FILE.DELETE

Macro Sheets Only

Deletes a file from the disk. Although you will normally delete files manually, you can, for example, use FILE.DELETE in a macro to delete temporary files created by the macro.

Syntax

FILE.DELETE(file_text)
FILE.DELETE?(file_text)

File_text is the name of the file to delete.

Remarks

• If Microsoft Excel can't find file_text, it displays a message saying that it cannot delete the file. To avoid this, include the entire path in file_text. See the following second and fifth examples. You can also use FILES to generate an array of filenames and then check if the file you want to delete is in the array. For an example of how to see if an entry is in an array, see OR.
• If a file is open when you delete it, the file is removed from the disk but remains open in Microsoft Excel.
• In the dialog-box form, FILE.DELETE?, you can use an asterisk (*) to represent any series of characters and a question mark (?) to represent any single character. See the following third and sixth examples.

Examples

In Microsoft Excel for Windows, the following macro formula deletes a file called CHART1.XLS from the current directory:

FILE.DELETE("CHART1.XLS")

The following macro formula deletes a file called 92INFO.XLS kept in the EXCEL\SALES subdirectory:

FILE.DELETE("C:\EXCEL\SALES\92INFO.XLS")

The following macro formula displays the Delete dialog box listing all documents whose extensions begin with the letters "XL":

FILE.DELETE?("*.XL?")

In Microsoft Excel for the Macintosh, the following macro formula deletes a file called CHART1 from the current folder:

FILE.DELETE("CHART1")

The following macro formula deletes a file called 1992 INFO kept in a series of nested folders:

FILE.DELETE("HARD DISK:EXCEL 5:SALES WORKSHEETS:1992 INFO")

The following macro formula displays the Delete dialog box listing all documents beginning with the word "Clients":

FILE.DELETE?("Clients*")

Related Functions

FILE.CLOSE Closes the active document

FILES Returns the filenames in the specified directory or folder

List of Command-Equivalent Functions