In Node.js, you can use the fs.unlink()
method provided by the built-in fs
module to delete a file from the local file system.
Here is an example that demonstrates how you can use this method:
const fs = require('fs');
// delete a file
fs.unlink('file.txt', (err) => {
if (err) {
throw err;
}
console.log("File is deleted.");
});
The fs.unlink()
method works asynchronously which means it doesn't block the Node.js event loop while deleting a file.
The fs
module also provides a synchronous method called fs.unlinkSync()
to deletes a file synchronously, like below:
const fs = require('fs');
// delete a file
try {
fs.unlinkSync('file.txt');
console.log("File is deleted.");
} catch (error) {
console.log(error);
}
Be careful while using synchronous methods from the fs
module. These methods block the Node.js event loop until the file operation is completed. It may affect performance when you are performing a lot of concurrent tasks.
Take a look at how to read and write files in Node.js guide to learn more about handling files in a Node.js application.
✌️ Like this article? Follow me on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also subscribe to RSS Feed.