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:

php unlink function

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:

php delete file example

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:

php delete a file

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

php unlink function example code

Advantages of the unlink() function in PHP

Disadvantages of the unlink() function in PHP

PHP Online Test


« Previous Tutorial Next Tutorial »


Liked this post? Share it!