How to delete a folder with files using Java

Just a one-liner.

import org.apache.commons.io.FileUtils;

FileUtils.deleteDirectory(new File(destination));

Documentation here

Java isn't able to delete folders with data in it. You have to delete all files before deleting the folder.

Use something like:

String[]entries = index.list();
for(String s: entries){
    File currentFile = new File(index.getPath(),s);
    currentFile.delete();
}

Then you should be able to delete the folder by using index.delete() Untested!

This works, and while it looks inefficient to skip the directory test, it's not: the test happens right away in listFiles().

void deleteDir(File file) {
    File[] contents = file.listFiles();
    if (contents != null) {
        for (File f : contents) {
            deleteDir(f);
        }
    }
    file.delete();
}

Update, to avoid following symbolic links:

void deleteDir(File file) {
    File[] contents = file.listFiles();
    if (contents != null) {
        for (File f : contents) {
            if (! Files.isSymbolicLink(f.toPath())) {
                deleteDir(f);
            }
        }
    }
    file.delete();
}

I prefer this solution on java 8:

  Files.walk(pathToBeDeleted)
    .sorted(Comparator.reverseOrder())
    .map(Path::toFile)
    .forEach(File::delete);

From this site: http://www.baeldung.com/java-delete-directory