Working with folders in Node

The Node.js fs module provides many handy methods you can use to work with folders.

Check if a folder exists

Use fs.access() to check if the folder exists and Node can access it with its permissions.

Create a new folder

Use fs.mkdir() or fs.mkdirSync() to create a new folder.

const fs = require('fs')

const folderName = '/Users/flavio/test'

try {
  if (!fs.existsSync(folderName)) {
    fs.mkdirSync(folderName)
  }
} catch (err) {
  console.error(err)
}

With ESM and the node: prefix:

import fs from 'node:fs'

const folderName = '/Users/flavio/test'

if (!fs.existsSync(folderName)) {
  fs.mkdirSync(folderName)
}

Read the content of a directory

Use fs.readdir() or fs.readdirSync to read the contents of a directory.

This piece of code reads the content of a folder, both files and subfolders, and returns their relative path:

const fs = require('fs')
const path = require('path')

const folderPath = '/Users/flavio'

fs.readdirSync(folderPath)

You can get the full path:

fs.readdirSync(folderPath).map(fileName => {
  return path.join(folderPath, fileName)
}

You can also filter the results to only return the files, and exclude the folders:

const isFile = fileName => {
  return fs.lstatSync(fileName).isFile()
}

fs.readdirSync(folderPath).map(fileName => {
  return path.join(folderPath, fileName)
}).filter(isFile)

Rename a folder

Use fs.rename() or fs.renameSync() to rename folder. The first parameter is the current path, the second the new path:

const fs = require('fs')

fs.rename('/Users/flavio', '/Users/roger', err => {
  if (err) {
    console.error(err)
    return
  }
  //done
})

fs.renameSync() is the synchronous version:

const fs = require('fs')

try {
  fs.renameSync('/Users/flavio', '/Users/roger')
} catch (err) {
  console.error(err)
}

Remove a folder

Use fs.rm() or fs.rmSync() to remove a folder.

For a folder that still has files inside, pass { recursive: true, force: true }. That is the built-in way to delete a tree, available since Node 14.14. You do not need a third-party package for this.

Be careful with the path: this deletes everything inside it, with no confirmation.

const fs = require('fs')

const folder = '/Users/flavio/test'

fs.rmSync(folder, { recursive: true, force: true })

The async callback form:

fs.rm(folder, { recursive: true, force: true }, err => {
  if (err) {
    console.error(err)
    return
  }
  //done
})

Or with fs/promises:

import { rm } from 'node:fs/promises'

const folder = '/Users/flavio/test'

await rm(folder, { recursive: true, force: true })

fs.rmdir() / fs.rmdirSync() still exist for empty directories, but for recursive deletes prefer fs.rm().

If you already use fs-extra, its remove() helper works too. For new code, stick to the built-in fs.rm().

Want me to talk about your product? You can sponsor this site.