All 7 Local Storage & Data questions
More in Local Storage & Data
What is Preferences and when should you use it? What is SecureStorage and what is it for? How do you use SQLite for local relational data in MAUI? How do you use EF Core with SQLite in a MAUI app? How do you design an offline-first sync strategy in MAUI? How do you protect data at rest in a MAUI app?
Advertisement
.NET MAUI › Local Storage & Data

How do you read and write files in MAUI cross-platform?

Intermediate

Answer

Use System.IO with paths from FileSystem.AppDataDirectory (private, persistent) or CacheDirectory (disposable). For files bundled with the app, use FileSystem.OpenAppPackageFileAsync since packaged assets aren't regular filesystem paths on all platforms.
string path = Path.Combine(FileSystem.AppDataDirectory, "data.json");
await File.WriteAllTextAsync(path, json);

using var stream = await FileSystem.OpenAppPackageFileAsync("seed.json");
Real-world example An app writes user data to AppDataDirectory and reads a bundled seed file via OpenAppPackageFileAsync on first run.

Common follow-ups: AppDataDirectory vs CacheDirectory? | How do you read a packaged file?

File System Local Storage & Data Platform Integration
All 7 Local Storage & Data questions