It turns out you can kind of get the same functionality on Windows if you rename the open file and place the new one with the original name, but it's a bit of a hack.

[–] mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works 5 points 10 hours ago

It turns out you can kind of get the same functionality on Windows if you rename the open file and place the new one with the original name, but it's a bit of a hack.

Only if you don't have OneDrive working. In that case, you have to wait for it to sync or it won't go through.

Anytime I have an issue at work where I can't change or delete a file, it's a 50/50 split between Excel and OneDrive being the cause

[–] oascany@lemmy.world 42 points 18 hours ago (3 children)

Windows won't let you rename a file that's being used either.

[–] mcv@lemmy.zip 16 points 18 hours ago (2 children)

Yeah, super annoying. In Linux you can rename or move it and the app using it doesn't care.

Although having the option of listing the app using a file so I can kill the app would also be really nice to have. I'm sure Linux has something for that too, but I don't know what it is.

[–] sefra1@lemmy.zip 15 points 18 hours ago (1 children)

I’m sure Linux has something for that too, but I don’t know what it is

fuser

[–] krooklochurm@lemmy.ca 2 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

I can't remember the other program that'll do it.

But there's another one that'll list all the processes using a file.

Tip of my tongue fuck.

[–] shrugs@lemmy.world 9 points 13 hours ago (1 children)

lsof | grep

[–] krooklochurm@lemmy.ca 2 points 13 hours ago

That's the one

[–] oascany@lemmy.world 6 points 16 hours ago

You can use PowerToys on windows to see what app is using a particular file

[–] REDACTED@infosec.pub 6 points 18 hours ago

That's actually a thing, but I'm not entirely sure in which cases. Probably only for services and not apps, but I've done that myself where deleting a file was impossible, but renaming it and deleting it worked.

[–] xthexder@l.sw0.com 3 points 17 hours ago

Maybe it's only possible in certain cases, but I can tell you for certain it's possible with running exe's and loaded dll's. I have a CMake step on Windows that does this rename hack so my builds don't fail if I still have the app running.

[–] WhyJiffie@sh.itjust.works 1 points 10 hours ago

the mpv player does that too for the cache folder. It's configurable and documented