Java — How to delete a directory recursively with all its subdirectories and files | Code Factory

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Learn how to delete a directory recursively along with all its subdirectories and files.

Delete directory recursively — Java 8+

This example makes use of Files.walk(Path) method that returns a Stream<Path> populated with Path objects by walking the file-tree in depth-first order.

project_folder > folders > folder1 > folder1.1 > test.txt

package com.example.java.programming.file;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.nio.file.Files;
import java.nio.file.Path;
import java.nio.file.Paths;
import java.util.Comparator;
/**
 * @author code.factory
 *
 */
public class DeleteDirectoryRecursively {
	public static void main(String... args) throws IOException {
		Path dir = Paths.get("folders");
		// Traverse the file tree in depth-first fashion and delete each file/directory.
		Files.walk(dir).sorted(Comparator.reverseOrder()).forEach(path -> {
			try {
				System.out.println("Deleting: " + path);
				Files.delete(path);
			} catch (IOException e) {
				e.printStackTrace();
			}
		});
	}
}

Output :

Deleting: folders\folder1\folder1.1\test.txt
Deleting: folders\folder1\folder1.1
Deleting: folders\folder1
Deleting: folders

Delete directory recursively — Java 7

The following example uses Files.walkFileTree(Path, FileVisitor) method that traverses a file tree and invokes the supplied FileVisitor for each file.

We use a SimpleFileVisitor to perform the delete operation.

package com.example.java.programming.file;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.nio.file.FileVisitResult;
import java.nio.file.Files;
import java.nio.file.Path;
import java.nio.file.Paths;
import java.nio.file.SimpleFileVisitor;
import java.nio.file.attribute.BasicFileAttributes;
/**
 * @author code.factory
 *
 */
public class DeleteDirectoryRecursively1 {
	public static void main(String... args) throws IOException {
		Path dir = Paths.get("folders");
		// Traverse the file tree and delete each file/directory.
		Files.walkFileTree(dir, new SimpleFileVisitor<Path>() {
			@Override
			public FileVisitResult visitFile(Path file, BasicFileAttributes attrs) throws IOException {
				System.out.println("Deleting file: " + file);
				Files.delete(file);
				return FileVisitResult.CONTINUE;
			}
			@Override
			public FileVisitResult postVisitDirectory(Path dir, IOException exc) throws IOException {
				System.out.println("Deleting dir: " + dir);
				if (exc == null) {
					Files.delete(dir);
					return FileVisitResult.CONTINUE;
				} else {
					throw exc;
				}
			}
		});
	}
}

Output :

Deleting file: folders\folder1\folder1.1\test.txt
Deleting dir: folders\folder1\folder1.1
Deleting dir: folders\folder1
Deleting dir: folders