How to check if a directory exists in Java

In the previous article, we looked at how to check if a regular file exists in Java. In this short article, you'll learn how to check if a directory exists in the file system using Java.

Using Files.isDirectory() Method

In Java 7 and higher, you can use the NIO API Files.isDirectory() static method to check if a folder exists in your file system:

if (Files.isDirectory(Paths.get("/var/lib/"))) {
    System.out.println("Directory found.");
} else {
    System.out.println("Directory not found.");
}

To make sure that the directory is not a symbolic link, you can pass LinkOption.NOFOLLOW_LINKS:

if (Files.isDirectory(Paths.get("/var/lib/"), LinkOption.NOFOLLOW_LINKS)) {
    System.out.println("Directory found.");
} else {
    System.out.println("Directory not found.");
}

Using File.isDirectory() Method

In Java 6 or below, you can use File.isDirectory() method to check for directory existence in Java as shown below:

File file = new File("/var/lib/");

// check if directory exists
if (file.isDirectory()) {
    System.out.println("Directory found.");
} else {
    System.out.println("Directory not found.");
}

Further Reading

You may be interested in other Java I/O articles:

• Reading and Writing Files in Java
• How to Read and Write Text Files in Java
• How to Read and Write Binary Files in Java
• Reading and Writing Files using Java NIO API
• How to read a file line by line in Java

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