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Path.GetTempFileName Method

  • Reference

Definition

Namespace:
System.IO
Assembly:
System.Runtime.Extensions.dll
Assembly:
System.Runtime.dll
Assembly:
mscorlib.dll
Assembly:
netstandard.dll
Source:
Path.Unix.cs
Source:
Path.Unix.cs
Source:
Path.Unix.cs

Creates a uniquely named, zero-byte temporary file on disk and returns the full path of that file.

public:
 static System::String ^ GetTempFileName();
public static string GetTempFileName ();
static member GetTempFileName : unit -> string
Public Shared Function GetTempFileName () As String

Returns

String

The full path of the temporary file.

Exceptions

IOException

An I/O error occurs, such as no unique temporary file name is available.

-or-

This method was unable to create a temporary file.

Remarks

This method creates a temporary file with a .tmp file extension and returns the path to it. The temporary file is created within the user's temporary folder, which is the path returned by the GetTempPath method.

On .NET 7 and earlier versions, when using this method on Windows, the GetTempFileName method raises an IOException if it's used to create more than 65535 files without deleting previous temporary files. This limitation does not exist on operating systems other than Windows. Starting in .NET 8, the limitation does not exist on any operating system.

The GetTempFileName method will raise an IOException if no unique temporary file name is available. To resolve this error, delete all unneeded temporary files.

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

Applies to

See also