How to: Delete a File in Visual Basic

The DeleteFile method of the My.Computer.FileSystem object allows you to delete a file. Among the options it offers are: whether to send the deleted file to the Recycle Bin, whether to ask the user to confirm that the file should be deleted, and what to do when the user cancels the operation.

To delete a text file

• Use the DeleteFile method to delete the file. The following code demonstrates how to delete the file named test.txt.

  My.Computer.FileSystem.DeleteFile("C:\test.txt")
  

To delete a text file and ask the user to confirm that the file should be deleted

• Use the DeleteFile method to delete the file, setting showUI to AllDialogs. The following code demonstrates how to delete the file named test.txt and allow the user to confirm that the file should be deleted.

  My.Computer.FileSystem.DeleteFile("C:\test.txt",
          Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileIO.UIOption.AllDialogs,
          Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileIO.RecycleOption.DeletePermanently,
          Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileIO.UICancelOption.DoNothing)
  

To delete a text file and send it to the Recycle Bin

• Use the DeleteFile method to delete the file, specifying SendToRecycleBin for the recycle parameter. The following code demonstrates how to delete the file named test.txt and send it to the Recycle Bin.

  My.Computer.FileSystem.DeleteFile("C:\test.txt",
  Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileIO.UIOption.AllDialogs,
  Microsoft.VisualBasic.FileIO.RecycleOption.SendToRecycleBin)
  

Robust Programming

The following conditions may cause an exception:

• The path is not valid for one of the following reasons: it is a zero-length string, it contains only white space, it contains invalid characters, or it is a device path (starts with \\.\) (ArgumentException).

• The path is not valid because it is Nothing (ArgumentNullException).

• The path exceeds the system-defined maximum length (PathTooLongException).

• A file or folder name in the path contains a colon (:) or is in an invalid format (NotSupportedException).

• The file is in use (IOException).

• The user lacks necessary permissions to view the path (SecurityException).

• The file does not exist (FileNotFoundException).

• The user does not have permission to delete the file, or the file is read-only (UnauthorizedAccessException).

• A partial-trust situation exists in which the user does not have sufficient permissions (SecurityException).

• The user cancelled the operation and onUserCancel is set to ThrowException (OperationCanceledException).

See also

• UICancelOption
• FileSystem
• UIOption
• RecycleOption
• How to: Get the Collection of Files in a Directory