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Python Check If File Exists

When processing files, it's a best practice to check if files exist before doing something else with them (such as read, write, delete)

Check If File Exists​

To check if a file exists, you can use the exists() function from the os.path module or is_file() method from the Path class in the pathlib module.

Using os.path.exists() method​

To check if a file exists, you pass the file path to the exists() function from the os.path standard library.

import os.path

os.path.exists(path_to_file)

If the file exists, the exists() function returns True. Otherwise, it returns False.

For example, check if test.txt file exists in the same folder:

import os.path

file_exists = os.path.exists('test.txt')
print(file_exists)

and if the test.txt file exists it will print True, otherwise False.

Using the pathlib module​

Python introduced the pathlib module since the version 3.4.

The pathlib module allows you to manipulate files and folders using the object-oriented approach.

from pathlib import Path

path = Path(path_to_file)
file_exists = path.is_file()

Explanation:

  • First, import the Path class from the pathlib module.
  • Then, instantiate a new instance of the Path class and initialize it with the file path that you want to check for existence.
  • Finally, check if the file exists using the is_file() method.
note

If the file does not exist, the is_file() method returns False. Otherwise, it returns True

For example, use pathlib module to check if the file test.txt exists in the same folder of the program:

from pathlib import Path

path_to_file = 'readme.txt'
path = Path(path_to_file)

if path.is_file():
    print(f'The file {path_to_file} exists')
else:
    print(f'The file {path_to_file} does not exist')

and if the test.txt file exists it will print The file test.txt exists, otherwise The file test.txt does not exist.

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