Delete SharedPreferences File

android sharedpreferences
Andrew picture Andrew · May 25, 2011 · Viewed 29.5k times · Source

I am allowing the user to create multiple SharedPreferences files, but I also would like the option for them to delete these files. I know I could use internal storage, but that is not my question.

My question is: "How can I delete in code or manually (not just clear) a SharedPreferences file?"

Answer

inazaruk picture inazaruk · May 25, 2011

If you get SharedPreferences instance via Context.getSharedPreferences("X"), then your file will be named X.xml.

It will be located at /data/data/com.your.package.name/shared_prefs/X.xml. You can just delete that file from the location. Also check /data/data/com.your.package.name/shared_prefs/X.bak file, and if it exists, delete it too.

But be aware, that SharedPreferences instance saves all data in memory. So you'll need to clear preferences first, commit changes and only then delete preferences backing file.

This should be enough to implement your design decision.

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