File.Delete Method (System.IO)

Delete Method

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This page is specific to

Microsoft Visual Studio 2008/.NET Framework 3.5

Other versions are also available for the following:

.NET Framework Class Library

File..::.Delete Method

Updated: November 2007

Deletes the specified file. An exception is not thrown if the specified file does not exist.

Namespace: System.IO
Assembly: mscorlib (in mscorlib.dll)

Syntax

Visual Basic (Declaration)

Public Shared Sub Delete ( _
    path As String _
)

Visual Basic (Usage)

Dim path As String

File.Delete(path)

public static void Delete(
    string path
)

Visual C++

public:
static void Delete(
    String^ path
)

public static void Delete(
    String path
)

JScript

public static function Delete(
    path : String
)

Parameters

path: Type: System..::.String
The name of the file to be deleted.

Exceptions

Exception	Condition
ArgumentException	path is a zero-length string, contains only white space, or contains one or more invalid characters as defined by InvalidPathChars.
ArgumentNullException	path is nullNothingnullptra null reference (Nothing in Visual Basic).
DirectoryNotFoundException	The specified path is invalid, (for example, it is on an unmapped drive).
IOException	The specified file is in use.
NotSupportedException	path is in an invalid format.
PathTooLongException	The specified path, file name, or both exceed the system-defined maximum length. For example, on Windows-based platforms, paths must be less than 248 characters, and file names must be less than 260 characters.
UnauthorizedAccessException	The caller does not have the required permission. -or- path is a directory. -or- path specified a read-only file.

Remarks

The path parameter is permitted to specify relative or absolute path information. Relative path information is interpreted as relative to the current working directory. To obtain the current working directory, see GetCurrentDirectory.

For a list of common I/O tasks, see Common I/O Tasks.

Windows NT 4.0 Platform Note:

Delete does not delete a file that is open for normal I/O or a file that is memory mapped.

Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows CE Platform Note:

On Windows Mobile 6.0, you may experience I/O failures when trying to delete an .mp3 or a .wma file, or a file without an extension. This occurs because voicecmd.exe on Windows Mobile 6.0 opens handles to these file types for indexing purposes.

Examples

The following example deletes a file from the specified path.

Visual Basic

Imports System
Imports System.IO
Imports System.Text

Public Class Test
    Public Shared Sub Main()
        Dim path As String = "c:\temp\MyTest.txt"
        Try
            Dim sw As StreamWriter = File.CreateText(path)
            sw.Close()
            Dim path2 As String = path + "temp"

            ' Ensure that the target does not exist.
            File.Delete(path2)

            ' Copy the file.
            File.Copy(path, path2)
            Console.WriteLine("{0} was copied to {1}.", path, path2)

            ' Delete the newly created file.
            File.Delete(path2)
            Console.WriteLine("{0} was successfully deleted.", path2)

        Catch e As Exception
            Console.WriteLine("The process failed: {0}", e.ToString())
        End Try
    End Sub
End Class

using System;
using System.IO;

class Test 
{
    public static void Main() 
    {
        string path = @"c:\temp\MyTest.txt";
        try 
        {
            using (StreamWriter sw = File.CreateText(path)) {}
            string path2 = path + "temp";

            // Ensure that the target does not exist.
            File.Delete(path2);

            // Copy the file.
            File.Copy(path, path2);
            Console.WriteLine("{0} was copied to {1}.", path, path2);

            // Delete the newly created file.
            File.Delete(path2);
            Console.WriteLine("{0} was successfully deleted.", path2);
        } 
        catch (Exception e) 
        {
            Console.WriteLine("The process failed: {0}", e.ToString());
        }
    }
}

Visual C++

using namespace System;
using namespace System::IO;
int main()
{
   String^ path = "c:\\temp\\MyTest.txt";
   try
   {
      StreamWriter^ sw = File::CreateText( path );
      if ( sw )
            delete (IDisposable^)sw;

      String^ path2 = String::Concat( path, "temp" );

      // Ensure that the target does not exist.
      File::Delete( path2 );

      // Copy the file.
      File::Copy( path, path2 );
      Console::WriteLine( "{0} was copied to {1}.", path, path2 );

      // Delete the newly created file.
      File::Delete( path2 );
      Console::WriteLine( "{0} was successfully deleted.", path2 );
   }
   catch ( Exception^ e ) 
   {
      Console::WriteLine( "The process failed: {0}", e );
   }
}

import System.*;
import System.IO.*;

class Test
{
    public static void main(String[] args)
    {
        String path = "c:\\temp\\MyTest.txt";

        try {    
            StreamWriter sw = File.CreateText(path);
            try {
            }
            finally {
                sw.Dispose();
            }
            String path2 = path + "temp";

            // Ensure that the target does not exist.
            File.Delete(path2);

            // Copy the file.
            File.Copy(path, path2);
            Console.WriteLine("{0} was copied to {1}.", path, path2);

            // Delete the newly created file.
            File.Delete(path2);
            Console.WriteLine("{0} was successfully deleted.", path2);
        }
        catch (System.Exception e) {
            Console.WriteLine("The process failed: {0}", e.ToString());
        }
    } //main
} //Test

Permissions

FileIOPermission
for deleting the specified file. Associated enumeration: FileIOPermissionAccess..::.Write

Platforms

Windows Vista, Windows XP SP2, Windows XP Media Center Edition, Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, Windows XP Starter Edition, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2000 SP4, Windows Millennium Edition, Windows 98, Windows CE, Windows Mobile for Smartphone, Windows Mobile for Pocket PC, Xbox 360

The .NET Framework and .NET Compact Framework do not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.

Version Information