Skip to main content

Python - Directories

All files are contained within various directories, and Python has no problem handling these too. The os module has several methods that help you create, remove, and change directories.

mkdir() Method​

You can use the mkdir() method of the os module to create directories in the current directory. You need to supply an argument to this method, which contains the name of the directory to be created.

Syntax​

os.mkdir("newdir")

Example​

Following is an example to create a directory test in the current directory:

#!/usr/bin/python3
import os

# Create a directory "test"
os.mkdir("test")

chdir() Method​

You can use the chdir() method to change the current directory. The chdir() method takes an argument, which is the name of the directory that you want to make the current directory.

Syntax​

os.chdir("newdir")

Example​

Following is an example to go into the /home/newdir directory:

import os

# Changing a directory to "/home/newdir"
os.chdir("/home/newdir")

getcwd() Method​

The getcwd() method displays the current working directory.

Syntax​

os.getcwd()

Example​

Following is an example to get the current directory:

#!/usr/bin/python3
import os

# This would give the location of the current directory
os.getcwd()

rmdir() Method​

The rmdir() method deletes the directory, which is passed as an argument in the method. Before removing a directory, all the contents in it should be removed.

Syntax​

os.rmdir('dirname')

Example​

Following is an example to remove the /tmp/test directory. It is required to give the fully qualified name of the directory; otherwise, it would search for that directory in the current directory.

#!/usr/bin/python3
import os

# This would remove "/tmp/test" directory.
os.rmdir("/tmp/test")

This guide covers the basic usage of the mkdir(), chdir(), getcwd(), and rmdir() methods in the os module for handling directories in Python.