# How to make a file read only in Java

By Atta Ur Rehman Shah (https://attacomsian.com/about). Published Dec 12, 2019, updated Oct 14, 2022. Topics: Java.
Canonical URL: https://attacomsian.com/blog/java-make-file-read-only

> A quick tutorial to learn how to make a file read-only in Java.

In this article, you'll learn how to make a file read-only using Java. To make a file read-only in Java, you can use the `File.setReadOnly()` method. Here is an example:

```java
File file = new File("input.txt");

// make file read-only
file.setReadOnly();

// verify if the file is made read-only
if (!file.canWrite()){
    System.out.println("File is read-only.");
} else{
    System.out.println("File is writable.");
}
```

Alternatively, you can use the `File.setWritable()` method (Java 6+) to mark any file read-only as shown below:

```java
File file = new File("input.txt");

// make file read-only
file.setWritable(false);

// verify if the file is made read-only
if (!file.canWrite()){
    System.out.println("File is read-only.");
} else{
    System.out.println("File is writable.");
}
```

To make any read-only file writable,  you can use the same `File.canWrite()` method:

```java
File file = new File("input.txt");

// make the file writable
file.setWritable(true);
```

## Further Reading

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

* [Reading and Writing Files in Java](https://attacomsian.com/blog/java-read-write-files)
* [How to Read and Write Text Files in Java](https://attacomsian.com/blog/java-read-write-text-files)
* [How to Read and Write Binary Files in Java](https://attacomsian.com/blog/java-read-write-binary-files)
* [Reading and Writing Files using Java NIO API](https://attacomsian.com/blog/java-read-write-files-nio-api)
* [How to read a file line by line in Java](https://attacomsian.com/blog/how-to-read-a-file-line-by-line-in-java)