Create, write, and read a file

Article
10/20/2022

Important APIs

Read and write a file using a StorageFile object.

Note

For a complete sample, see the File access sample.

Prerequisites

Understand async programming for Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps

You can learn how to write asynchronous apps in C# or Visual Basic, see Call asynchronous APIs in C# or Visual Basic. To learn how to write asynchronous apps in C++/WinRT, see Concurrency and asynchronous operations with C++/WinRT. To learn how to write asynchronous apps in C++/CX, see Asynchronous programming in C++/CX.
Know how to get the file that you want to read from, write to, or both

You can learn how to get a file by using a file picker in Open files and folders with a picker.

Creating a file

Here's how to create a file in the app's local folder. If it already exists, we replace it.

// Create sample file; replace if exists.
Windows.Storage.StorageFolder storageFolder =
    Windows.Storage.ApplicationData.Current.LocalFolder;
Windows.Storage.StorageFile sampleFile =
    await storageFolder.CreateFileAsync("sample.txt",
        Windows.Storage.CreationCollisionOption.ReplaceExisting);

// MainPage.h
#include <winrt/Windows.Storage.h>
...
Windows::Foundation::IAsyncAction ExampleCoroutineAsync()
{
    // Create a sample file; replace if exists.
    Windows::Storage::StorageFolder storageFolder{ Windows::Storage::ApplicationData::Current().LocalFolder() };
    co_await storageFolder.CreateFileAsync(L"sample.txt", Windows::Storage::CreationCollisionOption::ReplaceExisting);
}

// Create a sample file; replace if exists.
StorageFolder^ storageFolder = ApplicationData::Current->LocalFolder;
concurrency::create_task(storageFolder->CreateFileAsync("sample.txt", CreationCollisionOption::ReplaceExisting));

' Create sample file; replace if exists.
Dim storageFolder As StorageFolder = Windows.Storage.ApplicationData.Current.LocalFolder
Dim sampleFile As StorageFile = Await storageFolder.CreateFileAsync("sample.txt", CreationCollisionOption.ReplaceExisting)

Writing to a file

Here's how to write to a writable file on disk using the StorageFile class. The common first step for each of the ways of writing to a file (unless you're writing to the file immediately after creating it) is to get the file with StorageFolder.GetFileAsync.

Windows.Storage.StorageFolder storageFolder =
    Windows.Storage.ApplicationData.Current.LocalFolder;
Windows.Storage.StorageFile sampleFile =
    await storageFolder.GetFileAsync("sample.txt");

// MainPage.h
#include <winrt/Windows.Storage.h>
...
Windows::Foundation::IAsyncAction ExampleCoroutineAsync()
{
    Windows::Storage::StorageFolder storageFolder{ Windows::Storage::ApplicationData::Current().LocalFolder() };
    auto sampleFile{ co_await storageFolder.CreateFileAsync(L"sample.txt", Windows::Storage::CreationCollisionOption::ReplaceExisting) };
    // Process sampleFile
}

StorageFolder^ storageFolder = ApplicationData::Current->LocalFolder;
create_task(storageFolder->GetFileAsync("sample.txt")).then([](StorageFile^ sampleFile) 
{
    // Process file
});

Dim storageFolder As StorageFolder = Windows.Storage.ApplicationData.Current.LocalFolder
Dim sampleFile As StorageFile = Await storageFolder.GetFileAsync("sample.txt")

Writing text to a file

Write text to your file by calling the FileIO.WriteTextAsync method.

await Windows.Storage.FileIO.WriteTextAsync(sampleFile, "Swift as a shadow");

// MainPage.h
#include <winrt/Windows.Storage.h>
...
Windows::Foundation::IAsyncAction ExampleCoroutineAsync()
{
    Windows::Storage::StorageFolder storageFolder{ Windows::Storage::ApplicationData::Current().LocalFolder() };
    auto sampleFile{ co_await storageFolder.GetFileAsync(L"sample.txt") };
    // Write text to the file.
    co_await Windows::Storage::FileIO::WriteTextAsync(sampleFile, L"Swift as a shadow");
}

StorageFolder^ storageFolder = ApplicationData::Current->LocalFolder;
create_task(storageFolder->GetFileAsync("sample.txt")).then([](StorageFile^ sampleFile) 
{
    //Write text to a file
    create_task(FileIO::WriteTextAsync(sampleFile, "Swift as a shadow"));
});

Await Windows.Storage.FileIO.WriteTextAsync(sampleFile, "Swift as a shadow")

Writing bytes to a file by using a buffer (2 steps)

First, call CryptographicBuffer.ConvertStringToBinary to get a buffer of the bytes (based on a string) that you want to write to your file.

var buffer = Windows.Security.Cryptography.CryptographicBuffer.ConvertStringToBinary(
    "What fools these mortals be", Windows.Security.Cryptography.BinaryStringEncoding.Utf8);

// MainPage.h
#include <winrt/Windows.Security.Cryptography.h>
#include <winrt/Windows.Storage.h>
#include <winrt/Windows.Storage.Streams.h>
...
Windows::Foundation::IAsyncAction ExampleCoroutineAsync()
{
    Windows::Storage::StorageFolder storageFolder{ Windows::Storage::ApplicationData::Current().LocalFolder() };
    auto sampleFile{ co_await storageFolder.GetFileAsync(L"sample.txt") };
    // Create the buffer.
    Windows::Storage::Streams::IBuffer buffer{
        Windows::Security::Cryptography::CryptographicBuffer::ConvertStringToBinary(
            L"What fools these mortals be", Windows::Security::Cryptography::BinaryStringEncoding::Utf8)};
    // The code in step 2 goes here.
}

StorageFolder^ storageFolder = ApplicationData::Current->LocalFolder;
create_task(storageFolder->GetFileAsync("sample.txt")).then([](StorageFile^ sampleFile)
{
    // Create the buffer
    IBuffer^ buffer = CryptographicBuffer::ConvertStringToBinary
    ("What fools these mortals be", BinaryStringEncoding::Utf8);
});

Dim buffer = Windows.Security.Cryptography.CryptographicBuffer.ConvertStringToBinary(
    "What fools these mortals be",
    Windows.Security.Cryptography.BinaryStringEncoding.Utf8)

Then write the bytes from your buffer to your file by calling the FileIO.WriteBufferAsync method.

await Windows.Storage.FileIO.WriteBufferAsync(sampleFile, buffer);

co_await Windows::Storage::FileIO::WriteBufferAsync(sampleFile, buffer);

StorageFolder^ storageFolder = ApplicationData::Current->LocalFolder;
create_task(storageFolder->GetFileAsync("sample.txt")).then([](StorageFile^ sampleFile)
{
    // Create the buffer
    IBuffer^ buffer = CryptographicBuffer::ConvertStringToBinary
    ("What fools these mortals be", BinaryStringEncoding::Utf8);      
    // Write bytes to a file using a buffer
    create_task(FileIO::WriteBufferAsync(sampleFile, buffer));
});

Await Windows.Storage.FileIO.WriteBufferAsync(sampleFile, buffer)

Writing text to a file by using a stream (4 steps)

First, open the file by calling the StorageFile.OpenAsync method. It returns a stream of the file's content when the open operation completes.

var stream = await sampleFile.OpenAsync(Windows.Storage.FileAccessMode.ReadWrite);

// MainPage.h
#include <winrt/Windows.Storage.h>
#include <winrt/Windows.Storage.Streams.h>
...
Windows::Foundation::IAsyncAction ExampleCoroutineAsync()
{
    Windows::Storage::StorageFolder storageFolder{ Windows::Storage::ApplicationData::Current().LocalFolder() };
    auto sampleFile{ co_await storageFolder.GetFileAsync(L"sample.txt") };
    Windows::Storage::Streams::IRandomAccessStream stream{ co_await sampleFile.OpenAsync(Windows::Storage::FileAccessMode::ReadWrite) };
    // The code in step 2 goes here.
}

StorageFolder^ storageFolder = ApplicationData::Current->LocalFolder;
create_task(storageFolder->GetFileAsync("sample.txt")).then([](StorageFile^ sampleFile)
{
    create_task(sampleFile->OpenAsync(FileAccessMode::ReadWrite)).then([sampleFile](IRandomAccessStream^ stream)
    {
        // Process stream
    });
});

Dim stream = Await sampleFile.OpenAsync(Windows.Storage.FileAccessMode.ReadWrite)

Next, get an output stream by calling the IRandomAccessStream.GetOutputStreamAt method from the stream. If you're using C#, then enclose this in a using statement to manage the output stream's lifetime. If you're using C++/WinRT, then you can control its lifetime by enclosing it in a block, or setting it to nullptr when you're done with it.

using (var outputStream = stream.GetOutputStreamAt(0))
{
    // We'll add more code here in the next step.
}
stream.Dispose(); // Or use the stream variable (see previous code snippet) with a using statement as well.

Windows::Storage::Streams::IOutputStream outputStream{ stream.GetOutputStreamAt(0) };
// The code in step 3 goes here.

// Add to "Process stream" in part 1
IOutputStream^ outputStream = stream->GetOutputStreamAt(0);

Using outputStream = stream.GetOutputStreamAt(0)
' We'll add more code here in the next step.
End Using

Now add this code (if you're using C#, within the existing using statement) to write to the output stream by creating a new DataWriter object and calling the DataWriter.WriteString method.

using (var dataWriter = new Windows.Storage.Streams.DataWriter(outputStream))
{
    dataWriter.WriteString("DataWriter has methods to write to various types, such as DataTimeOffset.");
}

Windows::Storage::Streams::DataWriter dataWriter;
dataWriter.WriteString(L"DataWriter has methods to write to various types, such as DataTimeOffset.");
// The code in step 4 goes here.

// Added after code from part 2
DataWriter^ dataWriter = ref new DataWriter(outputStream);
dataWriter->WriteString("DataWriter has methods to write to various types, such as DataTimeOffset.");

Dim dataWriter As New DataWriter(outputStream)
dataWriter.WriteString("DataWriter has methods to write to various types, such as DataTimeOffset.")

Lastly, add this code (if you're using C#, within the inner using statement) to save the text to your file with DataWriter.StoreAsync and close the stream with IOutputStream.FlushAsync.

await dataWriter.StoreAsync();
await outputStream.FlushAsync();

dataWriter.StoreAsync();
outputStream.FlushAsync();

// Added after code from part 3
dataWriter->StoreAsync();
outputStream->FlushAsync();

Await dataWriter.StoreAsync()
Await outputStream.FlushAsync()

Best practices for writing to a file

For additional details and best practice guidance, see Best practices for writing to files.

Reading from a file

Here's how to read from a file on disk using the StorageFile class. The common first step for each of the ways of reading from a file is to get the file with StorageFolder.GetFileAsync.

Windows.Storage.StorageFolder storageFolder =
    Windows.Storage.ApplicationData.Current.LocalFolder;
Windows.Storage.StorageFile sampleFile =
    await storageFolder.GetFileAsync("sample.txt");

Windows::Storage::StorageFolder storageFolder{ Windows::Storage::ApplicationData::Current().LocalFolder() };
auto sampleFile{ co_await storageFolder.GetFileAsync(L"sample.txt") };
// Process file

StorageFolder^ storageFolder = ApplicationData::Current->LocalFolder;
create_task(storageFolder->GetFileAsync("sample.txt")).then([](StorageFile^ sampleFile)
{
    // Process file
});

Dim storageFolder As StorageFolder = Windows.Storage.ApplicationData.Current.LocalFolder
Dim sampleFile As StorageFile = Await storageFolder.GetFileAsync("sample.txt")

Reading text from a file

Read text from your file by calling the FileIO.ReadTextAsync method.

string text = await Windows.Storage.FileIO.ReadTextAsync(sampleFile);

Windows::Foundation::IAsyncOperation<winrt::hstring> ExampleCoroutineAsync()
{
    Windows::Storage::StorageFolder storageFolder{ Windows::Storage::ApplicationData::Current().LocalFolder() };
    auto sampleFile{ co_await storageFolder.GetFileAsync(L"sample.txt") };
    co_return co_await Windows::Storage::FileIO::ReadTextAsync(sampleFile);
}

StorageFolder^ storageFolder = ApplicationData::Current->LocalFolder;
create_task(storageFolder->GetFileAsync("sample.txt")).then([](StorageFile^ sampleFile)
{
    return FileIO::ReadTextAsync(sampleFile);
});

Dim text As String = Await Windows.Storage.FileIO.ReadTextAsync(sampleFile)

Reading text from a file by using a buffer (2 steps)

First, call the FileIO.ReadBufferAsync method.

var buffer = await Windows.Storage.FileIO.ReadBufferAsync(sampleFile);

Windows::Storage::StorageFolder storageFolder{ Windows::Storage::ApplicationData::Current().LocalFolder() };
auto sampleFile{ co_await storageFolder.GetFileAsync(L"sample.txt") };
Windows::Storage::Streams::IBuffer buffer{ co_await Windows::Storage::FileIO::ReadBufferAsync(sampleFile) };
// The code in step 2 goes here.

StorageFolder^ storageFolder = ApplicationData::Current->LocalFolder;
create_task(storageFolder->GetFileAsync("sample.txt")).then([](StorageFile^ sampleFile)
{
    return FileIO::ReadBufferAsync(sampleFile);

}).then([](Streams::IBuffer^ buffer)
{
    // Process buffer
});

Dim buffer = Await Windows.Storage.FileIO.ReadBufferAsync(sampleFile)

Then use a DataReader object to read first the length of the buffer and then its contents.

using (var dataReader = Windows.Storage.Streams.DataReader.FromBuffer(buffer))
{
    string text = dataReader.ReadString(buffer.Length);
}

auto dataReader{ Windows::Storage::Streams::DataReader::FromBuffer(buffer) };
winrt::hstring bufferText{ dataReader.ReadString(buffer.Length()) };

// Add to "Process buffer" section from part 1
auto dataReader = DataReader::FromBuffer(buffer);
String^ bufferText = dataReader->ReadString(buffer->Length);

Dim dataReader As DataReader = Windows.Storage.Streams.DataReader.FromBuffer(buffer)
Dim text As String = dataReader.ReadString(buffer.Length)

Reading text from a file by using a stream (4 steps)

Open a stream for your file by calling the StorageFile.OpenAsync method. It returns a stream of the file's content when the operation completes.

var stream = await sampleFile.OpenAsync(Windows.Storage.FileAccessMode.Read);

Windows::Storage::StorageFolder storageFolder{ Windows::Storage::ApplicationData::Current().LocalFolder() };
auto sampleFile{ co_await storageFolder.GetFileAsync(L"sample.txt") };
Windows::Storage::Streams::IRandomAccessStream stream{ co_await sampleFile.OpenAsync(Windows::Storage::FileAccessMode::Read) };
// The code in step 2 goes here.

StorageFolder^ storageFolder = ApplicationData::Current->LocalFolder;
create_task(storageFolder->GetFileAsync("sample.txt")).then([](StorageFile^ sampleFile)
{
    create_task(sampleFile->OpenAsync(FileAccessMode::Read)).then([sampleFile](IRandomAccessStream^ stream)
    {
        // Process stream
    });
});

Dim stream = Await sampleFile.OpenAsync(Windows.Storage.FileAccessMode.Read)

Get the size of the stream to use later.

ulong size = stream.Size;

uint64_t size{ stream.Size() };
// The code in step 3 goes here.

// Add to "Process stream" from part 1
UINT64 size = stream->Size;

Dim size = stream.Size

Get an input stream by calling the IRandomAccessStream.GetInputStreamAt method. Put this in a using statement to manage the stream's lifetime. Specify 0 when you call GetInputStreamAt to set the position to the beginning of the stream.

using (var inputStream = stream.GetInputStreamAt(0))
{
    // We'll add more code here in the next step.
}

Windows::Storage::Streams::IInputStream inputStream{ stream.GetInputStreamAt(0) };
Windows::Storage::Streams::DataReader dataReader{ inputStream };
// The code in step 4 goes here.

// Add after code from part 2
IInputStream^ inputStream = stream->GetInputStreamAt(0);
auto dataReader = ref new DataReader(inputStream);

Using inputStream = stream.GetInputStreamAt(0)
' We'll add more code here in the next step.
End Using

Lastly, add this code within the existing using statement to get a DataReader object on the stream then read the text by calling DataReader.LoadAsync and DataReader.ReadString.

using (var dataReader = new Windows.Storage.Streams.DataReader(inputStream))
{
    uint numBytesLoaded = await dataReader.LoadAsync((uint)size);
    string text = dataReader.ReadString(numBytesLoaded);
}

unsigned int cBytesLoaded{ co_await dataReader.LoadAsync(size) };
winrt::hstring streamText{ dataReader.ReadString(cBytesLoaded) };

// Add after code from part 3
create_task(dataReader->LoadAsync(size)).then([sampleFile, dataReader](unsigned int numBytesLoaded)
{
    String^ streamText = dataReader->ReadString(numBytesLoaded);
});

Dim dataReader As New DataReader(inputStream)
Dim numBytesLoaded As UInteger = Await dataReader.LoadAsync(CUInt(size))
Dim text As String = dataReader.ReadString(numBytesLoaded)

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Create, write, and read a file

Prerequisites

Creating a file

Writing to a file

Reading from a file

See also

Feedback

Additional resources