NAME

std::filesystem::remove,std::filesystem::remove_all - std::filesystem::remove,std::filesystem::remove_all

Synopsis

Defined in header <filesystem>
bool remove( const std::filesystem::path& p );
bool remove( const std::filesystem::path& p, std::error_code& ec ) (1) (since C++17)
noexcept;
std::uintmax_t remove_all( const std::filesystem::path& p );
std::uintmax_t remove_all( const std::filesystem::path& p, (2) (since C++17)
std::error_code& ec );

1) The file or empty directory identified by the path p is deleted as if by the
POSIX remove. Symlinks are not followed (symlink is removed, not its target).
2) Deletes the contents of p (if it is a directory) and the contents of all its
subdirectories, recursively, then deletes p itself as if by repeatedly applying the
POSIX remove. Symlinks are not followed (symlink is removed, not its target).

Parameters

p - path to delete
ec - out-parameter for error reporting in the non-throwing overload.

Return value

1) true if the file was deleted, false if it did not exist. The overload that takes
error_code& argument returns false on errors.
2) Returns the number of files and directories that were deleted (which may be zero
if p did not exist to begin with). The overload that takes error_code& argument
returns static_cast<std::uintmax_t>(-1) on error.

Exceptions

The overload that does not take a std::error_code& parameter throws
filesystem::filesystem_error on underlying OS API errors, constructed with p as the
first path argument and the OS error code as the error code argument. The overload
taking a std::error_code& parameter sets it to the OS API error code if an OS API
call fails, and executes ec.clear() if no errors occur. Any overload not marked
noexcept may throw std::bad_alloc if memory allocation fails.

Notes

On POSIX systems, this function typically calls unlink and rmdir as needed, on
Windows RemoveDirectoryW and DeleteFileW.

Example

// Run this code

#include <iostream>
#include <cstdint>
#include <filesystem>
namespace fs = std::filesystem;
int main()
{
fs::path tmp = fs::temp_directory_path();
fs::create_directories(tmp / "abcdef/example");
std::uintmax_t n = fs::remove_all(tmp / "abcdef");
std::cout << "Deleted " << n << " files or directories\n";
}

Possible output:

Deleted 2 files or directories

Defect reports

The following behavior-changing defect reports were applied retroactively to
previously published C++ standards.

DR Applied to Behavior as published Correct behavior
LWG 3014 C++17 error_code overload of remove_all marked noexcept removed
noexcept but can allocate memory