How To Delete Directory In Java

To delete a directory, you can simply use the File.delete(), but the directory must be empty in order to delete it.

Often times, you may require to perform recursive delete in a directory, which means all it’s sub-directories and files should be delete as well, see below example :

Directory recursive delete example

Delete the directory named “C:\\mkyong-new“, and all it’s sub-directories and files as well. The code is self-explanatory and well documented, it should be easy to understand.

package com.mkyong.file; import java.io.File;import java.io.IOException; public class DeleteDirectoryExample{    private static final String SRC_FOLDER = "C:\\mkyong-new";     public static void main(String[] args)    {     File directory = new File(SRC_FOLDER);     //make sure directory exists    if(!directory.exists()){            System.out.println("Directory does not exist.");           System.exit(0);         }else{            try{                delete(directory);            }catch(IOException e){               e.printStackTrace();               System.exit(0);           }        }     System.out.println("Done");    }     public static void delete(File file)    throws IOException{     if(file.isDirectory()){     //directory is empty, then delete it    if(file.list().length==0){        file.delete();       System.out.println("Directory is deleted : "                                                  + file.getAbsolutePath());     }else{        //list all the directory contents           String files[] = file.list();            for (String temp : files) {              //construct the file structure              File fileDelete = new File(file, temp);               //recursive delete             delete(fileDelete);           }            //check the directory again, if empty then delete it           if(file.list().length==0){                file.delete();             System.out.println("Directory is deleted : "                                                   + file.getAbsolutePath());           }    }     }else{    //if file, then delete it    file.delete();    System.out.println("File is deleted : " + file.getAbsolutePath());    }    }}

Result

File is deleted : C:\mkyong-new\404.phpFile is deleted : C:\mkyong-new\archive.php...Directory is deleted : C:\mkyong-new\includesFile is deleted : C:\mkyong-new\index.phpFile is deleted : C:\mkyong-new\index.php.hackedFile is deleted : C:\mkyong-new\js\hoverIntent.jsFile is deleted : C:\mkyong-new\js\jquery-1.4.2.min.jsFile is deleted : C:\mkyong-new\js\jquery.bgiframe.min.jsDirectory is deleted : C:\mkyong-new\js\superfish-1.4.8\cssDirectory is deleted : C:\mkyong-new\js\superfish-1.4.8\imagesDirectory is deleted : C:\mkyong-new\js\superfish-1.4.8File is deleted : C:\mkyong-new\js\superfish-navbar.css...Directory is deleted : C:\mkyong-newDone

转自:http://www.mkyong.com/java/how-to-delete-directory-in-java/