Copy, Delete, and Move Files and Folders in C#

The following examples show how to copy, move, and delete files and folders in a synchronous manner by using the System.IO.File, System.IO.Directory, System.IO.FileInfo, and System.IO.DirectoryInfo classes from the System.IO namespace. These examples do not provide a progress bar or any other user interface. You can use System.IO.FileSystemWatcher to provide events that will enable you to calculate the progress when operating on multiple files.

// 1. The following example shows how to copy files and directories.

// Simple synchronous file copy operations with no user interface. 
// To run this sample, first create the following directories and files: 
// C:\Users\Public\TestFolder 
// C:\Users\Public\TestFolder\test.txt 
// C:\Users\Public\TestFolder\SubDir\test.txt 
public class SimpleFileCopy
{
    static void Main()
    {
        string fileName = "test.txt";
        string sourcePath = @"C:\Users\Public\TestFolder";
        string targetPath =  @"C:\Users\Public\TestFolder\SubDir";

        // Use Path class to manipulate file and directory paths. 
        string sourceFile = System.IO.Path.Combine(sourcePath, fileName);
        string destFile = System.IO.Path.Combine(targetPath, fileName);

        // To copy a folder's contents to a new location: 
        // Create a new target folder, if necessary. 
        if (!System.IO.Directory.Exists(targetPath))
        {
            System.IO.Directory.CreateDirectory(targetPath);
        }

        // To copy a file to another location and  
        // overwrite the destination file if it already exists.
        System.IO.File.Copy(sourceFile, destFile, true);

        // To copy all the files in one directory to another directory. 
        // Get the files in the source folder. (To recursively iterate through 
        // all subfolders under the current directory, see 
        // "How to: Iterate Through a Directory Tree.")
        // Note: Check for target path was performed previously 
        //       in this code example. 
        if (System.IO.Directory.Exists(sourcePath))
        {
            string[] files = System.IO.Directory.GetFiles(sourcePath);

            // Copy the files and overwrite destination files if they already exist. 
            foreach (string s in files)
            {
                // Use static Path methods to extract only the file name from the path.
                fileName = System.IO.Path.GetFileName(s);
                destFile = System.IO.Path.Combine(targetPath, fileName);
                System.IO.File.Copy(s, destFile, true);
            }
        }
        else
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Source path does not exist!");
        }

        // Keep console window open in debug mode.
        Console.WriteLine("Press any key to exit.");
        Console.ReadKey();
    }
}

// 2. The following example shows how to move files and directories.

// Simple synchronous file move operations with no user interface. 
public class SimpleFileMove
{
    static void Main()
    {
        string sourceFile = @"C:\Users\Public\public\test.txt";
        string destinationFile = @"C:\Users\Public\private\test.txt";

        // To move a file or folder to a new location:
        System.IO.File.Move(sourceFile, destinationFile);

        // To move an entire directory. To programmatically modify or combine 
        // path strings, use the System.IO.Path class.
        System.IO.Directory.Move(@"C:\Users\Public\public\test\", @"C:\Users\Public\private");
    }
}

// 3. The following example shows how to delete files and directories.

// Simple synchronous file deletion operations with no user interface. 
// To run this sample, create the following files on your drive: 
// C:\Users\Public\DeleteTest\test1.txt 
// C:\Users\Public\DeleteTest\test2.txt 
// C:\Users\Public\DeleteTest\SubDir\test2.txt 

public class SimpleFileDelete
{
    static void Main()
    {
        // Delete a file by using File class static method... 
        if(System.IO.File.Exists(@"C:\Users\Public\DeleteTest\test.txt"))
        {
            // Use a try block to catch IOExceptions, to 
            // handle the case of the file already being 
            // opened by another process. 
            try
            {
                System.IO.File.Delete(@"C:\Users\Public\DeleteTest\test.txt");
            }
            catch (System.IO.IOException e)
            {
                Console.WriteLine(e.Message);
                return;
            }
        }

        // ...or by using FileInfo instance method.
        System.IO.FileInfo fi = new System.IO.FileInfo(@"C:\Users\Public\DeleteTest\test2.txt");
        try
        {
            fi.Delete();
        }
        catch (System.IO.IOException e)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(e.Message);
        }

        // Delete a directory. Must be writable or empty. 
        try
        {
            System.IO.Directory.Delete(@"C:\Users\Public\DeleteTest");
        }
        catch (System.IO.IOException e)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(e.Message);
        }
        // Delete a directory and all subdirectories with Directory static method... 
        if(System.IO.Directory.Exists(@"C:\Users\Public\DeleteTest"))
        {
            try
            {
                System.IO.Directory.Delete(@"C:\Users\Public\DeleteTest", true);
            }

            catch (System.IO.IOException e)
            {
                Console.WriteLine(e.Message);
            }
        }

        // ...or with DirectoryInfo instance method.
        System.IO.DirectoryInfo di = new System.IO.DirectoryInfo(@"C:\Users\Public\public");
        // Delete this dir and all subdirs. 
        try
        {
            di.Delete(true);
        }
        catch (System.IO.IOException e)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(e.Message);
        }

    }
}

Hope you understand the logics. Cheers