C# Functionalities in File class which are not available in FileInfo class and vice versa

What are special functionalities in File class which are not available in FileInfo class and vice versa?

File and FileInfo overlap a lot, but they are designed differently.

• File is a static utility class  that works directly with file paths.
• FileInfo  is an instance class that represents one specific file object and caches some metadata.

Here are the differences.

Functionality	File	FileInfo
Static methods	Yes	No
Object instance	No	Yes
Works with file path directly	Yes	No
Keeps file metadata in object	No	Yes
Refresh metadata	No	Yes Refresh()
Access file properties	Limited	Yes
Reuse same file reference	No	Yes

Things in File that are not available in FileInfo

1. Helper methods to read entire file

These convenience methods exist only on File.

string text = File.ReadAllText(path);
string[] lines = File.ReadAllLines(path);
byte[] bytes = File.ReadAllBytes(path);

Equivalent with FileInfo requires opening streams manually.

2. Helper methods to write entire file

File.WriteAllText(path, "Hello");
File.WriteAllLines(path, lines);
File.WriteAllBytes(path, bytes);
File.AppendAllText(path, "More");

FileInfo does not provide these shortcut methods.

3. Copy/Delete/Move without object creation

File.Copy(src, dest);
File.Move(src, dest);
File.Delete(path);
With FileInfo:
var fi = new FileInfo(path);
fi.Delete();
fi.MoveTo(dest);

4. Attribute/time static helpers

File.SetAttributes(path, FileAttributes.Hidden);
File.SetCreationTime(path, DateTime.Now);

No direct equivalent static-style usage in FileInfo.

Things in FileInfo that are not available in File

1. File metadata properties

FileInfo fi = new FileInfo(path);
Console.WriteLine(fi.Length);
Console.WriteLine(fi.DirectoryName);
Console.WriteLine(fi.Extension);
Console.WriteLine(fi.IsReadOnly);

File doesn't expose these as properties.

2. Metadata refresh

fi.Refresh();

Useful if file changed after object creation.

File has no concept of refreshing because it doesn't store state.

3. Open methods bound to file

fi.OpenRead();
fi.OpenWrite();
fi.OpenText();
fi.CreateText();
fi.AppendText();

File has equivalents, but not object-oriented reuse.

4. Cached repeated access

FileInfo fi = new FileInfo(path);
Console.WriteLine(fi.Length);
Console.WriteLine(fi.CreationTime);
Console.WriteLine(fi.LastWriteTime);

One object can be reused.

With File, every call requires path lookup again.

Practical rule

• Use File → quick operations (read/write/copy/delete).
• Use FileInfo → when working with one file repeatedly or inspecting metadata.

Example:

// Better with File
string text = File.ReadAllText(path);
// Better with FileInfo
FileInfo file = new FileInfo(path);
if (file.Length > 1024)
{
    Console.WriteLine(file.Name);
}