PHP unlink() Function: Delete a File

The PHP unlink() function is used when we need to delete or remove a file. For example:

<?php
   if(unlink("codescracker.txt"))
      echo "The file deleted successfully";
   else
      echo "Unable to delete the file";
?>

The output of the above PHP example is:

And the file named codescracker.txt that was available in the current directory has been deleted, after executing the above PHP code.

PHP unlink() Function Syntax

The syntax of the unlink() function in PHP is:

unlink(file, context)

The second, or context, parameter is optional and is used to define the context of the file handler.

Note: The unlink() function returns TRUE on success and FALSE on failure.

PHP unlink() Function Example

Before deleting any file using PHP script, let me show you the snapshot of the current directory, in my case:

Now here is the PHP script to delete a file named myfile.txt:

<?php
   $file = "myfile.txt";
   echo "<p>Deleting the file, <b>$file</b>.....</p>";
   if(unlink($file))
      echo "<p>The file, <b>$file</b> deleted successfully.</p>";
   else
      echo "<p>Unable to delete the file, <b>$file</b></p>";
?>

The output of the above PHP example after execution is:

Following is the new snapshot of the same directory after executing the above PHP script to delete a file named myfile.txt:

Advantages of the unlink() function in PHP

• The unlink() function is very simple to use, requiring only the file path as an argument.
• The unlink() function is extremely efficient because it deletes the file from the file system without opening it.
• The unlink() function deletes files in a flash and requires few system resources.

Disadvantages of the unlink() function in PHP

• Unlike move to trash(), unlink() permanently deletes the file. The file cannot be recovered once it has been deleted.
• The unlink() function deletes the file without requesting confirmation from the user. This can be risky, particularly when deleting important files. However, you can implement the confirmation request manually using PHP code.
• important files or even system files inadvertently, posing serious security risks.
• The unlink() doesn't provide any error handling. If the file path is incorrect, the function will silently fail, making troubleshooting difficult.

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