How to Check if a File Exists in Ruby

1. Create a Sample Folder
2. Use File.file? to Check if a File Exists in Ruby
3. Use File.exist? to Check if a File Exists in Ruby

This article will instruct how to check if a file exists in Ruby.

Create a Sample Folder

Please execute these commands in the terminal at your current directory in advance.

mkdir sample_folder

touch sample_folder/my_file.txt
mkdir sample_folder/my_folder

Use File.file? to Check if a File Exists in Ruby

Method File.file? takes a file path as the argument. It returns true when the file exists; otherwise, false.

When the file exists,

File.file?('sample_folder/my_file.txt')

Output:

true

When the file does not exist,

File.file?('sample_folder/my_another_file.txt')

Output:

false

Use File.exist? to Check if a File Exists in Ruby

Method File.exist? takes a file path as the argument. It returns true when the file exists; otherwise, false.

When the file exists,

File.file?('sample_folder/my_file.txt')

Output:

true

When the file does not exist,

File.file?('sample_folder/my_another_file.txt')

Output:

false

File.exist? is not only used to check for a file but also to check if a folder exists.

Example:

File.exist?('sample_folder/my_folder')

Output:

true