How to delete a file in C#

The File class in the System.IO namespace provides the Delete() method to delete a file in C#. The Delete() method takes the path of the file as a string input and synchronously deletes the specified file.

Syntax

public static void Delete (string path);

This method will throw an appropriate exception when:

  • the input path is null, has invalid characters, or an empty string.
  • the input path is invalid.
  • the path is in use or there is an open handle on the file.
  • the path is too long, a directory, or a read-only file.
  • the path is an executable file.
  • the caller does not have the required permissions.

Code example

The code below demonstrates the deletion of file at a specified path.

Here, we are first creating a test file using the File.CreateFile() method, and then later deleting it using the File.Delete() method.

After the successful deletion of file, the program prints:

File /sample.txt is successfully deleted.

using System;
using System.IO;
class FileDeletion
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        try
        {
            string filePath = "/sample.txt";
            //create a file sample.txt in current working directory 
            if(!File.Exists(filePath))
            {
                File.Create(filePath);
            }
            // Delete the file
            File.Delete(filePath);
            if(!File.Exists(filePath))
            {
                Console.WriteLine($"File {filePath} is successfully deleted.");
            }           
        }
        catch (IOException e)
        {
            Console.WriteLine($"File could not be deleted:");
            Console.WriteLine(e.Message);
        }
    }
}
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