# bytes The file’s contents, as an asynchronous sequence of bytes. ``` var bytes: FileHandle.AsyncBytes { get } ``` ## Discussion Use the `for`-`await`-`in` syntax to iterate over the bytes in this sequence. For text files, you can also use its , , or properties to retrieve the contents in a more convenient format. Since all of these properties conform to , as does [`bytes`](/documentation/Foundation/FileHandle/bytes) itself, you can use methods defined by to perform powerful inline processing. For example, you can skip the first `n` bytes of the file with `myFileHandle.bytes.prefix(n)`. > Tip: > Rather than creating a ``doc://com.apple.foundation/documentation/Foundation/FileHandle`` to read a file asynchronously, you can instead use a `file://` URL in combination with the ``doc://com.apple.foundation/documentation/Foundation/URL/resourceBytes`` property in ``doc://com.apple.foundation/documentation/Foundation/URL``. --- Copyright © 2026 Apple Inc. All rights reserved. | [Terms of Use](https://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/terms/site.html) | [Privacy Policy](https://www.apple.com/privacy/privacy-policy)