Java Utililty Methods Delete File

void deleteFile(File file)
delete File

if (!file.exists())
 throw new FileNotFoundException(file.getAbsolutePath());
if (!file.delete()) {
 throw new IOException("Delete operation failed when deleting: " + file);

void deleteFile(File file)
Delete the a file or a directory.

if (file.isDirectory()) {
 emptyDirectory(file);
file.delete();

void deleteFile(File file)
delete File

if (file != null) {
 for (File childFile : file.listFiles()) {
 if (childFile.isDirectory()) {
 deleteFile(childFile);
 } else {
 if (!childFile.delete()) {
 throw new IOException();
 if (!file.delete()) {
 throw new IOException();

int deleteFile(File file)
delete File

if (file == null) {
 return -1;
if (file.exists()) {
 if (file.isFile()) {
 if (file.delete()) {
 return 0;
 if (file.isDirectory()) {
 File[] subFiles = file.listFiles();
 if (subFiles != null) {
 for (File subFile : subFiles) {
 deleteFile(subFile);
 if (file.delete()) {
 return 0;
 return -1;
} else {
 return -1;

void deleteFile(File file)
delete File

if (file == null || !file.exists()) {
 return;
if (!file.delete()) {
 throw new IOException("Can't delete file : " + file.getPath());

boolean deleteFile(File file)
delete File

if (file == null)
 return false;
return file.delete();

void deleteFile(File file)
delete File

if (!file.delete() && file.exists()) {
 throw new IllegalStateException("Could not delete: " + file.getPath());

boolean deleteFile(File file)
Deletes the file provided.

if (!file.exists())
 return false;
File[] files = file.listFiles();
if (files != null) {
 for (int i = 0; i < files.length; i++) {
 File childFile = files[i];
 if (childFile.equals(file))
 continue;
...

boolean deleteFile(File file)
Accommodate Windows bug: If the delete does not work, call System.gc(), wait a little and try again.

if (file.isDirectory()) {
 throw new IOException("File " + file + " isn't a file.");
if (!file.delete()) {
 if (System.getProperty("os.name").equalsIgnoreCase("windows")) {
 file = file.getCanonicalFile();
 System.gc();
 try {
 Thread.sleep(10);
 return file.delete();
 } catch (InterruptedException ex) {
 return file.delete();
return true;

boolean deleteFile(File file)
delete File

if (!file.exists()) {
 return true;
int count = 0;
boolean deleted;
do {
 deleted = file.delete();
 if (!deleted) {
...