How to create and delete a file programmatically from your Android App?

In this video it shows how to create and delete a file in your phone’s file system from your Android App.

It uses a sample file ABC.pdf for this demo. In this App 2 buttons are created, one for creating the file and another for deleting the file.

It uses simple API of File.createNewFile() and File.delete() to create and delete the respective file in the phone’s file system

I hope you like this video. For any questions, suggestions or appreciation please contact us at: https://programmerworld.co/contact/ or email at: programmerworld1990@gmail.com

Source Code:

package com.programmerworld.createanddeletefile;

import android.Manifest;
import android.content.pm.PackageManager;
import android.os.Bundle;
import android.os.Environment;
import android.view.View;
import android.widget.Toast;

import androidx.appcompat.app.AppCompatActivity;
import androidx.core.app.ActivityCompat;

import java.io.File;
import java.io.IOException;

public class MainActivity extends AppCompatActivity {
    private File filePath = new File(Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory() + "/ABC.pdf");

    @Override
    protected void onCreate(Bundle savedInstanceState) {
        super.onCreate(savedInstanceState);
        setContentView(R.layout.activity_main);

        ActivityCompat.requestPermissions(this, new String[]{Manifest.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE
        , Manifest.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE}, PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED);

    }

    public void buttonCreateFile(View view){
        try {
            filePath.createNewFile();
            Toast.makeText(this, "File Created Successfully!", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
        } catch (IOException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
    }

    public void buttonDeleteFile(View view){
        if (filePath.exists()){
            filePath.delete();
            Toast.makeText(this, "File Deleted Successfully!", Toast.LENGTH_LONG).show();
        }
    }
}

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<manifest xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    package="com.programmerworld.createanddeletefile">

    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE"/>
    <uses-permission android:name="android.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE"/>
    
    <application
        android:allowBackup="true"
        android:icon="@mipmap/ic_launcher"
        android:label="@string/app_name"
        android:roundIcon="@mipmap/ic_launcher_round"
        android:supportsRtl="true"
        android:theme="@style/AppTheme">
        <activity android:name=".MainActivity">
            <intent-filter>
                <action android:name="android.intent.action.MAIN" />

                <category android:name="android.intent.category.LAUNCHER" />
            </intent-filter>
        </activity>
    </application>

</manifest>

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android"
    xmlns:app="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res-auto"
    xmlns:tools="http://schemas.android.com/tools"
    android:layout_width="match_parent"
    android:layout_height="match_parent"
    tools:context=".MainActivity">

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/button"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_marginStart="132dp"
        android:layout_marginTop="96dp"
        android:onClick="buttonCreateFile"
        android:text="@string/create_file"
        app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintTop_toTopOf="parent" />

    <Button
        android:id="@+id/button2"
        android:layout_width="wrap_content"
        android:layout_height="wrap_content"
        android:layout_marginStart="135dp"
        android:layout_marginTop="67dp"
        android:onClick="buttonDeleteFile"
        android:text="@string/delete_file"
        app:layout_constraintStart_toStartOf="parent"
        app:layout_constraintTop_toBottomOf="@+id/button" />
</androidx.constraintlayout.widget.ConstraintLayout>

apply plugin: 'com.android.application'

android {
    compileSdkVersion 29
    buildToolsVersion "29.0.3"

    defaultConfig {
        applicationId "com.programmerworld.createanddeletefile"
        minSdkVersion 26
        targetSdkVersion 29
        versionCode 1
        versionName "1.0"

        testInstrumentationRunner "androidx.test.runner.AndroidJUnitRunner"
    }

    buildTypes {
        release {
            minifyEnabled false
            proguardFiles getDefaultProguardFile('proguard-android-optimize.txt'), 'proguard-rules.pro'
        }
    }
}

dependencies {
    implementation fileTree(dir: "libs", include: ["*.jar"])
    implementation 'androidx.appcompat:appcompat:1.2.0'
    implementation 'androidx.constraintlayout:constraintlayout:1.1.3'
    testImplementation 'junit:junit:4.12'
    androidTestImplementation 'androidx.test.ext:junit:1.1.1'
    androidTestImplementation 'androidx.test.espresso:espresso-core:3.2.0'

}

// Top-level build file where you can add configuration options common to all sub-projects/modules.
buildscript {
    repositories {
        google()
        jcenter()
    }
    dependencies {
        classpath "com.android.tools.build:gradle:4.0.1"

        // NOTE: Do not place your application dependencies here; they belong
        // in the individual module build.gradle files
    }
}

allprojects {
    repositories {
        google()
        jcenter()
    }
}

task clean(type: Delete) {
    delete rootProject.buildDir
}