File handling is an important part of any application.
Java has several methods for creating, reading, updating, and deleting files.
Java File Handling
The File class from the java.io package, allows us to work with files.
To use the File class, create an object of the class, and specify the filename or
directory name:
Example
import java.io.File; // Import the File class
File myObj = new File("filename.txt"); // Specify the filename
If you don't know what a package is, read our Java Packages Tutorial.
The File class has many useful methods for creating and getting information
about files. For example:
Method Type Description
canRead() Boolean Tests whether the file is readable or not
canWrite() Boolean Tests whether the file is writable or not
createNewFile() Boolean Creates an empty file
delete() Boolean Deletes a file
exists() Boolean Tests whether the file exists
getName() String Returns the name of the file
getAbsolutePath() String Returns the absolute pathname of the file
length() Long Returns the size of the file in bytes
list() String[] Returns an array of the files in the directory
mkdir() Boolean Creates a directory
You will learn how to create, write, read and delete files in the next chapters:
Create a File
To create a file in Java, you can use the createNewFile() method. This method
returns a boolean value: true if the file was successfully created, and false if the
file already exists. Note that the method is enclosed in a try...catch block. This
is necessary because it throws an IOException if an error occurs (if the file cannot
be created for some reason):
Example
import java.io.File; // Import the File class
import java.io.IOException; // Import the IOException class to handle
errors
public class CreateFile {
public static void main(String[] args) {
try {
File myObj = new File("filename.txt");
if (myObj.createNewFile()) {
System.out.println("File created: " + myObj.getName());
} else {
System.out.println("File already exists.");
} catch (IOException e) {
System.out.println("An error occurred.");
e.printStackTrace();
The output will be:
File created: filename.txt
Run example »
To create a file in a specific directory (requires permission), specify the path of
the file and use double backslashes to escape the "\" character (for Windows).
On Mac and Linux you can just write the path, like: /Users/name/filename.txt
Example
File myObj = new File("C:\\Users\\MyName\\filename.txt");
Run example »
Write To a File
In the following example, we use the FileWriter class together with
its write() method to write some text to the file we created in the example
above. Note that when you are done writing to the file, you should close it with
the close() method:
Example
import java.io.FileWriter; // Import the FileWriter class
import java.io.IOException; // Import the IOException class to handle
errors
public class WriteToFile {
public static void main(String[] args) {
try {
FileWriter myWriter = new FileWriter("filename.txt");
myWriter.write("Files in Java might be tricky, but it is fun
enough!");
myWriter.close();
System.out.println("Successfully wrote to the file.");
} catch (IOException e) {
System.out.println("An error occurred.");
e.printStackTrace();
}
}
The output will be:
Successfully wrote to the file.
Read a File
In the previous chapter, you learned how to create and write to a file.
In the following example, we use the Scanner class to read the contents of the
text file we created in the previous chapter:
Example
import java.io.File; // Import the File class
import java.io.FileNotFoundException; // Import this class to handle
errors
import java.util.Scanner; // Import the Scanner class to read text files
public class ReadFile {
public static void main(String[] args) {
try {
File myObj = new File("filename.txt");
Scanner myReader = new Scanner(myObj);
while (myReader.hasNextLine()) {
String data = myReader.nextLine();
System.out.println(data);
myReader.close();
} catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
System.out.println("An error occurred.");
e.printStackTrace();
The output will be:
Files in Java might be tricky, but it is fun enough!
Run example »
Get File Information
To get more information about a file, use any of the File methods:
Example
import java.io.File; // Import the File class
public class GetFileInfo {
public static void main(String[] args) {
File myObj = new File("filename.txt");
if (myObj.exists()) {
System.out.println("File name: " + myObj.getName());
System.out.println("Absolute path: " + myObj.getAbsolutePath());
System.out.println("Writeable: " + myObj.canWrite());
System.out.println("Readable " + myObj.canRead());
System.out.println("File size in bytes " + myObj.length());
} else {
System.out.println("The file does not exist.");
The output will be:
File name: filename.txt
Absolute path: C:\Users\MyName\filename.txt
Writeable: true
Readable: true
File size in bytes: 0
Run example »
Note: There are many available classes in the Java API that can be used to
read and write files in Java: FileReader, BufferedReader, Files, Scanner,
FileInputStream, FileWriter, BufferedWriter, FileOutputStream , etc. Which one to
use depends on the Java version you're working with and whether you need to
read bytes or characters, and the size of the file/lines etc.
Tip: To delete a file, read out Java Delete Files chapter.
Delete a File
To delete a file in Java, use the delete() method:
Example
import java.io.File; // Import the File class
public class DeleteFile {
public static void main(String[] args) {
File myObj = new File("filename.txt");
if (myObj.delete()) {
System.out.println("Deleted the file: " + myObj.getName());
} else {
System.out.println("Failed to delete the file.");
The output will be:
Deleted the file: filename.txt
Run example »
Delete a Folder
You can also delete a folder. However, it must be empty:
Example
import java.io.File;
public class DeleteFolder {
public static void main(String[] args) {
File myObj = new File("C:\\Users\\MyName\\Test");
if (myObj.delete()) {
System.out.println("Deleted the folder: " + myObj.getName());
} else {
System.out.println("Failed to delete the folder.");
The output will be:
Deleted the folder: Test
