remove

int remove( const char* fname );

Deletes the file identified by character string pointed to by fname.

If the file is currently open by this or another process, the behavior of this function is implementation-defined (in particular, POSIX systems unlink the file name although the file system space is not reclaimed until the last running process closes the file; Windows does not allow the file to be deleted).

Parameters

Return value

​0​ upon success or non-zero value on error.

Notes

POSIX specifies many additional details for the behavior of this function.

Example

#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
 
int main(void)
{
    FILE* fp = fopen("file1.txt", "w"); // create file
    if (!fp)
    {
        perror("file1.txt");
        return EXIT_FAILURE;
    }
    puts("Created file1.txt");
    fclose(fp);
 
    int rc = remove("file1.txt");
    if (rc)
    {
        perror("remove");
        return EXIT_FAILURE;
    }
    puts("Removed file1.txt");
 
    fp = fopen("file1.txt", "r"); // Failure: file does not exist
    if (!fp)
        perror("Opening removed file failed");
 
    rc = remove("file1.txt"); // Failure: file does not exist
    if (rc)
        perror("Double-remove failed");
 
    return EXIT_SUCCESS;
}

Created file1.txt
Removed file1.txt
Opening removed file failed: No such file or directory
Double-remove failed: No such file or directory

References

• C23 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:2023):
• 7.21.4.1 The remove function (p: TBD)
• C17 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:2018):
• 7.21.4.1 The remove function (p: TBD)
• C11 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:2011):
• 7.21.4.1 The remove function (p: 302)
• C99 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:1999):
• 7.19.4.1 The remove function (p: 268)
• C89/C90 standard (ISO/IEC 9899:1990):
• 4.9.4.1 The remove function

See also