deleting folder from java [duplicate]

Question

In Java, I want to delete all the contents that are present in a folder which includes files and folders.

public void startDeleting(String path) {         List<String> filesList = new ArrayList<String>();         List<String> folderList = new ArrayList<String>();         fetchCompleteList(filesList, folderList, path);         for(String filePath : filesList) {             File tempFile = new File(filePath);             tempFile.delete();         }         for(String filePath : folderList) {             File tempFile = new File(filePath);             tempFile.delete();         }     }  private void fetchCompleteList(List<String> filesList,      List<String> folderList, String path) {     File file = new File(path);     File[] listOfFile = file.listFiles();     for(File tempFile : listOfFile) {         if(tempFile.isDirectory()) {             folderList.add(tempFile.getAbsolutePath());             fetchCompleteList(filesList,                  folderList, tempFile.getAbsolutePath());         } else {             filesList.add(tempFile.getAbsolutePath());         }      }  } 

This code does not work, what is the best way to do this?

Answer 1

If you use Apache Commons IO it's a one-liner:

FileUtils.deleteDirectory(dir); 

See FileUtils.deleteDirectory()

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Guava used to support similar functionality:

Files.deleteRecursively(dir); 

This has been removed from Guava several releases ago.

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While the above version is very simple, it is also pretty dangerous, as it makes a lot of assumptions without telling you. So while it may be safe in most cases, I prefer the "official way" to do it (since Java 7):

public static void deleteFileOrFolder(final Path path) throws IOException {   Files.walkFileTree(path, new SimpleFileVisitor<Path>(){     @Override public FileVisitResult visitFile(final Path file, final BasicFileAttributes attrs)       throws IOException {       Files.delete(file);       return CONTINUE;     }      @Override public FileVisitResult visitFileFailed(final Path file, final IOException e) {       return handleException(e);     }      private FileVisitResult handleException(final IOException e) {       e.printStackTrace(); // replace with more robust error handling       return TERMINATE;     }      @Override public FileVisitResult postVisitDirectory(final Path dir, final IOException e)       throws IOException {       if(e!=null)return handleException(e);       Files.delete(dir);       return CONTINUE;     }   }); };