How to Take Ownership of any File or Folder in Windows 7?

In some cases users don’t want administrators to view the contents of the folders they created and so they restrict administrators’ access to that folder using NTFS permissions. However because of any reasons if administrators still require to access the restricted contents they can take ownership of that folder. Once the ownership is forcefully taken by the administrators they can then assign NTFS permissions on that folder as per the needs. Moreover administrators can also transfer the ownership of the folder to any other user or group of that computer or any computer connected to the Local Area Network. Steps involved in taking ownership of a folder or file are given below:

1. Logon to the computer with administrator account.

2. Right-click on the folder of which you want to take ownership and from the menu click on Properties.

3. On the Properties box go to Security tab.

4. Click on Advanced button and on Advanced Security Settings page go to Owner tab.

5. In Current owner text box you will see the name of the present owner of the folder/file. To change the owner click on Edit button.

6. On the opened window select the user or group you want to transfer the ownership. Alternatively you can click on Other users or groups button to browse for the users or groups which are not listed.

7. Make sure that you check Replace owner on subcontainer or objects checkbox and click on Ok button.

8. On the Windows Security mes

   

   sage box click on Ok button.

9. On Advance Security Settings box click on Ok button and again click on Ok button on Properties box to accept your configuration.

10. To reassign NTFS permissions follow steps from 1 to 3 and click on Edit button on Security tab.

Note:

Only administrators can take ownership of any file or folder present in a computer. They however can transfer ownership to any user or group they want. Administrators can also modify the default configuration and can authorize any group or user to take ownership of any folder or file present on a Windows 7 computer.