How to Delete File in Java

Delete a File Using the Files Class

In this example we will delete file in java using Files.delete() method.

Syntax :

public static void delete(Path path) throws IOException

This method take path of file as parameter , return nothing and throws exception on any fail.

package com.demo.file;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.nio.file.Files;
import java.nio.file.Paths;

public class DeleteFileUsingFiles {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        String fileName = "C://java_examples//file1.txt";
        try {
            Files.delete(Paths.get(fileName));
            System.out.println("file delete successfuly");
        } catch (IOException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }

    }

}

If file does not exists then delete() method throws exception

java.nio.file.NoSuchFileException: C:\java_examples\file1.txt

So if delete file if exists in java then we should use Files.deleteIfExists() method .

Syntax :

public static boolean deleteIfExists(Path path) throws IOException

Its takes parameter path to the file to delete . retrun true if the file was deleted otherwise false
Its Throws DirectoryNotEmptyException , IOException and SecurityException .

package com.demo.file;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.nio.file.Files;
import java.nio.file.Paths;

public class DeleteFileUsingFiles2 {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        String fileName = "C://java_examples//file1.txt";

        try {
            boolean result = Files.deleteIfExists(Paths.get(fileName));
            if (result) {
                System.out.println("File is deleted successfully!");
            } else {
                System.out.println("Sorry, unable to delete the file.");
            }
        } catch (IOException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }

    }

}

Deleting a File Using the File Class

We can delete file in java using delete() method of java.io.File class.

Syntax :

public boolean delete();

This method return true if and only if the file or directory is successfully deleted otherwise false. It throws SecurityException .

package com.demo.file;
import java.io.File;

public class DeleteFileUsingFile {

    public static void main(String[] args) {

        String fileName = "C://java_examples//file1.txt";

        try {
            File file = new File(fileName);
            if (file.delete()) {
                System.out.println(file.getName() + " is deleted!");
            } else {
                System.out.println("Sorry, unable to delete the file.");
            }
        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }

    }

}

Delete file if exists then we should use deleteOnExit() method of File Class. deleteOnExit() method delete file when the virtual machine terminates . Files (or directories) are deleted in the reverse order that they are registered .

package com.demo.file;

import java.io.File;

public class DeleteFileUsingFile2 {
	
    public static void main(String[] args) {

        String fileName = "C://java_examples//file1.txt";
        try {
            File file = new File(fileName);
            //deletes the file when JVM terminates 
            file.deleteOnExit();
        } catch (Exception e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }

    }

}

In this article we have learned how to delete file or delete file if exists java in java using various ways . If you want learn more about file handling in java then i recommended try these examples .

References :

Java NIO Files JavaDoc
Java IO File JavaDoc