snippetjavaCritical

How can I read all files in a folder from Java?

Submitted by: @import:stackoverflow-api·Mar 10, 2026·

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howfromjavafilesfoldercanallread

Problem

How can I read all the files in a folder through Java? It doesn't matter which API.

Solution

Use:

public void listFilesForFolder(final File folder) {
    for (final File fileEntry : folder.listFiles()) {
        if (fileEntry.isDirectory()) {
            listFilesForFolder(fileEntry);
        } else {
            System.out.println(fileEntry.getName());
        }
    }
}

final File folder = new File("/home/you/Desktop");
listFilesForFolder(folder);

The Files.walk API is available from Java 8.

try (Stream paths = Files.walk(Paths.get("/home/you/Desktop"))) {
    paths
        .filter(Files::isRegularFile)
        .forEach(System.out::println);
}

The example uses the try-with-resources pattern recommended in the API guide. It ensures that no matter circumstances, the stream will be closed.

Code Snippets

public void listFilesForFolder(final File folder) {
    for (final File fileEntry : folder.listFiles()) {
        if (fileEntry.isDirectory()) {
            listFilesForFolder(fileEntry);
        } else {
            System.out.println(fileEntry.getName());
        }
    }
}

final File folder = new File("/home/you/Desktop");
listFilesForFolder(folder);

try (Stream<Path> paths = Files.walk(Paths.get("/home/you/Desktop"))) {
    paths
        .filter(Files::isRegularFile)
        .forEach(System.out::println);
}

Context

Stack Overflow Q#1844688, score: 1151

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