Create a folder inside documents folder in iOS apps

Question

I just want to create new folders in the documents folder of my iPhone app.

Does anybody know how to do that?

Appreciate your help!

Solution 1

I do that the following way:

NSError *error;
NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES); 
NSString *documentsDirectory = [paths objectAtIndex:0]; // Get documents folder
NSString *dataPath = [documentsDirectory stringByAppendingPathComponent:@"/MyFolder"];

if (![[NSFileManager defaultManager] fileExistsAtPath:dataPath])
    [[NSFileManager defaultManager] createDirectoryAtPath:dataPath withIntermediateDirectories:NO attributes:nil error:&error]; //Create folder

Solution 2

I don't have enough reputation to comment on Manni's answer, but [paths objectAtIndex:0] is the standard way of getting the application's Documents Directory

http://developer.apple.com/library/ios/documentation/iPhone/Conceptual/iPhoneOSProgrammingGuide/StandardBehaviors/StandardBehaviors.html#//apple_ref/doc/uid/TP40007072-CH4-SW6

Because the NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains function was designed originally for Mac OS X, where there could be more than one of each of these directories, it returns an array of paths rather than a single path. In iOS, the resulting array should contain the single path to the directory. Listing 3-1 shows a typical use of this function.

Listing 3-1 Getting the path to the application’s Documents directory

NSArray *paths = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(NSDocumentDirectory, NSUserDomainMask, YES);
NSString *documentsDirectory = [paths objectAtIndex:0];

Solution 3

Swift 3 Solution:

private func createImagesFolder() {
        // path to documents directory
        let documentDirectoryPath = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(.documentDirectory, .userDomainMask, true).first
        if let documentDirectoryPath = documentDirectoryPath {
            // create the custom folder path
            let imagesDirectoryPath = documentDirectoryPath.appending("/images")
            let fileManager = FileManager.default
            if !fileManager.fileExists(atPath: imagesDirectoryPath) {
                do {
                    try fileManager.createDirectory(atPath: imagesDirectoryPath,
                                                    withIntermediateDirectories: false,
                                                    attributes: nil)
                } catch {
                    print("Error creating images folder in documents dir: \(error)")
                }
            }
        }
    }

Solution 4

I don't like "[paths objectAtIndex:0]" because if Apple adds a new folder starting with "A", "B" oder "C", the "Documents"-folder isn't the first folder in the directory.

Better:

NSString *dataPath = [NSHomeDirectory() stringByAppendingPathComponent:@"Documents/MyFolder"];
if (![[NSFileManager defaultManager] fileExistsAtPath:dataPath])
    [[NSFileManager defaultManager] createDirectoryAtPath:dataPath withIntermediateDirectories:NO attributes:nil error:&error]; //Create folder

Solution 5

The Swift 2 solution:

let documentDirectoryPath: String = NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains(.DocumentDirectory, .UserDomainMask, true).first!
if !NSFileManager.defaultManager().fileExistsAtPath(documentDirectoryPath) {
        do {
            try NSFileManager.defaultManager().createDirectoryAtPath(documentDirectoryPath, withIntermediateDirectories: false, attributes: nil)

        } catch let createDirectoryError as NSError {
            print("Error with creating directory at path: \(createDirectoryError.localizedDescription)")
        }

    }

View more solutions

Comments

[Mina Mikhael]

thanks for the reply, it works but it creates the folder "MyFolder" beside the documents folder of the app .. not inside it. don't know why actually

[Vladimir]

Sorry - was a typo there - must append @"/MyFolder", not @"MyFolder" to a documents path.

[Andreas]

You might want to change the third line to NSString *dataPath = [documentsDirectory stringByAppendingString:@"/MyFolder"]; since NSSearchPathForDirectoriesInDomains doesn't return trailing slashes.

[SinisterMJ]

I fixed the code to use the more correct "stringByAppendingPathComponent", which does the right thing regardless of either input string having a "/" or not.

[scubadivingfool]

See Tim's answer. Using NSSearchPathForDirectoryiesInDomains is the standard way of retrieving a users Documents directory.

[Cathy]

Helped me a lot.. Thanks Vladimir

[Panos]

I am using this way to create a folder in documents folder. But it works fine in iphone 3gs with ios 5.0.1 , but on iphone 4 with ios 4.3.3 it fails to create the folder and the app then crashes. Any suggestions?

[Panos]

@Vladimir I cannot see because I have installed the app without apple licence. It tries to create /User/Documents/MyAppName . On my 3gs with 5.0.1 it works fine. On iphone 4 with 4.3.3 it fails.

[Panos]

using ls -l on both phones I see that the one that works has: -drwxrwxrwx 5 mobile mobile 238 Aug 13 18:12 Documents The one that does not: -drwxr-xr-x 3 root mobile 102 Aug 13 18:08 Documents How do I change it?

[Vladimir]

@Panos, sorry dunno about jailbroken devices. Anyway, path you've mentioned is outside the application sandbox? May be that worth separate question

[Panos]

@Vladimir Yes that path is outside the app sandbox. This is the Full path in the phones unix filesystem "/User/Documents/MyAppName". Maybe I won't have this problem when I get my Developers License and I install the app as it should :)

[S1LENT WARRIOR]

I think the simplest way to retrieve the documents directory path is: NSString* path = [@"~/Documents" stringByExpandingTildeInPath];

[Mehlyfication]

If Apple decides to rename the Documents directory to "MyDocuments" (or similar), your approach won't work either.

[ParkerHalo]

6.5 years later and it still works like a charm! thanks a lot, you saved my day!

[Pradeep Reddy Kypa]

It should be NSDocumentDirectory instead of NSDocumentsDirectory

[Logger]

how to write data into newly created directory?