How to Fix Windows cannot access the specified device Error

When I started the work for the day, when I opened any Microsoft 365 files like Word, Excel, Outlook, OneNote etc., I kept getting the error Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item whenever I tried to open Microsoft 365 files like Word, Excel, Outlook, OneNote etc.,

This error was very annoying; I spent many valuable hours solving this issue. Please find the troubleshooting steps and how I solved this issue on my computer.

Cause: Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item

If you get this error while opening any software applications on your computer, it means your PC has messed up with the permission.

You can follow various troubleshooting steps to fix this Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item error on your device.

I had this error on my Microsoft 365 applications. I followed the below troubleshooting steps, but none of them was helpful.

Microsoft 365 Quick Repair
Microsoft 365 Online Repair
System Restore Points
I created a new Windows 10 user Profile for the affected user.

As none of the above four solutions was successful. I tried logging in with a local system admin account and found all Microsoft 365 applications were working fine.

So, I deleted the current user profile and created a new one with the same name by following this article, How to Recreate a Corrupted User Profile in Windows 10.

But I found the same error Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item while opening any Microsoft 365 applications.

So, I tried to create a different user profile on the same device but found the same error for the newly created user accounts.

This gave me thought that this error was not related to the user profile, and I started to search for the troubleshooting steps online and followed the below troubleshooting steps from this blog:

Disable antivirus software temporarily.
Check the permission for the file or folder.
Unblock the file.
Check the location of the file.
Recover the removed file or deleted file.

But unfortunately, none of the above five solutions helped me fix the Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item error on my device.

How to Fix - Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item

After long, stressful hours, I found the solutions below, which solved the Windows unable to access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item error on my device.

Reinstall the Microsoft 365 Application

I uninstalled the Microsoft 365 application from my device by going to the control panel. As part of the uninstallation process, I had to restart the device.

After the device restarted, I logged in and installed the Microsoft 365 software again.

After completing the Microsoft 365 software installation, when I opened the Microsoft 365 application like Outlook, Word, or PowerPoint, I found the error had disappeared.

So, In my case, only the reinstallation of the Microsoft 365 Application helped me get rid of Windows that cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item error on my device.

Rest your Windows 10 with Remove Everything Option

Unfortunately, resetting Windows 10 with the Remove everything option helped me eliminate this issue.

Check this blog for How to reset Windows 10. Remember to choose the Remove everything option when resetting your device. Because the first time I chose the Keep my files option, this didn’t solve the Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item error on my device.

When you reset your Windows 10, you will be given two options Keep my files or Remove everything. When you choose to keep my files option, all of your files in the C Drive will remain, and only the Windows app and settings will be reset. You have only to install all the software again.

When you choose to Remove everything, all the files in C Drive, Windows settings, and the app will be removed entirely. C Drive will be empty.