C Program to Delete a File

This C program deletes a file which is entered by the user, the file to be deleted should be present in the directory in which the executable file of this program is present.

Extension of the file should also be entered, remove macro is used to delete the file. If there is an error in deleting the file then an error will be displayed using perror function.

Example:

#include<stdio.h>

main()
{
    int status;
    char file_name[25];
    
    printf("Enter the name of file you wish to delete\n");
    gets(file_name);
    
    status = remove(file_name);
    
    if( status == 0 ){    
        printf("%s file deleted successfully.\n",file_name);
    }    
    else
    {    
        printf("Unable to delete the file\n");
        perror("Error");    
    }
    
    return 0;
}

Program Output:

Deleted file doesn't go to trash or recycle bin so you may not be able to recover it. Deleted files can be recovered using special recovery software if the files are not overwritten on the storage medium.