File.Delete. Deleting files can sometimes fail—a document may be locked or unavailable. File.Delete throws an exception if this occurs.

C# method info. We see exceptions related to File.Delete, and describe a way to handle those exceptions. The exact exception type is System.IO.IOException.

File

Example program. To begin, this program shows the usage of the File.Delete static method. We can catch the IOExceptions thrown by File.Delete and execute special logic.

IOException

static

catch

Exception

using System.IO;

class Program
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // Call Delete wrapper method.
        TryToDelete("Word.doc");
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Wrap the Delete method with an exception handler.
    /// </summary>
    static bool TryToDelete(string f)
    {
        try
        {
            // Try to delete the file.
            File.Delete(f);
            return true;
        }
        catch (IOException)
        {
            // We could not delete the file.
            return false;
        }
    }
}
The file is deleted, or nothing happens.

Discussion. We must be careful with exceptions—File.Delete does not throw an exception when a file does not exist. When exceptions are thrown, the file is locked.

Summary. We dealt with exceptions raised when trying to use the File.Delete method. Never make any assumptions about the file system—always check for errors and unexpected conditions.