RemoveFile Function (File Management)

The RemoveFile function deletes an existing file.

BOOL RemoveFile( LPCWSTR lpFileName );

Parameters

lpFileName [in]
Pointer to a null-terminated string that specifies the name of the file to be deleted. This parameter can be a fully qualified path or a relative path. The string must use the Windows character set.

Return Value

If the function succeeds, the return value is nonzero. If the function fails, the return value is zero. To get extended error information, call GetLastError.

Remarks

If the specified file is read-only, RemoveFile will fail and return FALSE.
If the specified file is in use by another process, RemoveFile will fail and return FALSE.
You can use RemoveFile to delete a file from any directory for which you have delete access.
If the specified path is a directory, RemoveFile will fail and return FALSE.
To delete a directory, use the RemoveDirectory function.
When creating a file, you can specify the FILE_ATTRIBUTE_TEMPORARY attribute. This attribute can improve performance by indicating that the file is to be used for temporary storage. The system can move the file from main memory to the paging file as needed. If the file is not written to for a specified interval, the system can automatically delete it.

Requirements

	Value
Minimum supported client	Windows 2000 Professional
Minimum supported server	Windows 2000 Server
Header	`fileapi.h` (include `windows.h`)
Library	`Kernel32.lib`
DLL	`Kernel32.dll`
Unicode and ANSI versions	`RemoveFileW` (Unicode) and `RemoveFileA` (ANSI)

Parameters

Return Value

Remarks

Requirements

See Also