File.ReadAllLines Method

Reference

Definition

Namespace:: System.IO

Assemblies:: mscorlib.dll, System.IO.FileSystem.dll

Assemblies:: netstandard.dll, System.Runtime.dll

Assemblies:: netstandard.dll, System.IO.FileSystem.dll

Assemblies:: netstandard.dll, System.IO.FileSystem.dll, System.Runtime.dll

Assembly:: System.IO.FileSystem.dll

Assembly:: mscorlib.dll

Assembly:: netstandard.dll

Important

Some information relates to prerelease product that may be substantially modified before it’s released. Microsoft makes no warranties, express or implied, with respect to the information provided here.

Opens a text file, reads all lines of the file into a string array, and then closes the file.

Overloads

ReadAllLines(String)	Opens a text file, reads all lines of the file, and then closes the file.
ReadAllLines(String, Encoding)	Opens a file, reads all lines of the file with the specified encoding, and then closes the file.

ReadAllLines(String)

Source:: File.cs

Source:: File.cs

Source:: File.cs

Opens a text file, reads all lines of the file, and then closes the file.

public:
 static cli::array <System::String ^> ^ ReadAllLines(System::String ^ path);

public static string[] ReadAllLines(string path);

static member ReadAllLines : string -> string[]

Public Shared Function ReadAllLines (path As String) As String()

Parameters

path: String

The file to open for reading.

Returns

String[]

A string array containing all lines of the file.

Exceptions

ArgumentException

.NET Framework and .NET Core versions older than 2.1: path is a zero-length string, contains only white space, or contains one or more invalid characters. You can query for invalid characters by using the GetInvalidPathChars() method.

ArgumentNullException

path is null.

PathTooLongException

The specified path, file name, or both exceed the system-defined maximum length.

DirectoryNotFoundException

The specified path is invalid (for example, it is on an unmapped drive).

IOException

An I/O error occurred while opening the file.

UnauthorizedAccessException

path specified a file that is read-only.

-or-

This operation is not supported on the current platform.

-or-

path specified a directory.

-or-

The caller does not have the required permission.

FileNotFoundException

The file specified in path was not found.

NotSupportedException

path is in an invalid format.

SecurityException

The caller does not have the required permission.

Examples

The following code example demonstrates the use of the ReadAllLines method to display the contents of a file. In this example a file is created, if it doesn't already exist, and text is added to it.

using System;
using System.IO;
class Test
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        string path = @"c:\temp\MyTest.txt";

        // This text is added only once to the file.
        if (!File.Exists(path))
        {
            // Create a file to write to.
            string[] createText = { "Hello", "And", "Welcome" };
            File.WriteAllLines(path, createText);
        }

        // This text is always added, making the file longer over time
        // if it is not deleted.
        string appendText = "This is extra text" + Environment.NewLine;
        File.AppendAllText(path, appendText);

        // Open the file to read from.
        string[] readText = File.ReadAllLines(path);
        foreach (string s in readText)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(s);
        }
    }
}

open System
open System.IO

let path = @"c:\temp\MyTest.txt"

// This text is added only once to the file.
if File.Exists path |> not then
    // Create a file to write to.
    let createText = [ "Hello"; "And"; "Welcome" ]
    File.WriteAllLines(path, createText)

// This text is always added, making the file longer over time
// if it is not deleted.
let appendText =
    "This is extra text" + Environment.NewLine

File.AppendAllText(path, appendText)

// Open the file to read from.
let readText = File.ReadAllLines path

for s in readText do
    printfn $"{s}"

Imports System.IO

Public Class Test
    Public Shared Sub Main()
        Dim path As String = "c:\temp\MyTest.txt"
        Dim sw As StreamWriter

        ' This text is added only once to the file.
        If File.Exists(path) = False Then

            ' Create a file to write to.
            Dim createText() As String = {"Hello", "And", "Welcome"}
            File.WriteAllLines(path, createText)
        End If

        ' This text is always added, making the file longer over time
        ' if it is not deleted.
        Dim appendText As String = "This is extra text" + Environment.NewLine
        File.AppendAllText(path, appendText)

        ' Open the file to read from.
        Dim readText() As String = File.ReadAllLines(path)
        Dim s As String
        For Each s In readText
            Console.WriteLine(s)
        Next
    End Sub
End Class

Remarks

This method opens a file, reads each line of the file, then adds each line as an element of a string array. It then closes the file. A line is defined as a sequence of characters followed by a carriage return ('\r'), a line feed ('\n'), or a carriage return immediately followed by a line feed. The resulting string does not contain the terminating carriage return and/or line feed.

This method attempts to automatically detect the encoding of a file based on the presence of byte order marks. Encoding formats UTF-8 and UTF-32 (both big-endian and little-endian) can be detected.

Applies to

.NET 10 and other versions

Product	Versions
.NET	Core 1.0, Core 1.1, Core 2.0, Core 2.1, Core 2.2, Core 3.0, Core 3.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
.NET Framework	2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, 4.7.2, 4.8, 4.8.1
.NET Standard	1.3, 1.4, 1.6, 2.0, 2.1
UWP	10.0

ReadAllLines(String, Encoding)

Source:: File.cs

Source:: File.cs

Source:: File.cs

Opens a file, reads all lines of the file with the specified encoding, and then closes the file.

public:
 static cli::array <System::String ^> ^ ReadAllLines(System::String ^ path, System::Text::Encoding ^ encoding);

public static string[] ReadAllLines(string path, System.Text.Encoding encoding);

static member ReadAllLines : string * System.Text.Encoding -> string[]

Public Shared Function ReadAllLines (path As String, encoding As Encoding) As String()

Parameters

path: String

The file to open for reading.

encoding: Encoding

The encoding applied to the contents of the file.

Returns

String[]

A string array containing all lines of the file.

Exceptions

ArgumentException

ArgumentNullException

path is null.

PathTooLongException

The specified path, file name, or both exceed the system-defined maximum length.

DirectoryNotFoundException

The specified path is invalid (for example, it is on an unmapped drive).

IOException

An I/O error occurred while opening the file.

UnauthorizedAccessException

path specified a file that is read-only.

-or-

This operation is not supported on the current platform.

-or-

path specified a directory.

-or-

The caller does not have the required permission.

FileNotFoundException

The file specified in path was not found.

NotSupportedException

path is in an invalid format.

SecurityException

The caller does not have the required permission.

Examples

The following code example demonstrates the use of the ReadAllLines method to display the contents of a file. In this example a file is created, if it doesn't already exist, and text is added to it.

using System;
using System.IO;
using System.Text;

class Test
{
    public static void Main()
    {
        string path = @"c:\temp\MyTest.txt";

        // This text is added only once to the file.
        if (!File.Exists(path))
        {
            // Create a file to write to.
            string[] createText = { "Hello", "And", "Welcome" };
            File.WriteAllLines(path, createText, Encoding.UTF8);
        }

        // This text is always added, making the file longer over time
        // if it is not deleted.
        string appendText = "This is extra text" + Environment.NewLine;
        File.AppendAllText(path, appendText, Encoding.UTF8);

        // Open the file to read from.
        string[] readText = File.ReadAllLines(path, Encoding.UTF8);
        foreach (string s in readText)
        {
            Console.WriteLine(s);
        }
    }
}

open System
open System.IO
open System.Text

let path = @"c:\temp\MyTest.txt"

// This text is added only once to the file.
if File.Exists path |> not then
    // Create a file to write to.
    let createText = [ "Hello"; "And"; "Welcome" ]
    File.WriteAllLines(path, createText, Encoding.UTF8)

// This text is always added, making the file longer over time
// if it is not deleted.
let appendText =
    "This is extra text" + Environment.NewLine

File.AppendAllText(path, appendText, Encoding.UTF8)

// Open the file to read from.
let readText = File.ReadAllLines(path, Encoding.UTF8)

for s in readText do
    printfn $"{s}"

Imports System.IO
Imports System.Text

Public Class Test
    Public Shared Sub Main()
        Dim path As String = "c:\temp\MyTest.txt"
        Dim sw As StreamWriter

        ' This text is added only once to the file.
        If File.Exists(path) = False Then

            ' Create a file to write to.
            Dim createText() As String = {"Hello", "And", "Welcome"}
            File.WriteAllLines(path, createText, Encoding.UTF8)
        End If

        ' This text is always added, making the file longer over time
        ' if it is not deleted.
        Dim appendText As String = "This is extra text" + Environment.NewLine
        File.AppendAllText(path, appendText, Encoding.UTF8)

        ' Open the file to read from.
        Dim readText() As String = File.ReadAllLines(path, Encoding.UTF8)
        Dim s As String
        For Each s In readText
            Console.WriteLine(s)
        Next
    End Sub
End Class

Remarks

This method opens a file, reads each line of the file, and then adds each line as an element of a string array. It then closes the file. A line is defined as a sequence of characters followed by a carriage return ('\r'), a line feed ('\n'), or a carriage return immediately followed by a line feed. The resulting string does not contain the terminating carriage return and/or line feed.

This method attempts to automatically detect the encoding of a file based on the presence of byte order marks. Encoding formats UTF-8 and UTF-32 (both big-endian and little-endian) can be detected.

Applies to

.NET 10 and other versions

Product	Versions
.NET	Core 1.0, Core 1.1, Core 2.0, Core 2.1, Core 2.2, Core 3.0, Core 3.1, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10
.NET Framework	2.0, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 4.5.1, 4.5.2, 4.6, 4.6.1, 4.6.2, 4.7, 4.7.1, 4.7.2, 4.8, 4.8.1
.NET Standard	1.3, 1.4, 1.6, 2.0, 2.1
UWP	10.0

Share via

File.ReadAllLines Method

Definition

Overloads

ReadAllLines(String)

Parameters

Returns

Exceptions

Examples

Remarks

See also

Applies to

ReadAllLines(String, Encoding)

Parameters

Returns

Exceptions

Examples

Remarks

See also

Applies to

Additional resources