments, procedures, and references for this subject.