Short answer. Yes, and usually you can refile. A complaint may be dismissed by the plaintiff filing a notice of dismissal anytime before the answer or a motion for summary judgment is served, and the dismissal is without prejudice unless the notice says otherwise or a prior dismissal already occurred.
What the law says
A complaint may be dismissed by the plaintiff by filing a notice of dismissal at any time before service of the answer or of a motion for summary judgment. Upon such notice being filed, the court shall issue an order confirming the dismissal.
Rule 16, Section 1 — Dismissal upon notice by plaintiff. Read the full provision →
A simple notice is enough, within a specific window
The plaintiff can dismiss their own complaint just by filing a notice of dismissal — no motion, no hearing, no need for the defendant's consent. But this simple route is only available at any time before service of the answer or of a motion for summary judgment. Once the defendant has responded in one of those ways, this particular notice-based dismissal is no longer available to the plaintiff.
The court still has to confirm the dismissal
Filing the notice is not the final word by itself. Upon such notice being filed, the court shall issue an order confirming the dismissal. The plaintiff's notice triggers the process, but the court's order is what formally closes out the case on record and reflects the dismissal in the court's own official docket going forward from that point.
Practically, a plaintiff should confirm the court has actually issued that order, rather than assuming the notice alone ends the case.
Refiling is usually possible, but not always
Ordinarily, unless otherwise stated in the notice, the dismissal is without prejudice — meaning the same claim can generally be refiled later. But there is a real exception: a notice operates as an adjudication upon the merits when filed by a plaintiff who has once dismissed in a competent court an action based on or including the same claim. A second voluntary dismissal of the same claim, in other words, can bar refiling it a third time entirely.
The plaintiff can also state in the notice itself that the dismissal is meant to be with prejudice, which forecloses refiling from the very start rather than only on a second attempt.
Why this matters before filing a notice of dismissal
A plaintiff considering withdrawal should think about whether they may need to bring this same claim again later, and specifically check whether they have already dismissed it once before. If so, dismissing it a second time risks losing the claim permanently, rather than simply buying time to refile it properly whenever they are actually ready to move forward and proceed with it.