In this tutorial, we’re gonna look at way to copy, move, rename, and delete files/folders in Python using shutil module.
Related Posts:
– How to read/write files in Python
Copy file/folder in Python
Copy file
We use shutil.copy(source, destination) to copy the file at source to destination folder.
*Notes:
– This function returns path of the copied file.
– If destination is a filename, it will be used as the new name of the copied file.
>>> import shutil
>>> shutil.copy('D:\\ozenero\\tutorials-list.txt', 'D:\\ozenero\\Basics\\')
'D:\\ozenero\\Basics\\tutorials-list.txt'
# destination is a filename
>>> shutil.copy('D:\\ozenero\\tutorials-list.txt', 'D:\\ozenero\\Basics\\tutorials.txt')
'D:\\ozenero\\Basics\\tutorials.txt'
Copy folder
We use shutil.copytree(source, destination) to copy entire folder (including all folders and files inside) at source to destination folder.
>>> import shutil
>>> shutil.copytree('D:\\Python Files', 'D:\\Python\\Basic Tutorials')
'D:\\Python\\Basic Tutorials'
*Notes:
– This function returns path of the copied folder.
– If destination folder already exists, the function will throw a FileExistsError error.
Move file/folder in Python
We use shutil.move(source, destination) to move file or folder (including all folders and files inside) at source to destination folder.
*Notes:
– This function returns path of new location.
– If destination is a filename or a folder that doesn’t exist, it will be used as the new name of the moved file/folder.
– If there is already a file/folder with the same filename in destination, it will throw an error.
– Important: If we move a file to a folder that doesn’t exist, the file WILL be moved and renamed WITHOUT file extension.
>>> import shutil
# file
>>> shutil.move('D:\\tutorials-list.txt', 'D:\\ozenero')
'D:\\ozenero\\tutorials-list.txt'
# folder
>>> shutil.move('D:\\Basics', 'D:\\ozenero')
'D:\\ozenero\\Basics'
# move file and rename
>>> shutil.move('D:\\tutorials-list.txt', 'D:\\ozenero\\list.txt')
'D:\\ozenero\\list.txt'
# 'tutorials-list.txt' is already in 'D:\ozenero' folder
>>> shutil.move('D:\\tutorials-list.txt', 'D:\\ozenero')
# shutil.Error: Destination path 'D:\ozenero\tutorials-list.txt' already exists
# 'D:\ozenero\list' doesn't exist
>>> shutil.move('D:\\tutorials-list.txt', 'D:\\ozenero\\list')
'D:\\ozenero\\list'
# 'tutorials-list.txt' is changed to 'list' (file)
Rename file/folder in Python
We can use shutil.move(source, destination) with the source same as destination to rename the file or folder.
>>> import shutil
# rename file
>>> shutil.move('D:\\ozenero\\Basics\\tutorials.txt', 'D:\\ozenero\\Basics\\posts.txt')
'D:\\ozenero\\Basics\\posts.txt'
# rename folder
>>> shutil.move('D:\\ozenero\\Basic Tutorials', 'D:\\ozenero\\BasicTuts')
'D:\\ozenero\\BasicTuts'
Delete file/folder in Python
Permanent delete
We have 3 functions for specific cases:
– os.unlink(path): delete file at path.
– os.rmdir(path): delete folder (must be empty) at path.
– shutil.rmtree(path): delete folder (including all files and folder inside) at path.
>>> import os
# delete file
>>> os.unlink('D:\\ozenero\\list.txt')
# delete empty folder
>>> os.rmdir('D:\\ozenero\\Basic Tutorials')
# not empty folder -> throw an error
>>> os.rmdir('D:\\ozenero\\BasicTuts')
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "", line 1, in
OSError: [WinError 145] The directory is not empty: 'D:\\ozenero\\BasicTuts'
# delete folder with files and subfolders inside
>>> import shutil
>>> shutil.rmtree('D:\\ozenero\\BasicTuts')
Safe delete
Instead of permanently deleting files/folders, we can use third-party send2trash module that will files or folders to trash or recycle bin.
At first, we need to install send2trash module, open cmd, then run:
pip install send2trash
Once the installation is successful, we can see send2trash folder at Python\Python[version]\Lib\site-packages.
Now we’re gonna import the module and use its send2trash() function:
>>> import send2trash
>>> send2trash.send2trash('D:\\ozenero\\tutorials-list.txt')
