C Program to Delete a File

C language allows the manipulation of the files present in the accessible storage directory allowing programmers to create, read, write and delete files. In this article, we will learn how to delete a file using a C program.

A file stored in the system can be deleted from a C program using the standard library function remove(). This function takes the file name as an argument and removes the specified file from the storage. Let’s take a look at an example:

#include <stdio.h>

int main() {
  
    // Name of the file to be deleted
    const char *file = "file.txt";

    // Attempt to delete the file
    if (remove(file) == 0) {
        printf("File deleted successfully.\n");
    } else {
        printf("Error: Unable to delete the file.\n");
    }

    return 0;
}

Output

Assuming the file file.txt exists in the same directory as the program, the program will output:

File deleted successfully.

If the file does not exist or cannot be deleted due to permissions or other issues, the output will be:

Error: Unable to delete the file.

Explanation: In this program, the remove() function is used to delete the file file.txt. It returns 0 if the file is successfully deleted, printing a success message, or a non-zero value if the file doesn't exist or cannot be deleted, displaying an error message.

Note: Ensure that program must have appropriate permissions to delete the file and the file is not open in your program or another program before attempting to delete it.