Full Solved – VMware Failed to Lock the File Windows 10/8/7

Some users complain that they encountered the error VMware failed to lock the file when they launched the VMware, as shown in the following picture:

Hence, you may wonder what may cause the error VMware failed to lock the file. In general, the error VMware workstation failed to lock the file can be caused by various reasons. In the following section, we will briefly show what may cause the error failed to lock the file VMware.

• The VMware contains the mounted disk.
• A second VMware is using the .vmx file.
• The VMware is started during snapshot operations.
• The VMware is already in use.
• The VMware doesn’t have admin access.

Hence, in the following section, we will show you how to solve the failed to lock the file VMware.

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How to Solve the Issue of VMware Failed to Lock the File?

In this part, we will demonstrate how to solve the issue of cannot open the disk ‘vmfs/volumes failed to lock the file. If you have the same issue, try these solutions.

Solution 1. Run VMware as Administrator

In the beginning, to solve the issue of VMware failed to lock the file, you can run the Virtual Machine as administrator.

Now, here is the tutorial.

Step 1: Right-click the shortcut of VMware and choose Properties to continue.

Step 2: In the pop-up window, go to the Compatibility, then check the option Run this program as an administrator to continue.

After that, reboot your computer and run VMware again to check whether the issue of VMware workstation failed to lock the file is solved.

If this solution is not effective, try another one.

Solution 2. Delete the LCK Folder

Now, we will show you the second way to solve the issue of failed to lock the file VMware. In this way, you need to delete the LCK folder of Virtual Machine.

Now, here is the tutorial.

Step 1: Make sure that the Virtual Machine is turned off completely.

Step 2: Open File Explorer and navigate to the location of the Virtual Machine.

Step 3: Then you may find there are two or more folders with the name ending in lck. Select them and choose to delete them. If there are folders ended with lck outside of the Virtual Machine folder, delete them, too.

After that, reboot your computer and run Virtual Machine again, and then check whether the issue of VMware failed to lock the file is solved.

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Final Words

To sum up, this post has shown two ways to solve the issue of VMware failed to lock the file. If your Virtual Machine fails to open or work, you can try these solutions.