In this article we will look at two ways to check if a file exists in Python.
The first, more backwards compatible way is to use the exists()
method of the os.path
class.
import os
print(os.path.exists('test.txt'))
The output will be True
or False
depending on whether or not the file exists in the path specified as a string in the exists()
method.
The second, more modern way is to use the Path
class of the core library pathlib
.
from pathlib import Path
test_file = Path('test.txt')
print(test_file.exists())
In this case the path to the file is passed as an argument to the constructor of the Path
class. The output of the exists()
method again will be True
or False
depending on whether or not the file exists in the specified path.
This second Object-Oriented approach to file system management is recommended for the greater flexibility and organization of the code it offers.