Open: JFileChooser fileChooser = new JFileChooser(); if (fileChooser.showOpenDialog(modalToComponent) == JFileChooser.APPROVE_OPTION) { File file = fileChooser.getSelectedFile(); // load from file } Save: JFileChooser fileChooser = new JFileChooser(); if (fileChooser.showSaveDialog(modalToComponent) == JFileChooser.APPROVE_OPTION) { File file = fileChooser.getSelectedFile(); // save to file }