Java Delete Files

❌ Java Delete Files

Java allows deleting files using:

File.delete() (Old, simple method)
Files.delete() or Files.deleteIfExists() (Modern, Java NIO)

1. Delete a File Using `File.delete()`

import java.io.File;

public class DeleteFileExample {
public static void main(String[] args) {
File file = new File("example.txt");

if (file.delete()) {
System.out.println("File deleted successfully: " + file.getName());
} else {
System.out.println("Failed to delete the file or file does not exist.");
}
}
}

import java.io.File;

public class DeleteFileExample {

public static void main(String[] args) {

File file = new File("example.txt");

if (file.delete()) {

System.out.println("File deleted successfully: " + file.getName());

} else {

System.out.println("Failed to delete the file or file does not exist.");

}

Returns true if deletion is successful, false otherwise.
Does not throw an exception if file does not exist.

2. Delete a File Using `Files.delete()` (NIO)

import java.nio.file.Files;
import java.nio.file.Path;
import java.nio.file.Paths;

public class DeleteFileNIO {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Path path = Paths.get("example.txt");
try {
Files.delete(path);
System.out.println("File deleted successfully.");
} catch (Exception e) {
System.out.println("Error deleting file: " + e.getMessage());
}
}
}

import java.nio.file.Files;

import java.nio.file.Path;

import java.nio.file.Paths;

public class DeleteFileNIO {

public static void main(String[] args) {

Path path = Paths.get("example.txt");

try {

Files.delete(path);

System.out.println("File deleted successfully.");

} catch (Exception e) {

System.out.println("Error deleting file: " + e.getMessage());

}

Throws an exception if file does not exist.
Useful for exception handling and modern Java applications.

3. Delete a File If It Exists

Use Files.deleteIfExists() to avoid exceptions if the file is missing.

import java.nio.file.Files;
import java.nio.file.Path;
import java.nio.file.Paths;

public class DeleteIfExists {
public static void main(String[] args) {
Path path = Paths.get("example.txt");
try {
if (Files.deleteIfExists(path)) {
System.out.println("File deleted successfully.");
} else {
System.out.println("File does not exist.");
}
} catch (Exception e) {
System.out.println("Error deleting file: " + e.getMessage());
}
}
}

import java.nio.file.Files;

import java.nio.file.Path;

import java.nio.file.Paths;

public class DeleteIfExists {

public static void main(String[] args) {

Path path = Paths.get("example.txt");

try {

if (Files.deleteIfExists(path)) {

System.out.println("File deleted successfully.");

} else {

System.out.println("File does not exist.");

}

} catch (Exception e) {

System.out.println("Error deleting file: " + e.getMessage());

}

4. Delete a Directory and Its Contents

import java.io.File;

public class DeleteDirectory {
public static void main(String[] args) {
File dir = new File("MyFolder");

if (dir.isDirectory()) {
String[] files = dir.list();
for (String fileName : files) {
File f = new File(dir, fileName);
f.delete();
}
}

if (dir.delete()) {
System.out.println("Directory deleted successfully.");
} else {
System.out.println("Failed to delete directory.");
}
}
}

import java.io.File;

public class DeleteDirectory {

public static void main(String[] args) {

File dir = new File("MyFolder");

if (dir.isDirectory()) {

String[] files = dir.list();

for (String fileName : files) {

File f = new File(dir, fileName);

f.delete();

}

if (dir.delete()) {

System.out.println("Directory deleted successfully.");

} else {

System.out.println("Failed to delete directory.");

}

Must delete all files inside before deleting the directory.
For modern NIO recursive delete, use Files.walk() (advanced).

🧠 Summary Table

Method	Package	Notes
`File.delete()`	java.io	Simple, returns boolean
`Files.delete()`	java.nio	Modern, throws exception if file missing
`Files.deleteIfExists()`	java.nio	Modern, avoids exception if file missing

Best Practice

Use NIO (Files.delete()) for modern Java programs.
Always handle exceptions to avoid unexpected crashes.

Java Delete Files