How to delete a whole folder and content?

Question

I want the users of my application to be able to delete the DCIM folder (which is located on the SD card and contains subfolders).

Is this possible, if so how?

Answer 1

Your approach is decent for a folder that only contains files, but if you are looking for a scenario that also contains subfolders then recursion is needed

Also you should capture the return value of the return to make sure you are allowed to delete the file

and include

<uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE" />

in your manifest

void DeleteRecursive(File dir)
{
    Log.d("DeleteRecursive", "DELETEPREVIOUS TOP" + dir.getPath());
    if (dir.isDirectory())
    {
        String[] children = dir.list();
        for (int i = 0; i < children.length; i++)
        {
            File temp = new File(dir, children[i]);
            if (temp.isDirectory())
            {
                Log.d("DeleteRecursive", "Recursive Call" + temp.getPath());
                DeleteRecursive(temp);
            }
            else
            {
                Log.d("DeleteRecursive", "Delete File" + temp.getPath());
                boolean b = temp.delete();
                if (b == false)
                {
                    Log.d("DeleteRecursive", "DELETE FAIL");
                }
            }
        }

    }
    dir.delete();
}

Answer 2

You can not delete the directory if it has subdirectories or files in Java. Try this two-line simple solution. This will delete the directory and contests inside the directory.

File dirName = new File("directory path");
FileUtils.deleteDirectory(dirName);

Add this line in gradle file and sync the project

compile 'org.apache.commons:commons-io:1.3.2'  

Answer 3

Simple way to delete all file from directory :

It is generic function for delete all images from directory by calling only

deleteAllImageFile(context);

public static void deleteAllFile(Context context) {
File directory = context.getExternalFilesDir(null);
        if (directory.isDirectory()) {
            for (String fileName: file.list()) {
                new File(file,fileName).delete();
            }
        }    
    } 

Answer 4

private static void deleteRecursive(File dir)
{
    //Log.d("DeleteRecursive", "DELETEPREVIOUS TOP" + dir.getPath());
    if (dir.isDirectory())
    {
        String[] children = dir.list();
        for (int i = 0; i < children.length; i++)
        {
            File temp = new File(dir, children[i]);
            deleteRecursive(temp);
        }

    }

    if (dir.delete() == false)
    {
        Log.d("DeleteRecursive", "DELETE FAIL");
    }
}

Answer 5

use below method to delete entire main directory which contains files and it's sub directory. After calling this method once again call delete() directory of your main directory.

// For to Delete the directory inside list of files and inner Directory
public static boolean deleteDir(File dir) {
    if (dir.isDirectory()) {
        String[] children = dir.list();
        for (int i=0; i<children.length; i++) {
            boolean success = deleteDir(new File(dir, children[i]));
            if (!success) {
                return false;
            }
        }
    }

    // The directory is now empty so delete it
    return dir.delete();
}

Answer 6

This is what I do... (terse and tested)

    ...
    deleteDir(new File(dir_to_be_deleted));
    ...

    // delete directory and contents
    void deleteDir(File file) { 
        if (file.isDirectory())
            for (String child : file.list())
                deleteDir(new File(file, child));
        file.delete();  // delete child file or empty directory
    }