How to check if a file or folder exists in Java

In Java, we can use Files.exists(pathToFileOrDirectory) to test if a file or a folder exists.

Syntax

Files.exists(pathToFileOrDirectory)

This method returns true if the file is present; otherwise, it returns false. If the file is a symbolic linka file which is a link to another target file, this method returns true only if the target file is present. Otherwise, it returns false.

Main.java
test.txt
import java.nio.file.Files;
import java.nio.file.Path;
import java.nio.file.Paths;
class Main {
    public static void checkFilePresent(Path path){
        if (Files.exists(path)) {
            if (Files.isDirectory(path)) {
                System.out.println("It is a directory");
            } else if (Files.isRegularFile(path)) { 
                System.out.println("File test.txt present");
            }
        } else {
            System.out.println("File not found ");
        }
    }
    public static void main( String args[] ) {
        String currentDir = "./";
        String fileName1 = "test.txt";
        Path path = Paths.get(currentDir + fileName1);
        checkFilePresent(path);
        String fileName2 = "write.txt";
        path = Paths.get(currentDir + fileName2);
        checkFilePresent(path);
    }
}

In the code above, we have:

  • Created a test.txt file in current directory.

  • Used Files.exist to check if a file exists.

  • If the file was found, we checked if it is a regular file or directory.

  • If the file was not found, we printed File not found.

The File, Path, and Paths classes are present in the java.nio.file package.

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