How do I list all files of a directory?

Solution 1:

os.listdir() will get you everything that's in a directory - files and directories.

If you want just files, you could either filter this down using os.path:

from os import listdir
from os.path import isfile, join
onlyfiles = [f for f in listdir(mypath) if isfile(join(mypath, f))]

or you could use os.walk() which will yield two lists for each directory it visits - splitting into files and dirs for you. If you only want the top directory you can break the first time it yields

from os import walk

f = []
for (dirpath, dirnames, filenames) in walk(mypath):
    f.extend(filenames)
    break

or, shorter:

from os import walk

filenames = next(walk(mypath), (None, None, []))[2]  # [] if no file

Solution 2:

I prefer using the glob module, as it does pattern matching and expansion.

import glob
print(glob.glob("/home/adam/*"))

It does pattern matching intuitively

import glob
# All files ending with .txt
print(glob.glob("/home/adam/*.txt")) 
# All files ending with .txt with depth of 2 folder
print(glob.glob("/home/adam/*/*.txt")) 

It will return a list with the queried files:

['/home/adam/file1.txt', '/home/adam/file2.txt', .... ]

Solution 3:

list in the current directory

With listdir in os module you get the files and the folders in the current dir

 import os

 arr = os.listdir()

Looking in a directory

arr = os.listdir('c:\\files')

with glob you can specify a type of file to list like this

import glob

txtfiles = []
for file in glob.glob("*.txt"):
    txtfiles.append(file)

or

mylist = [f for f in glob.glob("*.txt")]

get the full path of only files in the current directory

import os
from os import listdir
from os.path import isfile, join

cwd = os.getcwd()
onlyfiles = [os.path.join(cwd, f) for f in os.listdir(cwd) if 
os.path.isfile(os.path.join(cwd, f))]
print(onlyfiles) 

['G:\\getfilesname\\getfilesname.py', 'G:\\getfilesname\\example.txt']

Getting the full path name with os.path.abspath

You get the full path in return

 import os
 files_path = [os.path.abspath(x) for x in os.listdir()]
 print(files_path)
 
 ['F:\\documenti\applications.txt', 'F:\\documenti\collections.txt']

Walk: going through sub directories

os.walk returns the root, the directories list and the files list, that is why I unpacked them in r, d, f in the for loop; it, then, looks for other files and directories in the subfolders of the root and so on until there are no subfolders.

import os

# Getting the current work directory (cwd)
thisdir = os.getcwd()

# r=root, d=directories, f = files
for r, d, f in os.walk(thisdir):
    for file in f:
        if file.endswith(".docx"):
            print(os.path.join(r, file))

To go up in the directory tree

# Method 1
x = os.listdir('..')

# Method 2
x= os.listdir('/')

Get files of a particular subdirectory with os.listdir()

import os

x = os.listdir("./content")

os.walk('.') - current directory

 import os
 arr = next(os.walk('.'))[2]
 print(arr)
 
 >>> ['5bs_Turismo1.pdf', '5bs_Turismo1.pptx', 'esperienza.txt']

next(os.walk('.')) and os.path.join('dir', 'file')

 import os
 arr = []
 for d,r,f in next(os.walk("F:\\_python")):
     for file in f:
         arr.append(os.path.join(r,file))

 for f in arr:
     print(files)

>>> F:\\_python\\dict_class.py
>>> F:\\_python\\programmi.txt

next... walk

 [os.path.join(r,file) for r,d,f in next(os.walk("F:\\_python")) for file in f]
 
 >>> ['F:\\_python\\dict_class.py', 'F:\\_python\\programmi.txt']

os.walk

x = [os.path.join(r,file) for r,d,f in os.walk("F:\\_python") for file in f]
print(x)

>>> ['F:\\_python\\dict.py', 'F:\\_python\\progr.txt', 'F:\\_python\\readl.py']

os.listdir() - get only txt files

 arr_txt = [x for x in os.listdir() if x.endswith(".txt")]
 

Using glob to get the full path of the files

from path import path
from glob import glob

x = [path(f).abspath() for f in glob("F:\\*.txt")]

Using os.path.isfile to avoid directories in the list

import os.path
listOfFiles = [f for f in os.listdir() if os.path.isfile(f)]

Using pathlib from Python 3.4

import pathlib

flist = []
for p in pathlib.Path('.').iterdir():
    if p.is_file():
        print(p)
        flist.append(p)

With list comprehension:

flist = [p for p in pathlib.Path('.').iterdir() if p.is_file()]

Use glob method in pathlib.Path()

import pathlib

py = pathlib.Path().glob("*.py")

Get all and only files with os.walk: checks only in the third element returned, i.e. the list of the files

import os
x = [i[2] for i in os.walk('.')]
y=[]
for t in x:
    for f in t:
        y.append(f)

Get only files with next in a directory: returns only the file in the root folder

 import os
 x = next(os.walk('F://python'))[2]

Get only directories with next and walk in a directory, because in the [1] element there are the folders only

 import os
 next(os.walk('F://python'))[1] # for the current dir use ('.')
 
 >>> ['python3','others']

Get all the subdir names with walk

for r,d,f in os.walk("F:\\_python"):
    for dirs in d:
        print(dirs)

os.scandir() from Python 3.5 and greater

import os
x = [f.name for f in os.scandir() if f.is_file()]

# Another example with scandir (a little variation from docs.python.org)
# This one is more efficient than os.listdir.
# In this case, it shows the files only in the current directory
# where the script is executed.

import os
with os.scandir() as i:
    for entry in i:
        if entry.is_file():
            print(entry.name)

Solution 4:

import os
os.listdir("somedirectory")

will return a list of all files and directories in "somedirectory".