Java – Delete File
To delete file in Java, you can use File.delete() function. Call delete() function on the original file.
In this tutorial, we will learn how to delete a file using Java.
Following is the sequence of steps one has to follow to delete a file in Java using File.delete().
- Prepare the File object for the file you would like to delete.
- Call delete() on the file object. delete() returns true if the file is successfully deleted. Else, it returns false.
Example 1 – Delete File
In this example, we delete a file named data.txt.
Make sure that the file you are deleting is present.
DeleteFile.java
import java.io.File; /** * Java Example Program to Delete File */ public class DeleteFile { public static void main(String[] args) { File originalFile = new File("files/data.txt"); //delete file boolean isDeleteDone = originalFile.delete(); //print if the delete operation is successful System.out.println("Delete Done: "+isDeleteDone); } }
Run the above Java program.
Output
Delete Done: true
delete() returned true, in other words, the delete operation is successful. Refresh your file system and you will see the file has been deleted.
Example 2 – Delete File – Failure Scenario
Let us now try to delete a file that is not present and see what delete() function returns.
DeleteFile.java
import java.io.File; /** * Java Example Program to Delete File */ public class DeleteFile { public static void main(String[] args) { File originalFile = new File("files/data1.txt"); //delete file boolean isDeleteDone = originalFile.delete(); //print if the delete operation is successful System.out.println("Delete Done: "+isDeleteDone); } }
Runt the above Java program. We know that, there is no file with the path that delete() function can delete. Therefore, the function returns false.
Output
Delete Done: false
Conclusion
In this Java Tutorial, we learned how to delete File in Java and how to be sure if the delete operation is successful.