How to delete a file in Node.js? Remove file with Node

Node.js / August 29, 2020 / TopCode / 0

Introduction

In this blog post, we will learn how to delete a file or symbolic link in Node.js. Node.js core fs module provides APIs to remove files or symlinks from the file system. fs.unlink() is used to asynchronously remove a file or symbolic link. fs.unlinkSync() is used to synchronously remove a file or symbolic link.

fs.unlink()

fs.unlink() is an asynchronous method used to delete a file. This method does not work on directories. It is recommended to use fs.rmdir() to delete a directory asynchronously

Syntax of fs.unlink()

fs.unlink(path, callback)

This method accepts two parameters as described below:

• path: It holds the path of the file or symbolic link that has to be removed. It can be a string, buffer or URL.
• callback: It is the function that will be called when the deleting operation is done.
  • err: error object. (If there is no error, error object holds null value)

Following code snippet illustrate the fs.unlink() in Node.js:

// import node fs module
const fs = require('fs');
 
// function to delete file named 'foo.txt' asynchronously
fs.unlink('foo.txt', function (err) {
    if (err) throw err;

    console.log('File deleted successfully.');
});

fs.unlinkSync()

fs.unlinkSync() is a synchronous method used to delete a file or symlink. This method does not work on directories, so it is recommended to use fs.rmdirSync() to delete a directory synchronously.

Syntax of fs.unlinkSync()

fs.unlinkSync(path)

This method accepts one parameter as described below:

• path: The path of the file or symbolic link that has to be removed. It can be a string, buffer or URL.

Following code snippet illustrate the fs.unlinkSync() in Node.js:

// import node fs module
const fs = require('fs');
 
// function to delete file named 'foo.txt' synchronously
fs.unlinkSync('foo.txt');
console.log('File deleted successfully !');

Conclusion

It is advisable to use an asynchronous function instead of synchronous. As synchronous function blocks the event loop and should not be used in the production environment.

#Happy Coding #Topcode

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