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[Home](./index.md) &gt; [bitburner](./bitburner.md) &gt; [NS](./bitburner.ns.md) &gt; [read](./bitburner.ns.read.md)

## NS.read() method

Read content of a file.

**Signature:**

```typescript
read(filename: string): string;
```

## Parameters

|  Parameter | Type | Description |
|  --- | --- | --- |
|  filename | string | Name of the file to be read. |

**Returns:**

string

Data in the specified text file.

## Remarks

RAM cost: 0 GB

This function is used to read data from a text file (.txt) or script (.js or .script).

This function will return the data in the specified file. If the file does not exist, an empty string will be returned.