Java delete file

Let’s learn how do I delete a file in java?

Java delete file

To delete a file in java delete() method is used of File class. delete() method deletes the file or directory denoted by this abstract pathname.

Syntax:

public boolean delete()

Returns:

true if and only if the file or directory is successfully deleted; false otherwise. If this pathname denotes a directory, then the directory must be empty in order to be deleted. Here’s the program to delete a file.

import java.io.File;
public class JavaDeleteFileExample 
{
   public static void main(String[] args)
   {
      File fl = new File("demo.txt");
      if(fl.delete())
      {
         System.out.println(fl.getName() + " file deleted.");
      }
      else
      {
         System.out.println("Failed to delete file.");
      }
   }
}

Output:

demo.txt file deleted

Similarly we can delete a folder using delete() method of File class.

NOTE: In order to delete a folder using delete() method the folder must be empty.

Let’s see an example to delete folder using delete() method of File class.

import java.io.File;
public class JavaDeleteFolderExample 
{
   public static void main(String[] args)
   {
      File fl = new File("D:\project\Employee\details");
      if(fl.delete())
      {
         System.out.println(fl.getName() + " folder deleted.");
      }
      else
      {
         System.out.println("Failed to delete folder.");
      }
   }
}

Output:

details folder deleted.

Now let’s learn to delete a file using deleteIfExists(Path path) method of java.nio.file.Files class.

deleteIfExists(Path path) method deletes a file if it exists. As with the delete(Path) method, an implementation may need to examine the file to determine if the file is a directory. If the file is a directory then the directory must be empty.

Syntax:

public static boolean deleteIfExists(Path path) throws IOException

Parameters:

path the path to the file to delete

Returns:

true if the file was deleted by this method; false if the file could not be deleted because it did not exist.

Throws:

DirectoryNotEmptyException – if the file is a directory and could not otherwise be deleted because the directory is not empty (optional specific exception).
IOException – if an I/O error occurs.

Now let’s see an example on deleteIfExists(Path path) method.

import java.io.IOException;
import java.nio.file.DirectoryNotEmptyException;
import java.nio.file.Files;
import java.nio.file.NoSuchFileException;
import java.nio.file.Paths;
public class DeleteIfExistsExample 
{
   public static void main(String[] args)
   {
      try
      {
         Files.deleteIfExists(Paths.get("D:\Project\Sachin\JavaPrograms\demo.txt"));
      }
      catch(NoSuchFileException e)
      {
         System.out.println("No such file exists");
      }
      catch(DirectoryNotEmptyException e)
      {
         System.out.println("Directory is not empty.");
      }
      catch(IOException ex)
      {
         System.out.println("Invalid permission.");
      }
      System.out.println("Deleted successfully.");
   }
}

Output:

Deleted successfully.