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C# The network path was not found

Im having trouble with writing files to remote directory via network. The following code fails when I try to check if the directory exists:
if (!Directory.Exists(processingPath))
Directory.CreateDirectory(processingPath);
processingPath is composed like
processingPath = xxxObject.serverPath + "processing\\";
xxxObject.serverPath contains something like this
\\machineNetworkName\sharedFolder\
Its working properly, but when many requests are processing (running as tasks asynchronously), it stops working and failing into exception:
System.IO.IOException: The network path was not found.
Could you please help me what could be the problem and why it is failing after some time on network path???
Thanks for your solutions

I got the same error before, it was about authentication problems.
You have to be sure that you set properly the user on IIS, because it use a Default App Pool's identity which can't access to your NFS.
You can also use IIS virtual folders to set the identity.
(on IIS manager, see App Pool settings -> Identity and also virtual folders settings -> identity).
In my case, it worked better by using the Impersonation directly in the code, so I recommend you to use the VladL WrappedImpersonationContext Object: How to provide user name and password when connecting to a network share
Last thing to check, the owner of the files on your NFS server, if they were created under the root user, it might not work.

I had the same problem and solved it. The problem in my code and I see it in yours, too, is that you have the slash at the end of the network path.
Instead of processingPath = xxxObject.serverPath + "processing\\"; write: processingPath = xxxObject.serverPath + "processing";

Directory.exists returns false for mapped drive in c# coding

I am using Directory.Exists() in my windows service (that is programmed in C#, 3.5 framework)to check to see whether a particular directory exists in the drive. When I run in local machine it works fine, meaning I am able to access the directory.
But when I deploy the windows service on a Virtual Machine, and start the service, it is not able to find the directory even though the directory exists. The directory is mapped on as
Q: drive, Q:\\temp\\local\\ folder
But the windows services always returns false for the Directory.Exists().
However when I give C:\ drive in place of Q:\ it works, but does not work for a mapped drive. I have tried with the UNC path, and I have made sure the mapped drive have the administrative rights and infact the read, write and execute permission. But it still returns false.
Can anyone please tell me why? And how to resolve?

Make sure the drive is mapped under the same user as the Service is running. If you map the drive as user A, it is not automatically mapped for anyone else too.

Mapped drives are only restored during interactive login which services generally do not perform:
Map a network drive to be used by a service
Short version: You can't do it, use the full UNC path instead.

This is most probably a problem with privileges. Your Windows service is probably running under an account which doesn´t have enough privileges to access the network path.
This is a possible duplicate: Accessing mapped folder from a Windows Service written in C#
Another possible solution is to use impersonation, check it out:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/w070t6ka(v=vs.90).aspx
UPDATE
Came to think of it;
Try changing the identity of the application pool to a user with the same rights as your user.

As #Sriram pointed out the Directory.Exists() method will fail if any error occurs. What sort of exception do you get if you try to access the path?
Eg (for both mapped and UNC in case there is something going on there):
DirectoryInfo diMapped = new DirectoryInfo(#"Q:\temp\local\folder");
DirectoryInfo diUNC = new DirectoryInfo(#"\\servername\fnsw\tmp\126");
Note: Assuming that the white space before 'folder' in your path is a typo?

Steps to troubleshoot
Try accessing the network path manually in "Run" [WindowKey + R]
Try to access your map drive i.e.: M:\
Make sure you are the account owner of the mapping (mapping should be done under your account)
Go to Property and see if "Run As Administrator" is unchecked.
Remove mapping and re-add the mapping.
Make sure available offline (or sync offline) is turned off and folder is available from another computer.
Hope this helps!

Why is access to the path denied?

I am having a problem where I am trying to delete my file but I get an exception.
if (result == "Success")
{
if (FileUpload.HasFile)
{
try
{
File.Delete(Request.PhysicalApplicationPath + app_settings.login_images + txtUploadStatus.Text);
string filename = Path.GetFileName(btnFileUpload.FileName);
btnFileUpload.SaveAs(Request.PhysicalApplicationPath + app_settings.login_images + filename);
}
catch (Exception ex)
{
Message(ex.ToString());
}
}
}
Also I should note that the folder I am trying to delete from has full control to network services.
The full exception message is:
System.UnauthorizedAccessException: Access to the path 'C:\Users\gowdyn\Documents\Visual Studio 2008\Projects\hybrid\hybrid\temp_loginimages\enviromental.jpg' is denied. at System.IO.__Error.WinIOError(Int32 errorCode, String maybeFullPath) at System.IO.File.Delete(String path) at hybrid.User_Controls.Imgloader_Add_Edit_Tbl.btnUpdate_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e) in C:\Users\gowdyn\Documents\Visual Studio 2008\Projects\hybrid\hybrid\User_Controls\Imgloader_Add_Edit_Tbl.ascx.cs:line 242
Any ideas?

According to File.Delete Method...
An UnauthorizedAccessException means one of 4 things:
The caller does not have the required permission.
The file is an executable file that is in use.
Path is a directory.
Path specified a read-only file.

I also had the problem, hence me stumbling on this post. I added the following line of code before and after a Copy / Delete.
Delete
File.SetAttributes(file, FileAttributes.Normal);
File.Delete(file);
Copy
File.Copy(file, dest, true);
File.SetAttributes(dest, FileAttributes.Normal);

This is an old issue, but I ran into it while searching. Turns out that I was missing the actual filename component in the save path for SaveAs...
string uploadPath = Server.MapPath("~/uploads");
file.SaveAs(uploadPath); // BAD
file.SaveAs(Path.Combine(uploadPath, file.FileName)); // GOOD

When a user tries to connect to your Web site, IIS assigns the connection to the IUSER_ComputerName account, where ComputerName is the name of the server on which IIS is running. By default, the IUSER_ComputerName account is a member of the Guests group. This group has security restrictions. Try to grand access to IUSER_ComputerName to that folder
Here is very good described answer about IIS security
Hope this helps

I got the error because I didn't realize that the destination should be a file. I had a folder as the second parameter (which works in cmd). and I got Unhandled Exception: System.UnauthorizedAccessException: Access to the path is denied. because C# File.Move wants a file there, not just for the first parameter, but for the second too, and so if you put a directory as second parameter, it's trying to write a file like c:\crp when you have a directory called c:\crp.
this would be incorrect File.Move(args[0],"c:\\crp");
So, this would be correct File.Move(args[0],"c:\\crp\\a.a");
The same goes for File.Copy

Right-click on Visual studio and click Run as Administrator
Thanks for +1

If this is an IIS website that is having the problem, check the Identity property of the advanced settings for the application pool that the site or application uses. You may find that it is set to ApplicationPoolIdentity, and in that case then this is the user that will have to have access to the path.
Or you can go old style and simply set the Identity to Network Service, and give the Network Service user access to the path.

You need to modify the privileges of the folder you're trying to delete from/save to. Right-click on the containing folder and use the Security tab to permit modify rights for the user your application runs under.

An UnauthorizedAccessException exception is thrown when the operating system denies access because of an I/O error or a security error.
If you are attempting to access a file or registry key, make sure it is not read-only.

I have also faced this issue when my window service started throwing the exception
System.UnauthorizedAccessException: Access to the path "C:\\Order\\Media
44aa4857-3bac-4a18-a307-820450361662.mp4" is denied.
So as a solution, I checked the user account associated with my service, as shown in below screen capture
So in my case it was NETWORK SERVICE
And then went to the folder properties to check if the associated user account also exists under their permission tab. It was missing in my case and when I added it and it fixed my issue.
For more information please check the below screen capture

same issue for me too,
I was pointing the folder instead of file.
so make sure in path, give path+filename
System.IO.File.WriteAllBytes("path", bytearray);

The exception that is thrown when the operating system denies access
because of an I/O error or a specific type of security error.
I hit the same thing. Check to ensure that the file is NOT HIDDEN.

Check your files properties. If the read-only is checked, uncheck it. This was my personal issue with the UnauthorizedAccessException.

I got this error and solved it in just a moment. Don't know why all of my folders are read-only，I cancelled the read-only and apply it. However, it is still read-only. So I moved the file into the root folder, it works - so weird.

I was facing this error because
Sometimes when I Combine the path with File Name and FileName = ""
It become Path Directory not a file which is a problem as mentioned above
so you must check for FileName like this
if(itemUri!="")
File.Delete(Path.Combine(RemoteDirectoryPath, itemUri));

I was trying to use System.IO.File.OpenWrite(path)
and it did not work because I was only passing OpenWrite() a path to a directory, but it requires a path all the way to the file you want to write. So a full path including the filename.extension at the end needs to be passed into OpenWrite to avoid UnauthorizedAccessException

In my case the problem was Norton. My in-house program doesn't have the proper digital signature and when it tried to delete a file it gave the UnauthorizedAccessException.
If it give you a notification, you can handle it from there. In my case it didn't give a notification that I noticed. So here's how to keep Norton from blocking the program.
Open Norton
Click the down arrow
Click History
Find activity by program
Click More Options
Click Exclude Process

To solve this problem, I follow the Scot Hanselman approach at Debugging System.UnauthorizedAccessException (often followed by: Access to the path is denied) article, the code with example is bellow:
class Program
{
static void Main(string[] args)
{
var path = "c:\\temp\\notfound.txt";
try
{
File.Delete(path);
}
catch (UnauthorizedAccessException)
{
FileAttributes attributes = File.GetAttributes(path);
if ((attributes & FileAttributes.ReadOnly) == FileAttributes.ReadOnly)
{
attributes &= ~FileAttributes.ReadOnly;
File.SetAttributes(path, attributes);
File.Delete(path);
}
else
{
throw;
}
}
}
}

I had the same problem on a newly moved website on a shared server. Solved through the web host panel (DotNetPanel) setting true the "allow write permissions". So if you are in a shared server before reviewing all code worth taking a look at the server configuration and could save you a lot of time.

Be aware that if you are trying to reach a shared folder path from your code, you dont only need to give the proper permissions to the physicial folder thru the security tab. You also need to "share" the folder with the corresponding app pool user thru the Share Tab

I had the exact error when deleting a file. It was a Windows Service running under a Service Account which was unable to delete a .pdf document from a Shared Folder even though it had Full Control of the folder.
What worked for me was navigating to the Security tab of the Shared Folder > Advanced > Share > Add.
I then added the service account to the administrators group, applied the changes and the service account was then able to perform all operations on all files within that folder.

For those trying to make a UWP (Universal Windows) application, file permissions are much more restricted, and in general is deny by default. It also supersedes the system user permissions. You will basically only have access to files in either
Your install location
Your AppData location
Files selected through the File or Folder picker
Locations requested in your App Manifest
You can read more here for details => https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/uwp/files/file-access-permissions

If you're using BitDefender there's a good chance its Safe Files feature blocked your operation. This is a form of Ransomware protection that comes with some of its more advanced versions.
Make sure to grant your application access in BitDefender and try again.
Some more details can be found in this BitDefender support page.

In my case it was my AVG anti-virus that triggered the exception.
I added my VS Projects directory to the "Allowed" list. And I had to add the executable to the AVG exceptions list after I copied the .exe to my App directory.

I've had the same problem and I've managed to get it working by changing the partition on which the file will be saved. So, on line 5 I've changed #"C:\" to be #"D:\" and that resolved the problem.
static void SaveVideoToDisk(string link)
{
var youTube = YouTube.Default; // starting point for YouTube actions
var video = youTube.GetVideo(link); // gets a Video object with info about the video
File.WriteAllBytes(#"D:\" + video.FullName, video.GetBytes());
}

After migrating from Visual Studio 2017 to Visual Studio 2019 I faced two exceptions with two of my applications which run properly under Visual Studio 2017:
System.UnauthorizedAccessException
System.ArgumentException
It turned out that I had to add the executables of the two applications to the allowed apps of Avast Antivirus.

I too faced the same problem when trying to do this after deployment at server:
dirPath = Server.MapPath(".") + "\\website\\" + strUserName;
if (!Directory.Exists(dirPath))
{
DirectoryInfo DI = Directory.CreateDirectory(dirPath);
}
string filePath = Server.MapPath(".") + "\\Website\\default.aspx";
File.Copy(filePath, dirPath + "\\default.aspx", true);
File.SetAttributes(dirPath + "\\default.aspx", FileAttributes.Normal);
I granted permission in IIS to other group including administrator and my problem got solved.

In my particular case I was repeatedly creating and deleting 10000 folders. It seems to me that the problem was in that although the method Directory.Delete(path, true) returns, the underling OS mechanism may still be deleting the files from the disk. And when I am starting to create new folders immediately after deletion of old ones, some of them are still locked because they are not completely deleted yet. And I am getting System.UnauthorizedAccessException: "Access to the path is denied".
Using Thread.Sleep(5000) after Directory.Delete(path, true) solves that problem. I absolutely agree that this is not safe, and I am not encouraging anyone to use it. I would love to here a better approach to solve this problem to improve my answer. Now I am just giving an idea why this exception may happen.
class Program
{
private static int numFolders = 10000;
private static string rootDirectory = "C:\\1";
static void Main(string[] args)
{
if (Directory.Exists(rootDirectory))
{
Directory.Delete(rootDirectory, true);
Thread.Sleep(5000);
}
Stopwatch sw = Stopwatch.StartNew();
CreateFolder();
long time = sw.ElapsedMilliseconds;
Console.WriteLine(time);
Console.ReadLine();
}
private static void CreateFolder()
{
var one = Directory.CreateDirectory(rootDirectory);
for (int i = 1; i <= numFolders; i++)
{
one.CreateSubdirectory(i.ToString());
}
}
}

First just check the path if the colon(:) character is missing or not after the drive letter. If colon is not missing then you can check if access/write permission is granted for that path.
I had the same issue and i was only missing the colon, permission and everything else was fine.
C:\folderpath
will work fine but,
C\folderpath .........(missing colon)
will give you access denial error.

I also ran into this post as dealing with the same issue. Looks like the file is in use and hence not able to write to it.
Though not able to figure it out, which process is using it. Signed out the other user who was logged in in that box, dont see any users who is holding it.
Any quick tips regarding on how to find the same.
Thanks,
Lakshay (developer)

Deleting file from static method error: Access to the path ... is denied

My host swears the ASPNet account has full access to the folder some photos reside in. I'm trying to delete a photo, here's the C#:
public static bool Delete(string pathAndFilename)
{
var path = HttpContext.Current.Server.MapPath(pathAndFilename);
File.Delete(path);
}
(in the full code, there's a try catch in there, and bool return values)
Update: this is happening on local development box too now. Here's what I have been able to try.
I put the current user into the ViewBag, and show it on the page.
ViewBag.Account = HttpContext.User.Identity.Name;
On the dev box, it shows my currently logged in user account, which has full control of every file and folder in the project.
I checked open files, the photo I'm trying to delete wasn't open.
Will try to capture more detailed exceptions. Thanks for the ideas so far!

IUSR? That should be the NETWORK SERVICE or the ASPNET account (depending on the version of IIS)
edit: also there is no reason to give IUSR full access. It only needs read access.

If you use a fully-qualified path ("C:\foo") or if the string isn't recognizable as a path, it'll throw an HttpException.
It would be helpful if you described exactly what you're seeing.

Access to the path is denied when saving image

I'm trying to save an image to a folder in .NET C# but I get this exception:
Access to the path 'C:\inetpub\wwwroot\mysite\images\savehere' is denied.The error occured at mscorlib because at System.IO.__Error.WinIOError(Int32 errorCode, String maybeFullPath)
at System.IO.FileStream.Init(String path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access, Int32 rights, Boolean useRights, FileShare share, Int32 bufferSize, FileOptions options, SECURITY_ATTRIBUTES secAttrs, String msgPath, Boolean bFromProxy, Boolean useLongPath)
at System.IO.FileStream..ctor(String path, FileMode mode, FileAccess access, FileShare share, Int32 bufferSize, FileOptions options, String msgPath, Boolean bFromProxy)
at System.IO.FileStream..ctor(String path, FileMode mode)
I gave full control to this folder (savehere) to network service and iis_iusrs, even gave full control to everyone but still getting this exception.
I tried to give access via explorer and via IIS manager, still no luck
I'm doing it on Windows server 2008 R2 and IIS 7.5, Who do I need to give access?

Access to the path 'C:\inetpub\wwwroot\mysite\images\savehere' is denied
Read the message carefully. You are trying to save to a file that has the same name as the directory. That cannot work, you can't overwrite a directory filled with files with a single new file. That would cause undiagnosable data loss, "Access to the path is denied" is the file system fighting back to prevent that from happening.
The exception message is not ideal, but it comes straight from the OS and they are cast in stone. The framework often adds extra checks to generate better messages, but this is an expensive test on a network. Perf is a feature too.
You need to use a name like 'C:\inetpub\wwwroot\mysite\images\savehere\mumble.jpg'. Consider Path.Combine() to reliably generate the path name.

You need to find out from the application pool for the website what is the identity it is running under (by default this is Application Pool Identity) and grant that the correct permissions.

I was having the same problem while trying to create a file on the server (actually a file that is a copy from a template).
Here's the complete error message:
{ERROR} 08/07/2012 22:15:58 - System.UnauthorizedAccessException: Access to the path 'C:\inetpub\wwwroot\SAvE\Templates\Cover.pdf' is denied.
I added a new folder called Templates inside the IIS app folder. One very important thing in my case is that I needed to give the Write (Gravar) permission for the IUSR user on that folder. You may also need to give Network Service and ASP.NET v$.# the same Write permission.
After doing this everything works as expected.

I had exactly the same problem.
The solution was that the file I was trying to access was readonly, as it was copied from a template file that was readonly.
<facepalm />

I got this problem when I try to save the file without set the file name.
Old Code
File.WriteAllBytes(#"E:\Folder", Convert.FromBase64String(Base64String));
Working Code
File.WriteAllBytes(#"E:\Folder\"+ fileName, Convert.FromBase64String(Base64String));

My problem was that I had to ask for Read access only:
FileStream fs = new FileStream(name, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.Read);

In my case, I'm trying to access a file that is set to be read-only
And I solved it by disabling read-only and I got it fixed!
Hope it can be helpful for someone experiencing a situation like me.

What Identity is your Application Pool for the Web application running as, to troubleshoot, try creating a new App Pool with say Network Service as its identity and make your web application use that new App Pool you created and see if the error persists.

The following tip isn't an answer to this thread's original question, but might help some other users who end up on this webpage, after making the same stupid mistake I just did...
I was attempting to get an ASP.Net FileUpload control to upload it's file to a network address which contained a "hidden share", namely:
\MyNetworkServer\c$\SomeDirectoryOrOther
I didn't understand it. If I ran the webpage in Debug mode in Visual Studio, it'd work fine. But when the project was deployed, and was running via an Application Pool user, it refused to find this network directory.
I had checked which user my IIS site was running under, gave this user full permissions to this directory on the "MyNetworkServer" server, etc etc, but nothing worked.
The reason (of course!) is that only Administrators are able to "see" these hidden drive shares.
My solution was simply to create a "normal" share to
\MyNetworkServer\SomeDirectoryOrOther
and this got rid of the "Access to the path... is denied" error. The FileUpload was able to successfully run the command
fileUpload.SaveAs(networkFilename);
Hope this helps some other users who make the same mistake I did !
Note also that if you're uploading large files (over 4Mb), then IIS7 requires that you modify the web.config file in two places. Click on this link to read what you need to do:
Uploading large files in ASP.Net

please add IIS_IUSERS full control permission to your folder.
you find this option from security tab in folder properties.

I Solved with this setting:
IIS > Application Pools > [your site] > Advanced Settings... >
Identity > Built-in accound > LocalSystem

My problem was something like that:
FileStream ms = new FileStream(path, FileMode.Open, FileAccess.ReadWrite);
but instead of using path I should use File.FullName...
I don't know if it's going to help anyone else, just passing my own experience with this erro given!

Change the setting from built-in account to custom account and enter the other server's username and password.
Keep the setting as integrated (instead of classic mode).

If you get this error while uploading files in Sub domain And working correct in your localhost, then follow below steps:
Solution:
Plesk Panel
Login to your Plesk Panel. Select Your Sub domain which is giving error.
Click on Hosting settings.
Select Additional write/modify permissions and Apply.
CPanel
I am not sure about options available in CPanel. But IF you give permission to directory (In CPanel it has to be decimal number like 777, 755) will resolve the error.
For more details refer here
Reason for Error:
Let's Assume FileUpload.SaveAs(Server.MapPath("~/uploads/" + *YOUR_FILENAME*)) will be your code to move your files to upload path.
Server.MapPath will give you physical path (Real Path) of directory. But your Sub domain may don't have permission for access physical path.
So, If you give permission for sub domain to access write/modify permission, it will resolve the issue.

you need to add access parameter with ReadWrite value as following
using (var stream = new FileStream(localPath, FileMode.Create, access : FileAccess.ReadWrite))
{
file.CopyTo(stream);
}

Make Directory savehere to be virtual directory and give read/write permission from control panel

Had a directory by the same name as the file i was trying to write, so people can look out for that as well.

I encountered this problem while developing on my local workstation.
After several unsuccessful iisreset invocations, I remedied this situation by rebooting my machine.
In retrospect, an open file handle may have been causing issues.

In my case I had to add a .NET Authorization Rule for the web site in IIS.
I added a rule to allow anonymous users.

I had the same problem but I fixed it by saving the file in a different location and then copying the file and pasting it in the location where I wanted it to be. I used the option to replace the the existing file and that did the trick for me. I know this is not the most efficient way but it works and takes less than 15 seconds.

Maybe it'il help you.
string tempDirectoryPath = #"C:\Users\HOPE\Desktop\Test Folder";
string zipFilePath = #"C:\Users\HOPE\Desktop\7za920.zip";
Directory.CreateDirectory(tempDirectoryPath);
ZipFile.ExtractToDirectory(zipFilePath, tempDirectoryPath);

I had a lot of trouble with this, specifically related to my code running locally but when I needed to run it on IIS it was throwing this error. I found that adding a check to my code and letting the application create the folder on the first run fixed the issue without having to mess with the folders authorizations.
something like this before you call your method that uses the folder
bool exists = System.IO.Directory.Exists("mypath");
if (!exists)
System.IO.Directory.CreateDirectory("mypath");

You can try to check if your web properties for the project didn't switch to IIS Express and change it back to IIS Local

Make sure you that your target in System.IO.Delete(string file) is a file which is existed.
Maybe there is a mistake in your code ;Like you don't pass the correct file name to the method , or your target is a folder. In these cases you'll see the : "access to the path is denied error".

I recently encountered the problem while trying to access a file that was passed through command-line parameters into my .Net Core application, It happened due to the fact that when the application is run under a "Open with" (System explorer context menu under a file) system menu, the currently active user may vary, and the user didn't have the access right to my external drive that I was trying to open a file from.
It took me like 3-4 hours to understand and I solved it by setting the security settings for the folder that contained the file.
For Windows 10 x64 :
Just use Properties -> Security -> Users and Groups -> Change.. -> Add -> Additional -> Search -> <your windows account name> -> OK -> OK -> Set full access for your current account. Also make sure that the file is "unblocked" in properties.

I created a virtual dir with full permission and added the ffmpeg source and video files there, so finally it made sense as it can be acess by anyone.