Java Create And Write To Files - W3Schools

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Create a File

In Java, you can create a new file with the createNewFile() method from the File class.

This method returns:

  • true - if the file was created successfully
  • false - if the file already exists

Note that the method is enclosed in a try...catch block. This is necessary because it throws an IOException if an error occurs (if the file cannot be created for some reason):

Example

import java.io.File; // Import the File class import java.io.IOException; // Import IOException to handle errors public class CreateFile { public static void main(String[] args) { try { File myObj = new File("filename.txt"); // Create File object if (myObj.createNewFile()) { // Try to create the file System.out.println("File created: " + myObj.getName()); } else { System.out.println("File already exists."); } } catch (IOException e) { System.out.println("An error occurred."); e.printStackTrace(); // Print error details } } }

The output will be:

File created: filename.txt Run Example »

Explanation: The program tries to create a file called filename.txt. If the file does not exist, it will be created and a success message is printed. If the file already exists, you will see the message "File already exists." instead.

Note: The createNewFile() method only creates an empty file. It does not add any content inside. You will learn how to write text to files in the next chapter.

Create a File in a Specific Folder

To create a file in a specific directory (requires permission), specify the path of the file and use double backslashes to escape the "\" character (for Windows). On Mac and Linux you can just write the path, like: /Users/name/filename.txt

Example

File myObj = new File("C:\\Users\\MyName\\filename.txt");

Run Example »

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Tag » How To Create A Text File