Convert file: Uri to File in Android

What's the easiest way to convert from an android.net.Uri object which holds a file: type to a File object in Android?

I tried the following but it doesn't work:

File file = new File(Environment.getExternalStorageDirectory(), "read.me");
Uri uri = Uri.fromFile(file);
File auxFile = new File(uri.toString());
assertEquals(file.getAbsolutePath(), auxFile.getAbsolutePath());

What you want is...

new File(uri.getPath());

... and not...

new File(uri.toString());

Notes

1. For an android.net.Uri object which is named uri and created exactly as in the question, uri.toString() returns a String in the format "file:///mnt/sdcard/myPicture.jpg", whereas uri.getPath() returns a String in the format "/mnt/sdcard/myPicture.jpg".
2. I understand that there are nuances to file storage in Android. My intention in this answer is to answer exactly what the questioner asked and not to get into the nuances.

use

InputStream inputStream = getContentResolver().openInputStream(uri);    

directly and copy the file. Also see:

https://developer.android.com/guide/topics/providers/document-provider.html

After searching for a long time this is what worked for me:

File file = new File(getPath(uri));


public String getPath(Uri uri) 
    {
        String[] projection = { MediaStore.Images.Media.DATA };
        Cursor cursor = getContentResolver().query(uri, projection, null, null, null);
        if (cursor == null) return null;
        int column_index =             cursor.getColumnIndexOrThrow(MediaStore.Images.Media.DATA);
        cursor.moveToFirst();
        String s=cursor.getString(column_index);
        cursor.close();
        return s;
    }

Android + Kotlin

1. Add dependency for Kotlin Android extensions:

   implementation 'androidx.core:core-ktx:{latestVersion}'

2. Get file from uri:

   uri.toFile()

Android + Java

Just move to top ;)

Best Solution

Create one simple FileUtil class & use to create, copy and rename the file

I used uri.toString() and uri.getPath() but not work for me. I finally found this solution.

import android.content.Context;
import android.database.Cursor;
import android.net.Uri;
import android.provider.OpenableColumns;
import android.util.Log;

import java.io.File;
import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
import java.io.FileOutputStream;
import java.io.IOException;
import java.io.InputStream;
import java.io.OutputStream;

public class FileUtil {
    private static final int EOF = -1;
    private static final int DEFAULT_BUFFER_SIZE = 1024 * 4;

    private FileUtil() {

    }

    public static File from(Context context, Uri uri) throws IOException {
        InputStream inputStream = context.getContentResolver().openInputStream(uri);
        String fileName = getFileName(context, uri);
        String[] splitName = splitFileName(fileName);
        File tempFile = File.createTempFile(splitName[0], splitName[1]);
        tempFile = rename(tempFile, fileName);
        tempFile.deleteOnExit();
        FileOutputStream out = null;
        try {
            out = new FileOutputStream(tempFile);
        } catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
            e.printStackTrace();
        }
        if (inputStream != null) {
            copy(inputStream, out);
            inputStream.close();
        }

        if (out != null) {
            out.close();
        }
        return tempFile;
    }

    private static String[] splitFileName(String fileName) {
        String name = fileName;
        String extension = "";
        int i = fileName.lastIndexOf(".");
        if (i != -1) {
            name = fileName.substring(0, i);
            extension = fileName.substring(i);
        }

        return new String[]{name, extension};
    }

    private static String getFileName(Context context, Uri uri) {
        String result = null;
        if (uri.getScheme().equals("content")) {
            Cursor cursor = context.getContentResolver().query(uri, null, null, null, null);
            try {
                if (cursor != null && cursor.moveToFirst()) {
                    result = cursor.getString(cursor.getColumnIndex(OpenableColumns.DISPLAY_NAME));
                }
            } catch (Exception e) {
                e.printStackTrace();
            } finally {
                if (cursor != null) {
                    cursor.close();
                }
            }
        }
        if (result == null) {
            result = uri.getPath();
            int cut = result.lastIndexOf(File.separator);
            if (cut != -1) {
                result = result.substring(cut + 1);
            }
        }
        return result;
    }

    private static File rename(File file, String newName) {
        File newFile = new File(file.getParent(), newName);
        if (!newFile.equals(file)) {
            if (newFile.exists() && newFile.delete()) {
                Log.d("FileUtil", "Delete old " + newName + " file");
            }
            if (file.renameTo(newFile)) {
                Log.d("FileUtil", "Rename file to " + newName);
            }
        }
        return newFile;
    }

    private static long copy(InputStream input, OutputStream output) throws IOException {
        long count = 0;
        int n;
        byte[] buffer = new byte[DEFAULT_BUFFER_SIZE];
        while (EOF != (n = input.read(buffer))) {
            output.write(buffer, 0, n);
            count += n;
        }
        return count;
    }
}

Use FileUtil class in your code

try {
         File file = FileUtil.from(MainActivity.this,fileUri);
         Log.d("file", "File...:::: uti - "+file .getPath()+" file -" + file + " : " + file .exists());

  } catch (IOException e) {
          e.printStackTrace();
  }

EDIT: Sorry, I should have tested better before. This should work:

new File(new URI(androidURI.toString()));

URI is java.net.URI.

None of this works for me. I found this to be the working solution. But my case is specific to images.

String[] filePathColumn = { MediaStore.Images.Media.DATA };
Cursor cursor = getActivity().getContentResolver().query(uri, filePathColumn, null, null, null);
cursor.moveToFirst();
int columnIndex = cursor.getColumnIndex(filePathColumn[0]);
String filePath = cursor.getString(columnIndex);
cursor.close();

With Kotlin it is even easier:

val file = File(uri.path)

Or if you are using Kotlin extensions for Android:

val file = uri.toFile()

If you have a Uri that conforms to the DocumentContract then you probably don't want to use File. If you are on kotlin, use DocumentFile to do stuff you would in the old World use File for, and use ContentResolver to get streams.

Everything else is pretty much guaranteed to break.

One other way to reach that is create a Temporary File. to do that:

fun createTmpFileFromUri(context: Context, uri: Uri, fileName: String): File? {
    return try {
        val stream = context.contentResolver.openInputStream(uri)
        val file = File.createTempFile(fileName, "", context.cacheDir)
        org.apache.commons.io.FileUtils.copyInputStreamToFile(stream,file)
        file
    } catch (e: Exception) {
        e.printStackTrace()
        null
    }
}

We use Apache Commons library FileUtils class. For adding it to your project:

implementation "commons-io:commons-io:2.7"

Note that MAKE SURE call to file.delete() after usage. for more information checkout Documents.

@CommonsWare explained all things quite well. And we really should use the solution he proposed.

By the way, only information we could rely on when querying ContentResolver is a file's name and size as mentioned here: Retrieving File Information | Android developers

As you could see there is an interface OpenableColumns that contains only two fields: DISPLAY_NAME and SIZE.

In my case I was need to retrieve EXIF information about a JPEG image and rotate it if needed before sending to a server. To do that I copied a file content into a temporary file using ContentResolver and openInputStream()

For this case, especially on Android, the way going for bytes is usually faster.

With this, I solved it by setting up a class FileHelper which is given the responsibility to deal with reading/writing bytes from/to file through stream and a class UriHelper which is given the responsibility to figure out path of Uri and permission.

As far as it's knew generally, string.getBytes((charset == null) ? DEFAULT_CHARSET:charset) can help us to transfer string you want to bytes you need.

How to let UriHelper and FileHelper you to copy a picture noted by Uri into a file, you can run:

FileHelper.getInstance().copy(UriHelper.getInstance().toFile(uri_of_a_picture)
                        , FileHelper.getInstance().createExternalFile(null, UriHelper.getInstance().generateFileNameBasedOnTimeStamp()
                                + UriHelper.getInstance().getFileName(uri_of_a_picture, context), context)
                );

about my UriHelper:

public class UriHelper {
private static UriHelper INSTANCE = new UriHelper();

public static UriHelper getInstance() {
    return INSTANCE;
}

@SuppressLint("SimpleDateFormat")
public String generateFileNameBasedOnTimeStamp() {
    return new SimpleDateFormat("yyyyMMdd_hhmmss").format(new Date()) + ".jpeg";
}

/**
 * if uri.getScheme.equals("content"), open it with a content resolver.
 * if the uri.Scheme.equals("file"), open it using normal file methods.
 */
//

public File toFile(Uri uri) {
    if (uri == null) return null;
    Logger.d(">>> uri path:" + uri.getPath());
    Logger.d(">>> uri string:" + uri.toString());
    return new File(uri.getPath());
}

public DocumentFile toDocumentFile(Uri uri) {
    if (uri == null) return null;
    Logger.d(">>> uri path:" + uri.getPath());
    Logger.d(">>> uri string:" + uri.toString());
    return DocumentFile.fromFile(new File(uri.getPath()));
}

public Uri toUri(File file) {
    if (file == null) return null;
    Logger.d(">>> file path:" + file.getAbsolutePath());
    return Uri.fromFile(file); //returns an immutable URI reference representing the file
}

public String getPath(Uri uri, Context context) {
    if (uri == null) return null;
    if (uri.getScheme() == null) return null;
    Logger.d(">>> uri path:" + uri.getPath());
    Logger.d(">>> uri string:" + uri.toString());
    String path;
    if (uri.getScheme().equals("content")) {
        //Cursor cursor = context.getContentResolver().query(uri, new String[] {MediaStore.Images.ImageColumns.DATA}, null, null, null);
        Cursor cursor = context.getContentResolver().query(uri, null, null, null, null);
        if (cursor == null) {
            Logger.e("!!! cursor is null");
            return null;
        }
        if (cursor.getCount() >= 0) {
            Logger.d("... the numbers of rows:" + cursor.getCount()
                        + "and the numbers of columns:" + cursor.getColumnCount());
            if (cursor.isBeforeFirst()) {
                while (cursor.moveToNext()) {
                    StringBuilder stringBuilder = new StringBuilder();
                    for (int i = 0; i<cursor.getColumnCount(); i++) {
                        stringBuilder.append("... iterating cursor.getString(" + i +"(" + cursor.getColumnName(i) + ")):" + cursor.getString(i));
                        stringBuilder.append("\n");
                    }
                    Logger.d(stringBuilder.toString());
                }
            } else {
                cursor.moveToFirst();
                do {
                    StringBuilder stringBuilder = new StringBuilder();
                    for (int i = 0; i<cursor.getColumnCount(); i++) {
                        stringBuilder.append("... iterating cursor.getString(" + i +"(" + cursor.getColumnName(i) + ")):" + cursor.getString(i));
                        stringBuilder.append("\n");
                    }
                    Logger.d(stringBuilder.toString());
                } while (cursor.moveToNext());
            }
            path = uri.getPath();
            cursor.close();
            Logger.d("... content scheme:" + uri.getScheme() + "  and return:" + path);
            return path;
        } else {
            path = uri.getPath();
            Logger.d("... content scheme:" + uri.getScheme()
                    + " but the numbers of rows in the cursor is < 0:" + cursor.getCount()
                    + "  and return:" + path);
            return path;
        }
    } else {
        path = uri.getPath();
        Logger.d("... not content scheme:" + uri.getScheme() + "  and return:" + path);
        return path;
    }
}

public String getFileName(Uri uri, Context context) {
    if (uri == null) return null;
    if (uri.getScheme() == null) return null;
    Logger.d(">>> uri path:" + uri.getPath());
    Logger.d(">>> uri string:" + uri.toString());
    String path;
    if (uri.getScheme().equals("content")) {
        //Cursor cursor = context.getContentResolver().query(uri, new String[] {MediaStore.Images.ImageColumns.DATA}, null, null, null);
        Cursor cursor = context.getContentResolver().query(uri, null, null, null, null);
        if (cursor == null) {
            Logger.e("!!! cursor is null");
            return null;
        }
        if (cursor.getCount() >= 0) {
            Logger.d("... the numbers of rows:" + cursor.getCount()
                    + "and the numbers of columns:" + cursor.getColumnCount());
            if (cursor.isBeforeFirst()) {
                while (cursor.moveToNext()) {
                    StringBuilder stringBuilder = new StringBuilder();
                    for (int i = 0; i<cursor.getColumnCount(); i++) {
                        stringBuilder.append("... iterating cursor.getString(" + i +"(" + cursor.getColumnName(i) + ")):" + cursor.getString(i));
                        stringBuilder.append("\n");
                    }
                    Logger.d(stringBuilder.toString());
                }
            } else {
                cursor.moveToFirst();
                do {
                    StringBuilder stringBuilder = new StringBuilder();
                    for (int i = 0; i<cursor.getColumnCount(); i++) {
                        stringBuilder.append("... iterating cursor.getString(" + i +"(" + cursor.getColumnName(i) + ")):" + cursor.getString(i));
                        stringBuilder.append("\n");
                    }
                    Logger.d(stringBuilder.toString());
                } while (cursor.moveToNext());
            }
            cursor.moveToFirst();
            path = cursor.getString(cursor.getColumnIndex(MediaStore.Images.ImageColumns.DISPLAY_NAME));
            cursor.close();
            Logger.d("... content scheme:" + uri.getScheme() + "  and return:" + path);
            return path;
        } else {
            path = uri.getLastPathSegment();
            Logger.d("... content scheme:" + uri.getScheme()
                    + " but the numbers of rows in the cursor is < 0:" + cursor.getCount()
                    + "  and return:" + path);
            return path;
        }
    } else {
        path = uri.getLastPathSegment();
        Logger.d("... not content scheme:" + uri.getScheme() + "  and return:" + path);
        return path;
    }
}

}

about my FileHelper:

public class FileHelper {
private static final String DEFAULT_DIR_NAME = "AmoFromTaiwan";
private static final int DEFAULT_BUFFER_SIZE = 1024;
private static final Charset DEFAULT_CHARSET = Charset.forName("UTF-8");
private static final int EOF = -1;
private static FileHelper INSTANCE = new FileHelper();

public static FileHelper getInstance() {
    return INSTANCE;
}

private boolean isExternalStorageWritable(Context context) {
    /*
    String state = Environment.getExternalStorageState();
    return Environment.MEDIA_MOUNTED.equals(state);
    */
    if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.M) {
        if (context.checkSelfPermission(android.Manifest.permission.WRITE_EXTERNAL_STORAGE) == PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED) {
            return true;
        } else {
            Logger.e("!!! checkSelfPermission() not granted");
            return false;
        }
    } else { //permission is automatically granted on sdk<23 upon installation
        return true;
    }
}

private boolean isExternalStorageReadable(Context context) {
    if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.M) {
        if (context.checkSelfPermission(android.Manifest.permission.READ_EXTERNAL_STORAGE) == PackageManager.PERMISSION_GRANTED) {
            return true;
        } else {
            Logger.e("!!! checkSelfPermission() not granted");
            return false;
        }
    } else { //permission is automatically granted on sdk<23 upon installation
        return true;
    }
}

@SuppressLint("SimpleDateFormat")
private String generateFileNameBasedOnTimeStamp() {
    return new SimpleDateFormat("yyyyMMdd_hhmmss").format(new Date()) + ".jpeg";
}

public File createExternalFile(String dir_name, String file_name, Context context) {
    String dir_path;
    String file_path;
    File dir ;
    File file;
    if (!isExternalStorageWritable(context)) {
        Logger.e("!!! external storage not writable");
        return null;
    }
    if (dir_name == null) {
        dir_path = Environment.getExternalStoragePublicDirectory(Environment.DIRECTORY_PICTURES).getAbsolutePath() + File.separator + DEFAULT_DIR_NAME;
    } else {
        dir_path = Environment.getExternalStoragePublicDirectory(Environment.DIRECTORY_PICTURES).getAbsolutePath() + File.separator + dir_name;
    }
    Logger.d("... going to access an external dir:" + dir_path);
    dir = new File(dir_path);
    if (!dir.exists()) {
        Logger.d("... going to mkdirs:" + dir_path);
        if (!dir.mkdirs()) {
            Logger.e("!!! failed to mkdirs");
            return null;
        }
    }
    if (file_name == null) {
        file_path = dir_path + File.separator + generateFileNameBasedOnTimeStamp();
    } else {
        file_path = dir_path + File.separator + file_name;
    }
    Logger.d("... going to return an external dir:" + file_path);
    file = new File(file_path);
    if (file.exists()) {
        Logger.d("... before creating to delete an external dir:" + file.getAbsolutePath());
        if (!file.delete()) {
            Logger.e("!!! failed to delete file");
            return null;
        }
    }
    return file;
}

public File createInternalFile(String dir_name, String file_name, Context context) {
    String dir_path;
    String file_path;
    File dir ;
    File file;
    if (dir_name == null) {
        dir = new ContextWrapper(context).getDir(DEFAULT_DIR_NAME, Context.MODE_PRIVATE);
    } else {
        dir = new ContextWrapper(context).getDir(dir_name, Context.MODE_PRIVATE);
    }
    dir_path = dir.getAbsolutePath();
    Logger.d("... going to access an internal dir:" + dir_path);
    if (!dir.exists()) {
        Logger.d("... going to mkdirs:" + dir_path);
        if (!dir.mkdirs()) {
            Logger.e("!!! mkdirs failed");
            return null;
        }
    }
    if (file_name == null) {
        file = new File(dir, generateFileNameBasedOnTimeStamp());
    } else {
        file = new File(dir, file_name);
    }
    file_path = file.getAbsolutePath();
    Logger.d("... going to return an internal dir:" + file_path);
    if (file.exists()) {
        Logger.d("... before creating to delete an external dir:" + file.getAbsolutePath());
        if (!file.delete()) {
            Logger.e("!!! failed to delete file");
            return null;
        }
    }
    return file;
}

public File getExternalFile(String dir_name, String file_name, Context context) {
    String dir_path;
    String file_path;
    File file;
    if (!isExternalStorageWritable(context)) {
        Logger.e("!!! external storage not writable");
        return null;
    }
    if (dir_name == null) {
        dir_path = Environment.getExternalStoragePublicDirectory(Environment.DIRECTORY_PICTURES).getAbsolutePath() + File.separator + DEFAULT_DIR_NAME;
    } else {
        dir_path = Environment.getExternalStoragePublicDirectory(Environment.DIRECTORY_PICTURES).getAbsolutePath() + File.separator + dir_name;
    }
    if (file_name == null) {
        file_path = dir_path;
    } else {
        file_path = dir_path + File.separator + file_name;
    }
    Logger.d("... going to return an external file:" + file_path);
    file = new File(file_path);
    if (file.exists()) {
        Logger.d("... file exists:" + file.getAbsolutePath());
    } else {
        Logger.e("!!! file does't exist:" + file.getAbsolutePath());
    }
    return file;
}

public File getInternalFile(String dir_name, String file_name, Context context) {
    String file_path;
    File dir ;
    File file;
    if (dir_name == null) {
        dir = new ContextWrapper(context).getDir(DEFAULT_DIR_NAME, Context.MODE_PRIVATE);
    } else {
        dir = new ContextWrapper(context).getDir(dir_name, Context.MODE_PRIVATE);
    }
    if (file_name == null) {
        file = new File(dir.getAbsolutePath());
    } else {
        file = new File(dir, file_name);
    }
    file_path = file.getAbsolutePath();
    Logger.d("... going to return an internal dir:" + file_path);
    if (file.exists()) {
        Logger.d("... file exists:" + file.getAbsolutePath());
    } else {
        Logger.e("!!! file does't exist:" + file.getAbsolutePath());
    }
    return file;
}

private byte[] readBytesFromFile(File file) {
    Logger.d(">>> path:" + file.getAbsolutePath());
    FileInputStream fis;
    long file_length;
    byte[] buffer;
    int offset = 0;
    int next = 0;
    if (!file.exists()) {
        Logger.e("!!! file doesn't exists");
        return null;
    }
    if (file.length() > Integer.MAX_VALUE) {
        Logger.e("!!! file length is out of max of int");
        return null;
    } else {
        file_length = file.length();
    }
    try {
        fis = new FileInputStream(file);
        //buffer = new byte[(int) file_length];
        buffer = new byte[(int) file.length()];
        long time_start = System.currentTimeMillis();
        while (true) {
            Logger.d("... now next:" + next + " and offset:" + offset);
            if (System.currentTimeMillis() - time_start > 1000) {
                Logger.e("!!! left due to time out");
                break;
            }
            next = fis.read(buffer, offset, (buffer.length-offset));
            if (next < 0 || offset >= buffer.length) {
                Logger.d("... completed to read");
                break;
            }
            offset += next;
        }
        //if (offset < buffer.length) {
        if (offset < (int) file_length) {
            Logger.e("!!! not complete to read");
            return null;
        }
        fis.close();
        return buffer;
    } catch (IOException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
        Logger.e("!!! IOException");
        return null;
    }
}

public byte[] readBytesFromFile(File file, boolean is_fis_fos_only) {
    if (file == null) return null;
    if (is_fis_fos_only) {
        return readBytesFromFile(file);
    }
    Logger.d(">>> path:" + file.getAbsolutePath());
    FileInputStream fis;
    BufferedInputStream bis;
    ByteArrayOutputStream bos;
    byte[] buf = new byte[(int) file.length()];
    int num_read;
    if (!file.exists()) {
        Logger.e("!!! file doesn't exists");
        return null;
    }
    try {
        fis = new FileInputStream(file);
        bis = new BufferedInputStream(fis);
        bos = new ByteArrayOutputStream();
        long time_start = System.currentTimeMillis();
        while (true) {
            if (System.currentTimeMillis() - time_start > 1000) {
                Logger.e("!!! left due to time out");
                break;
            }
            num_read = bis.read(buf, 0, buf.length); //1024 bytes per call
            if (num_read < 0) break;
            bos.write(buf, 0, num_read);
        }
        buf = bos.toByteArray();
        fis.close();
        bis.close();
        bos.close();
        return buf;
    } catch (FileNotFoundException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
        Logger.e("!!! FileNotFoundException");
        return null;
    } catch (IOException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
        Logger.e("!!! IOException");
        return null;
    }
}

/**
 * streams (InputStream and OutputStream) transfer binary data
 * if to write a string to a stream, must first convert it to bytes, or in other words encode it
 */
public boolean writeStringToFile(File file, String string, Charset charset) {
    if (file == null) return false;
    if (string == null) return false;
    return writeBytesToFile(file, string.getBytes((charset == null) ? DEFAULT_CHARSET:charset));
}

public boolean writeBytesToFile(File file, byte[] data) {
    if (file == null) return false;
    if (data == null) return false;
    FileOutputStream fos;
    BufferedOutputStream bos;
    try {
        fos = new FileOutputStream(file);
        bos = new BufferedOutputStream(fos);
        bos.write(data, 0, data.length);
        bos.flush();
        bos.close();
        fos.close();
    } catch (IOException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
        Logger.e("!!! IOException");
        return false;
    }
    return true;
}

/**
 * io blocks until some input/output is available.
 */
public boolean copy(File source, File destination) {
    if (source == null || destination == null) return false;
    Logger.d(">>> source:" + source.getAbsolutePath() + ", destination:" + destination.getAbsolutePath());
    try {
        FileInputStream fis = new FileInputStream(source);
        FileOutputStream fos = new FileOutputStream(destination);
        byte[] buffer = new byte[(int) source.length()];
        int len;
        while (EOF != (len = fis.read(buffer))) {
            fos.write(buffer, 0, len);
        }
        if (true) { //debug
            byte[] copies = readBytesFromFile(destination);
            if (copies != null) {
                int copy_len = copies.length;
                Logger.d("... stream read and write done for " + copy_len + " bytes");
            }
        }
        return destination.length() != 0;
    } catch (IOException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
        return false;
    }
}

public void list(final String path, final String end, final List<File> files) {
    Logger.d(">>> path:" + path + ", end:" + end);
    File file = new File(path);
    if (file.isDirectory()) {
        for (File child : file.listFiles()){
            list(child.getAbsolutePath(), end, files);
        }
    } else if (file.isFile()) {
        if (end.equals("")) {
            files.add(file);
        } else {
            if (file.getName().endsWith(end)) files.add(file);
        }
    }
}

public String[] splitFileName(File file, String split) {
    String path;
    String ext;
    int lastIndexOfSplit = file.getAbsolutePath().lastIndexOf(split);
    if (lastIndexOfSplit < 0) {
        path = file.getAbsolutePath();
        ext = "";
    } else {
        path = file.getAbsolutePath().substring(0, lastIndexOfSplit);
        ext = file.getAbsolutePath().substring(lastIndexOfSplit);
    }
    return new String[] {path, ext};
}

public File rename(File old_file, String new_name) {
    if (old_file == null || new_name == null) return null;
    Logger.d(">>> old file path:" + old_file.getAbsolutePath() + ", new file name:" + new_name);
    File new_file = new File(old_file, new_name);
    if (!old_file.equals(new_file)) {
        if (new_file.exists()) { //if find out previous file/dir at new path name exists
            if (new_file.delete()) {
                Logger.d("... succeeded to delete previous file at new abstract path name:" + new_file.getAbsolutePath());
            } else {
                Logger.e("!!! failed to delete previous file at new abstract path name");
                return null;
            }
        }
        if (old_file.renameTo(new_file)) {
            Logger.d("... succeeded to rename old file to new abstract path name:" + new_file.getAbsolutePath());
        } else {
            Logger.e("!!! failed to rename old file to new abstract path name");
        }
    } else {
        Logger.d("... new and old file have the equal abstract path name:" + new_file.getAbsolutePath());
    }
    return new_file;
}

public boolean remove(final String path, final String end) {
    Logger.d(">>> path:" + path + ", end:" + end);
    File file = new File(path);
    boolean result = false;
    if (file.isDirectory()) {
        for (File child : file.listFiles()){
            result = remove(child.getAbsolutePath(), end);
        }
    } else if (file.isFile()) {
        if (end.equals("")) {
            result = file.delete();
        } else {
            if (file.getName().endsWith(end)) result = file.delete();
        }
    } else {
        Logger.e("!!! child is not file or directory");
    }
    return result;
}

@TargetApi(Build.VERSION_CODES.O)
public byte[] readNIOBytesFromFile(String path) throws IOException {
    Logger.d(">>> path:" + path);
    if (!Files.exists(Paths.get(path), LinkOption.NOFOLLOW_LINKS)) {
        Logger.e("!!! file doesn't exists");
        return null;
    } else {
        return Files.readAllBytes(Paths.get(path));
    }
}

@TargetApi(Build.VERSION_CODES.O)
public File writeNIOBytesToFile(String dir, String name, byte[] data) {
    Logger.d(">>> dir:" + dir + ", name:" + name);
    Path path_dir;
    Path path_file;
    try {
        if (!Files.exists(Paths.get(dir), LinkOption.NOFOLLOW_LINKS)) {
            Logger.d("... make a dir");
            path_dir = Files.createDirectories(Paths.get(dir));
            if (path_dir == null) {
                Logger.e("!!! failed to make a dir");
                return null;
            }
        }
        path_file = Files.write(Paths.get(name), data);
        return path_file.toFile();
    } catch (IOException e) {
        e.printStackTrace();
        Logger.e("!!! IOException");
        return null;
    }
}

@TargetApi(Build.VERSION_CODES.O)
public void listNIO(final String dir, final String end, final List<File> files) throws IOException {
    Logger.d(">>> dir:" + dir + ", end:" + end);
    Files.walkFileTree(Paths.get(dir), new FileVisitor<Path>() {
        @Override
        public FileVisitResult preVisitDirectory(Path dir, BasicFileAttributes attrs) {
            Logger.d("... file:" + dir.getFileName());
            return FileVisitResult.CONTINUE;
        }

        @Override
        public FileVisitResult visitFile(Path file, BasicFileAttributes attrs) {
            Logger.d("... file:" + file.getFileName());
            if (end.equals("")) {
                files.add(file.toFile());
            } else {
                if (file.endsWith(end)) files.add(file.toFile());
            }
            return FileVisitResult.CONTINUE;
        }

        @Override
        public FileVisitResult visitFileFailed(Path file, IOException exc) {
            Logger.d("... file:" + file.getFileName());
            if (end.equals("")) {
                files.add(file.toFile());
            } else {
                if (file.endsWith(end)) files.add(file.toFile());
            }
            return FileVisitResult.CONTINUE;
        }

        @Override
        public FileVisitResult postVisitDirectory(Path dir, IOException exc) {
            Logger.d("... file:" + dir.getFileName());
            return FileVisitResult.CONTINUE;
        }
    });
}

/**
 * recursion
 */
private int factorial (int x) {
    if (x > 1) return (x*(factorial(x-1)));
    else if (x == 1) return x;
    else return 0;
}

}

I made this like the following way:

try {
	readImageInformation(new File(contentUri.getPath()));

} catch (IOException e) {
	readImageInformation(new File(getRealPathFromURI(context,
				contentUri)));
}

public static String getRealPathFromURI(Context context, Uri contentUri) {
		String[] proj = { MediaStore.Images.Media.DATA };
		Cursor cursor = context.getContentResolver().query(contentUri, proj,
				null, null, null);
		int column_index = cursor
				.getColumnIndexOrThrow(MediaStore.Images.Media.DATA);
		cursor.moveToFirst();
		return cursor.getString(column_index);
}

So basically first I try to use a file i.e. picture taken by camera and saved on SD card. This don't work for image returned by: Intent photoPickerIntent = new Intent(Intent.ACTION_PICK); That case there is a need to convert Uri to real path by getRealPathFromURI() function. So the conclusion is that it depends on what type of Uri you want to convert to File.

uri.toString() gives me: "content://com.google.android.apps.nbu.files.provider/1/file%3A%2F%2F%2Fstorage%2Femulated%2F0%2FDownload%2Fbackup.file"

uri.getPath() gives me: "/1/file:///storage/emulated/0/Download/backup.file"

new File(uri.getPath()) gives me "/1/file:/storage/emulated/0/Download/backup.file".

So if you have an access to file and want to avoid using ContentResolver or directly reading file, the answer is:

private String uriToPath( Uri uri )
{
	File backupFile = new File( uri.getPath() );
	String absolutePath = backupFile.getAbsolutePath();
	return absolutePath.substring( absolutePath.indexOf( ':' ) + 1 );
}

Error handling is skipped to simplify the answer

For getting a file properly using a context uri, Thanks to answers from @Mohsents , @Bogdan Kornev , @CommonsWare , @Juan Camilo Rodriguez Durán ;

I created an inputStream from uri and used this iStream to create a temporary file finally I am able to extract uri and path from this file.

fun createFileFromContentUri(fileUri : Uri) : File{

    var fileName : String = ""

    fileUri.let { returnUri ->
        requireActivity().contentResolver.query(returnUri,null,null,null)
    }?.use { cursor ->
        val nameIndex = cursor.getColumnIndex(OpenableColumns.DISPLAY_NAME)
        cursor.moveToFirst()
        fileName = cursor.getString(nameIndex)
    }
    
    //  For extract file mimeType
    val fileType: String? = fileUri.let { returnUri ->
        requireActivity().contentResolver.getType(returnUri)
    }

    val iStream : InputStream = requireActivity().contentResolver.openInputStream(fileUri)!!
    val outputDir : File = context?.cacheDir!!
    val outputFile : File = File(outputDir,fileName)
    copyStreamToFile(iStream, outputFile)
    iStream.close()
    return  outputFile
}

fun copyStreamToFile(inputStream: InputStream, outputFile: File) {
    inputStream.use { input ->
        val outputStream = FileOutputStream(outputFile)
        outputStream.use { output ->
            val buffer = ByteArray(4 * 1024) // buffer size
            while (true) {
                val byteCount = input.read(buffer)
                if (byteCount < 0) break
                output.write(buffer, 0, byteCount)
            }
            output.flush()
        }
    }
}

you can use this function for get file from uri in new android and older

fun getFileFromUri(uri: Uri): File? {
    if (uri.path == null) {
        return null
    }
    var realPath = String()
    val databaseUri: Uri
    val selection: String?
    val selectionArgs: Array<String>?
    if (uri.path!!.contains("/document/image:")) {
        databaseUri = MediaStore.Images.Media.EXTERNAL_CONTENT_URI
        selection = "_id=?"
        selectionArgs = arrayOf(DocumentsContract.getDocumentId(uri).split(":")[1])
    } else {
        databaseUri = uri
        selection = null
        selectionArgs = null
    }
    try {
        val column = "_data"
        val projection = arrayOf(column)
        val cursor = context.contentResolver.query(
            databaseUri,
            projection,
            selection,
            selectionArgs,
            null
        )
        cursor?.let {
            if (it.moveToFirst()) {
                val columnIndex = cursor.getColumnIndexOrThrow(column)
                realPath = cursor.getString(columnIndex)
            }
            cursor.close()
        }
    } catch (e: Exception) {
        Log.i("GetFileUri Exception:", e.message ?: "")
    }
    val path = if (realPath.isNotEmpty()) realPath else {
        when {
            uri.path!!.contains("/document/raw:") -> uri.path!!.replace(
                "/document/raw:",
                ""
            )
            uri.path!!.contains("/document/primary:") -> uri.path!!.replace(
                "/document/primary:",
                "/storage/emulated/0/"
            )
            else -> return null
        }
    }
    return File(path)
}

Use this to write to file, It worked for me when uri of gif was provided by GBoard and I have to copy that gif in my app data.

    try {
      String destinationFilePath = getExternalFilesDir("gifs") + "/tempFile.txt";
      InputStream inputStream = getContentResolver().openInputStream(uri);
      OutputStream outputStream = new FileOutputStream(destinationFilePath);

      byte[] buffer = new byte[1024];
      int bytesRead;

      while ((bytesRead = inputStream.read(buffer)) != -1) {
        outputStream.write(buffer, 0, bytesRead);
      }

      inputStream.close();
      outputStream.close();
    }
    catch (Exception e) {
      e.printStackTrace();
    }

For folks that are here looking for a solution for images in particular here it is.

private Bitmap getBitmapFromUri(Uri contentUri) {
		String path = null;
		String[] projection = { MediaStore.Images.Media.DATA };
		Cursor cursor = getContentResolver().query(contentUri, projection, null, null, null);
		if (cursor.moveToFirst()) {
			int columnIndex = cursor.getColumnIndexOrThrow(MediaStore.Images.Media.DATA);
			path = cursor.getString(columnIndex);
		}
		cursor.close();
        Bitmap bitmap = BitmapFactory.decodeFile(path);
		return bitmap;
	}

File imageToUpload = new File(new URI(androidURI.toString())); works if this is a file u have created in the external storage.

For example file:///storage/emulated/0/(some directory and file name)

By the following code, I am able to get adobe application shared pdf file as a stream and saving into android application path

Android.Net.Uri fileuri =
    (Android.Net.Uri)Intent.GetParcelableExtra(Intent.ExtraStream);

    fileuri i am getting as {content://com.adobe.reader.fileprovider/root_external/
                                        data/data/com.adobe.reader/files/Downloads/sample.pdf}

    string filePath = fileuri.Path;

   filePath I am gettings as root_external/data/data/com.adobe.reader/files/Download/sample.pdf

      using (var stream = ContentResolver.OpenInputStream(fileuri))
      {
       byte[] fileByteArray = ToByteArray(stream); //only once you can read bytes from stream second time onwards it has zero bytes

       string fileDestinationPath ="<path of your destination> "
       convertByteArrayToPDF(fileByteArray, fileDestinationPath);//here pdf copied to your destination path
       }
     public static byte[] ToByteArray(Stream stream)
        {
            var bytes = new List<byte>();

            int b;
            while ((b = stream.ReadByte()) != -1)
                bytes.Add((byte)b);

            return bytes.ToArray();
        }

      public static string convertByteArrayToPDF(byte[] pdfByteArray, string filePath)
        {

            try
            {
                Java.IO.File data = new Java.IO.File(filePath);
                Java.IO.OutputStream outPut = new Java.IO.FileOutputStream(data);
                outPut.Write(pdfByteArray);
                return data.AbsolutePath;

            }
            catch (System.Exception ex)
            {
                return string.Empty;
            }
        }

public String getRealPathFromURI(Uri uri) {

    String result;
    Cursor cursor = getContentResolver().query(uri, null, null, null, null);
    if (cursor == null) {
        result = uri.getPath();
        cursor.close();
        return result;
    }
    cursor.moveToFirst();
    int idx = cursor.getColumnIndex(MediaStore.Images.ImageColumns.DATA);
    result = cursor.getString(idx);
    cursor.close();
    return result;
}

Then using to get file from URI :

        File finalFile = newFile(getRealPathFromURI(uri));

--HOPE CAN HELP YOU----

Get the input stream using content resolver

InputStream inputStream = getContentResolver().openInputStream(uri);

Then copy the input stream into a file

FileUtils.copyInputStreamToFile(inputStream, file);

Sample utility method:

private File toFile(Uri uri) throws IOException {
        String displayName = "";
        Cursor cursor = getContentResolver().query(uri, null, null, null, null);

        if(cursor != null && cursor.moveToFirst()){
            try {
                displayName = cursor.getString(cursor.getColumnIndex(OpenableColumns.DISPLAY_NAME));
            }finally {
                cursor.close();
            }
        }

        File file =  File.createTempFile(
                FilenameUtils.getBaseName(displayName),
                "."+FilenameUtils.getExtension(displayName)
        );
        InputStream inputStream = getContentResolver().openInputStream(uri);
        FileUtils.copyInputStreamToFile(inputStream, file);
        return file;
    }

Extension base on @Jacek Kwiecień answer for convert image uri to file

fun Uri.toImageFile(context: Context): File? {
    val filePathColumn = arrayOf(MediaStore.Images.Media.DATA)
    val cursor = context.contentResolver.query(this, filePathColumn, null, null, null)
    if (cursor != null) {
        if (cursor.moveToFirst()) {
            val columnIndex = cursor.getColumnIndex(filePathColumn[0])
            val filePath = cursor.getString(columnIndex)
            cursor.close()
            return File(filePath)
        }
        cursor.close()
    }
    return null
}

If we use File(uri.getPath()), it will not work

If we use extension from android-ktx, it still not work too because https://github.com/android/android-ktx/blob/master/src/main/java/androidx/core/net/Uri.kt

Add in onActivityResult, getting docx, or pdf file

var imageUriPath = ""
imageUriPath =
  if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT >= Build.VERSION_CODES.O) {
    val split = (imageUri.path ? : "").split(":") //split the path.
    split[1]
  } else {
    imageUri.path ? : ""
  }
val file = File(imageUriPath)