How can I remove the lock icon from a folder in Windows 7?

Question

I have shared a folder on Windows 7. Its icon has a padlock decorator. I want to remove the lock symbol; how can I do so?

Moab · Answer 1 · 2010-10-29 15:32:00Z

Right click the folder with the Padlock icon and click Properties.
Click Security tab and click "Edit…" button.
In the popped up box, click "Add…" button and type the name "Authenticated Users", without quotes and then click OK.
Click OK and exit. I don't recommend this for System folders.

it worked. thanks. but, isn't there a cleaner way to do it? This seems very tricky.

Gareth · Answer 2 · 2011-04-15 14:55:34Z

up vote 1 down vote

Use icacls to reset (i.e use default acl)

icacls foldername /reset

You may need to run this from an elevated command prompt.

Gareth
4,88551534

answered Apr 14 '11 at 21:35

You probably want to run icacls foldername /t /reset to recurse into subdirectories. – Leonid Shevtsov Jul 31 '11 at 16:13

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2 Answers