How to: Copy, Delete, and Move Files and Folders (C# Programming Guide)

Example

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The following example shows how to copy files and directories.

C#

// Simple synchronous file copy operations with no user interface.
// To run this sample, first create the following directories and files:
// C:\Users\Public\TestFolder
// C:\Users\Public\TestFolder\test.txt
// C:\Users\Public\TestFolder\SubDir\test.txt
public class SimpleFileCopy
{
    static void Main()
    {
        string fileName = "test.txt";
        string sourcePath = @"C:\Users\Public\TestFolder";
        string targetPath =  @"C:\Users\Public\TestFolder\SubDir";

        // Use Path class to manipulate file and directory paths.
        string sourceFile = System.IO.Path.Combine(sourcePath, fileName);
        string destFile = System.IO.Path.Combine(targetPath, fileName);

        // To copy a folder's contents to a new location:
        // Create a new target folder, if necessary.
        if (!System.IO.Directory.Exists(targetPath))
        {
            System.IO.Directory.CreateDirectory(targetPath);
        }

        // To copy a file to another location and 
        // overwrite the destination file if it already exists.
        System.IO.File.Copy(sourceFile, destFile, true);

        // To copy all the files in one directory to another directory.
        // Get the files in the source folder. (To recursively iterate through
        // all subfolders under the current directory, see
        // "How to: Iterate Through a Directory Tree.")
        // Note: Check for target path was performed previously
        //       in this code example.
        if (System.IO.Directory.Exists(sourcePath))
        {
            string[] files = System.IO.Directory.GetFiles(sourcePath);

            // Copy the files and overwrite destination files if they already exist.
            foreach (string s in files)
            {
                // Use static Path methods to extract only the file name from the path.
                fileName = System.IO.Path.GetFileName(s);
                destFile = System.IO.Path.Combine(targetPath, fileName);
                System.IO.File.Copy(s, destFile, true);
            }
        }
        else
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Source path does not exist!");
        }

        // Keep console window open in debug mode.
        Console.WriteLine("Press any key to exit.");
        Console.ReadKey();
    }
}

The following example shows how to move files and directories.

C#

// Simple synchronous file move operations with no user interface.
public class SimpleFileMove
{
    static void Main()
    {
        string sourceFile = @"C:\Users\Public\public\test.txt";
        string destinationFile = @"C:\Users\Public\private\test.txt";

        // To move a file or folder to a new location:
        System.IO.File.Move(sourceFile, destinationFile);

        // To move an entire directory. To programmatically modify or combine
        // path strings, use the System.IO.Path class.
        System.IO.Directory.Move(@"C:\Users\Public\public\test\", @"C:\Users\Public\private");
    }
}

The following example shows how to delete files and directories.

C#

// Simple synchronous file deletion operations with no user interface.
// To run this sample, create the following files on your drive:
// C:\Users\Public\DeleteTest\test1.txt
// C:\Users\Public\DeleteTest\test2.txt
// C:\Users\Public\DeleteTest\SubDir\test2.txt

public class SimpleFileDelete
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // Delete a file by using File class static method...
        if(System.IO.File.Exists(@"C:\Users\Public\DeleteTest\test.txt"))
        {
            // Use a try block to catch IOExceptions, to
            // handle the case of the file already being
            // opened by another process.
            try
            {
                System.IO.File.Delete(@"C:\Users\Public\DeleteTest\test.txt");
            }
            catch (System.IO.IOException e)
            {
                Console.WriteLine(e.Message);
                return;
            }
        }

        // ...or by using FileInfo instance method.
        System.IO.FileInfo fi = new System.IO.FileInfo(@"C:\Users\Public\DeleteTest\test2.txt");
        try
        {
            fi.Delete();
        }
        catch (System.IO.IOException e)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(e.Message);
        }

        // Delete a directory. Must be writable or empty.
        try
        {
            System.IO.Directory.Delete(@"C:\Users\Public\DeleteTest");
        }
        catch (System.IO.IOException e)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(e.Message);
        }
        // Delete a directory and all subdirectories with Directory static method...
        if(System.IO.Directory.Exists(@"C:\Users\Public\DeleteTest"))
        {
            try
            {
                System.IO.Directory.Delete(@"C:\Users\Public\DeleteTest", true);
            }

            catch (System.IO.IOException e)
            {
                Console.WriteLine(e.Message);
            }
        }

        // ...or with DirectoryInfo instance method.
        System.IO.DirectoryInfo di = new System.IO.DirectoryInfo(@"C:\Users\Public\public");
        // Delete this dir and all subdirs.
        try
        {
            di.Delete(true);
        }
        catch (System.IO.IOException e)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(e.Message);
        }

    }
}