Get Files from Directory in C#

This example shows how to get list of file names from a directory (including subdirectories). You can filter the list by specific extension.

To get file names from the specified directory, use static method Directory.Get­Files. Lets have these files and subfolders in „c:\MyDir“ folder:

Get files from directory

Method Directory.GetFiles returns string array with files names (full paths).

using System.IO;

string[] filePaths = Directory.GetFiles(@"c:\MyDir\");
// returns:
// "c:\MyDir\my-car.BMP"
// "c:\MyDir\my-house.jpg"

Get files from directory (with specified extension)

You can specify search pattern. You can use wildcard specifiers in the search pattern, e.g. „*.bmp“ to select files with the extension or „a*“ to select files beginning with letter „a“.

string[] filePaths = Directory.GetFiles(@"c:\MyDir\", "*.bmp");
// returns:
// "c:\MyDir\my-car.BMP"

Get files from directory (including all subdirectories)

If you want to search also in subfolders use parameter SearchOption.A­llDirectories.

string[] filePaths = Directory.GetFiles(@"c:\MyDir\", "*.bmp",
                                        SearchOption.AllDirectories);
// returns:
// "c:\MyDir\my-car.BMP"
// "c:\MyDir\Friends\james.BMP"

resource from http://www.csharp-examples.net