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FileNotFoundException in Java

intermediate· Exceptions · Error Handling

Problem

FileNotFoundException is thrown when code tries to open a file for reading and the file simply isn't there — a checked exception that has to be caught or declared.

Attempt to open a file that doesn't exist and handle the resulting exception.

Input

new FileReader("missing-file.txt")

Output

Error: File not found

Java Program

Java

import java.io.FileReader;
import java.io.FileNotFoundException;

public class FileNotFoundExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        try {
            FileReader reader = new FileReader("missing-file.txt");
        } catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
            System.out.println("Error: File not found"); // fixed message avoids OS-specific text
        }
    }
}

▶ Run Code

Output

Error: File not found

Core Logic

Wrapping the file-opening call in a try-catch that targets FileNotFoundException specifically catches exactly this one failure mode, by name.

How It Works

1new FileReader("missing-file.txt") attempts to open a file that doesn't exist on disk.
2Since the file can't be found, the constructor throws a FileNotFoundException before reader is ever assigned.
3catch (FileNotFoundException e) matches that exact exception type, printing a fixed error message.
4Because this is a checked exception, the compiler wouldn't allow this call to sit outside a try-catch (or a throws declaration) in the first place.

Since missing-file.txt doesn't exist, the constructor throws immediately and the catch block prints "Error: File not found".

💡

Key Point: Catching the specific FileNotFoundException type only handles this one failure — a different I/O failure elsewhere in the same try block, of a different exception type, would slip past this catch entirely.

Key Concepts

FileReaderchecked exceptiontry / catch

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Exception Propagation

Finally Block

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