How do I list all files of a directory? - python - Stack Overflow

The listdir() method returns the list of entries for the given directory. The method os.path.isfile() returns True if the given entry is a file. Home Public Questions Tags Users Companies Collectives ExploreCollectives Teams StackOverflowforTeams –Startcollaboratingandsharingorganizationalknowledge. CreateafreeTeam WhyTeams? Teams CreatefreeTeam CollectivesonStackOverflow Findcentralized,trustedcontentandcollaboratearoundthetechnologiesyouusemost. Learnmore Teams Q&Aforwork Connectandshareknowledgewithinasinglelocationthatisstructuredandeasytosearch. Learnmore HowdoIlistallfilesofadirectory? AskQuestion Asked 11years,9monthsago Modified 12daysago Viewed 6.7mtimes 3467 1236 Thisquestion'sanswersareacommunityeffort.Editexistinganswerstoimprovethispost.Itisnotcurrentlyacceptingnewanswersorinteractions. HowcanIlistallfilesofadirectoryinPythonandaddthemtoalist? pythondirectory Share Follow editedOct22,2017at2:35 Ioannis 9,2151010goldbadges7171silverbadges104104bronzebadges askedJul8,2010at19:31 duhhunjonnduhhunjonn 43.8k1111goldbadges2626silverbadges1515bronzebadges 1 27 RelatedtoHowtogetalistofsubdirectories – rds Jan5,2012at9:32 Commentsdisabledondeleted/lockedposts/reviews  |  21Answers 21 Sortedby: Resettodefault Highestscore(default) Datemodified(newestfirst) Datecreated(oldestfirst) Helpusimproveouranswers.Aretheanswersbelowsortedinawaythatputsthebestansweratornearthetop? Takeashortsurvey I’mnotinterested 5744 os.listdir()returnseverythinginsideadirectory--includingbothfilesanddirectories. os.path'sisfile()canbeusedtoonlylistfiles: fromosimportlistdir fromos.pathimportisfile,join onlyfiles=[fforfinlistdir(mypath)ifisfile(join(mypath,f))] Alternatively,os.walk()yieldstwolistsforeachdirectoryitvisits--oneforfilesandonefordirs.Ifyouonlywantthetopdirectoryyoucanbreakthefirsttimeityields: fromosimportwalk f=[] for(dirpath,dirnames,filenames)inwalk(mypath): f.extend(filenames) break or,shorter: fromosimportwalk filenames=next(walk(mypath),(None,None,[]))[2]#[]ifnofile Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedApr19at1:55 MateenUlhaq 21.2k1616goldbadges7979silverbadges123123bronzebadges answeredJul8,2010at21:01 pycruftpycruft 60.7k11goldbadge1616silverbadges1111bronzebadges 7 124 Abitsimpler:(_,_,filenames)=walk(mypath).next()(ifyouareconfidentthatthewalkwillreturnatleastonevalue,whichitshould.) – misterbee Jul14,2013at20:56 11 Slightmodificationtostorefullpaths:for(dirpath,dirnames,filenames)inos.walk(mypath):checksum_files.extend(os.path.join(dirpath,filename)forfilenameinfilenames)break – okigan Sep23,2013at21:31 183 f.extend(filenames)isnotactuallyequivalenttof=f+filenames.extendwillmodifyfin-place,whereasaddingcreatesanewlistinanewmemorylocation.Thismeansextendisgenerallymoreefficientthan+,butitcansometimesleadtoconfusionifmultipleobjectsholdreferencestothelist.Lastly,it'sworthnotingthatf+=filenamesisequivalenttof.extend(filenames),notf=f+filenames. – BenjaminHodgson Oct22,2013at8:55 39 @misterbee,yoursolutionisthebest,justonesmallimprovement:_,_,filenames=next(walk(mypath),(None,None,[])) – bgusach Mar5,2015at7:36 6 f+=filenamesisequivalenttoextendandnottheotherwayaround???Jeez. – Umagon Jul12,2020at9:18  |  Show2morecomments 2299 Ipreferusingtheglobmodule,asitdoespatternmatchingandexpansion. importglob print(glob.glob("/home/adam/*")) Itdoespatternmatchingintuitively importglob #Allfilesanddirectoriesendingwith.txtandthatdon'tbeginwithadot: print(glob.glob("/home/adam/*.txt")) #Allfilesanddirectoriesendingwith.txtwithdepthof2folders,ignoringnamesbeginningwithadot: print(glob.glob("/home/adam/*/*.txt")) Itwillreturnalistwiththequeriedfilesanddirectories: ['/home/adam/file1.txt','/home/adam/file2.txt',....] Notethatglobignoresfilesanddirectoriesthatbeginwithadot.,asthoseareconsideredhiddenfilesanddirectories,unlessthepatternissomethinglike.*. Useglob.escapetoescapestringsthatarenotmeanttobepatterns: print(glob.glob(glob.escape(directory_name)+"/*.txt")) Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedJan11at13:56 Flimm 114k3737goldbadges224224silverbadges238238bronzebadges answeredJul9,2010at18:13 adamkadamk 42.3k77goldbadges4949silverbadges5656bronzebadges 5 20 that'sashortcutforlistdir+fnmatchdocs.python.org/library/fnmatch.html#fnmatch.fnmatch – Stefano Jul1,2011at13:03 52 toclarify,thisdoesnotreturnthe"fullpath";itsimplyreturnstheexpansionoftheglob,whateveritmaybe.E.g.,given/home/user/foo/bar/hello.txt,then,ifrunningindirectoryfoo,theglob("bar/*.txt")willreturnbar/hello.txt.Therearecaseswhenyoudoinfactwantthefull(i.e.,absolute)path;forthosecases,seestackoverflow.com/questions/51520/… – michael Aug16,2016at12:07 1 Related:findfilesrecursivelywithglob:stackoverflow.com/a/2186565/4561887 – GabrielStaples Sep3,2018at3:25 10 doesn'tanswerthisquestion.glob.glob("*")would. – Jean-FrançoisFabre ♦ May17,2019at18:36 2 Isthereawaytoensuretheitemsreturnedfromglobareonlyfiles?Iaskregardingtheinstancewherefilescouldexistwithoutextensions(orotherscenarioswherefilesandfoldersareindistinguishablepurelyfromtheirpathstrings).InotethisisanappropriateclarificationhereastheOPdidnotspecifywhetherornottheirfileshaveextensionsonthem. – aamailhot Aug11,2021at21:57 Addacomment  |  1420 listinthecurrentdirectory Withlistdirinosmoduleyougetthefilesandthefoldersinthecurrentdir importos arr=os.listdir() Lookinginadirectory arr=os.listdir('c:\\files') withglobyoucanspecifyatypeoffiletolistlikethis importglob txtfiles=[] forfileinglob.glob("*.txt"): txtfiles.append(file) or mylist=[fforfinglob.glob("*.txt")] getthefullpathofonlyfilesinthecurrentdirectory importos fromosimportlistdir fromos.pathimportisfile,join cwd=os.getcwd() onlyfiles=[os.path.join(cwd,f)forfinos.listdir(cwd)if os.path.isfile(os.path.join(cwd,f))] print(onlyfiles) ['G:\\getfilesname\\getfilesname.py','G:\\getfilesname\\example.txt'] Gettingthefullpathnamewithos.path.abspath Yougetthefullpathinreturn importos files_path=[os.path.abspath(x)forxinos.listdir()] print(files_path) ['F:\\documenti\applications.txt','F:\\documenti\collections.txt'] Walk:goingthroughsubdirectories os.walkreturnstheroot,thedirectorieslistandthefileslist,thatiswhyIunpackedtheminr,d,fintheforloop;it,then,looksforotherfilesanddirectoriesinthesubfoldersoftherootandsoonuntiltherearenosubfolders. importos #Gettingthecurrentworkdirectory(cwd) thisdir=os.getcwd() #r=root,d=directories,f=files forr,d,finos.walk(thisdir): forfileinf: iffile.endswith(".docx"): print(os.path.join(r,file)) Togoupinthedirectorytree #Method1 x=os.listdir('..') #Method2 x=os.listdir('/') Getfilesofaparticularsubdirectorywithos.listdir() importos x=os.listdir("./content") os.walk('.')-currentdirectory importos arr=next(os.walk('.'))[2] print(arr) >>>['5bs_Turismo1.pdf','5bs_Turismo1.pptx','esperienza.txt'] next(os.walk('.'))andos.path.join('dir','file') importos arr=[] ford,r,finnext(os.walk("F:\\_python")): forfileinf: arr.append(os.path.join(r,file)) forfinarr: print(files) >>>F:\\_python\\dict_class.py >>>F:\\_python\\programmi.txt next...walk [os.path.join(r,file)forr,d,finnext(os.walk("F:\\_python"))forfileinf] >>>['F:\\_python\\dict_class.py','F:\\_python\\programmi.txt'] os.walk x=[os.path.join(r,file)forr,d,finos.walk("F:\\_python")forfileinf] print(x) >>>['F:\\_python\\dict.py','F:\\_python\\progr.txt','F:\\_python\\readl.py'] os.listdir()-getonlytxtfiles arr_txt=[xforxinos.listdir()ifx.endswith(".txt")] Usingglobtogetthefullpathofthefiles frompathimportpath fromglobimportglob x=[path(f).abspath()forfinglob("F:\\*.txt")] Usingos.path.isfiletoavoiddirectoriesinthelist importos.path listOfFiles=[fforfinos.listdir()ifos.path.isfile(f)] UsingpathlibfromPython3.4 importpathlib flist=[] forpinpathlib.Path('.').iterdir(): ifp.is_file(): print(p) flist.append(p) Withlistcomprehension: flist=[pforpinpathlib.Path('.').iterdir()ifp.is_file()] Useglobmethodinpathlib.Path() importpathlib py=pathlib.Path().glob("*.py") Getallandonlyfileswithos.walk:checksonlyinthethirdelementreturned,i.e.thelistofthefiles importos x=[i[2]foriinos.walk('.')] y=[] fortinx: forfint: y.append(f) Getonlyfileswithnextinadirectory:returnsonlythefileintherootfolder importos x=next(os.walk('F://python'))[2] Getonlydirectorieswithnextandwalkinadirectory,becauseinthe[1]elementtherearethefoldersonly importos next(os.walk('F://python'))[1]#forthecurrentdiruse('.') >>>['python3','others'] Getallthesubdirnameswithwalk forr,d,finos.walk("F:\\_python"): fordirsind: print(dirs) os.scandir()fromPython3.5andgreater importos x=[f.nameforfinos.scandir()iff.is_file()] #Anotherexamplewith`scandir`(alittlevariationfromdocs.python.org) #Thisoneismoreefficientthan`os.listdir`. #Inthiscase,itshowsthefilesonlyinthecurrentdirectory #wherethescriptisexecuted. importos withos.scandir()asi: forentryini: ifentry.is_file(): print(entry.name) Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedApr12at17:41 xxx 9021010silverbadges2222bronzebadges answeredJan3,2017at15:36 PythonProgrammiPythonProgrammi 20.2k33goldbadges3636silverbadges3434bronzebadges 10 88 Thisisamish-mashoftoomanyanswerstoquestionsnotaskedhere.Itmayalsobeworthexplainingwhatthecaveatsorrecommendedapproachesare.I'mnobetteroffknowingonewayversus20waystodothesamethingunlessIalsoknowwhichismoreappropriatetousewhen. – cs95 Jan27,2020at9:27 3 Ok,ASAPIwilltakealookatmyanswerandtrytomakeitmorecleanandwithmoreusefulinformationsaboutthedifferenceamongthemethodsetc. – PythonProgrammi Jan29,2020at19:56 1 Youshouldnotdeterminefile'sextensionbycheckingifthefilenamecontainsasubstring.Thatmightcausemanytroubles.Irecommendtoalwayscheckifthefilenameendswiththeparticularsubstring. – ni1ight Mar2,2020at14:38 4 Suchcompilationscanbehelpful,butthisanswerinparticularaddsnovaluetotheexistinganswers.Justtogiveanexample,[fforfinglob.glob("*.txt")]isequivalenttoglob.glob("*.txt")andwarrantsnoextrasectioninthiswriteup.Itisalsoverywordyandwithlotsofspacing.Animprovementcouldbemadebyaddingexplanationsorpointingoutdifferencesinsteadoflistingyetanothervariant. – TurunAmbartanen Oct12,2020at10:20 1 Thanksforthecomment,youarerightofcourseandIwillfollowyouradvisesasaptomakeitmoreuseful,maybeintheseyearsIcouldmakesomebetteransewers.Justgivemesomedaystore-elaborateit. – PythonProgrammi Oct15,2020at11:07  |  Show5morecomments 947 importos os.listdir("somedirectory") willreturnalistofallfilesanddirectoriesin"somedirectory". Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedJul13,2016at19:05 csano 12.7k22goldbadges2626silverbadges4444bronzebadges answeredJul8,2010at19:35 sepp2ksepp2k 353k5252goldbadges661661silverbadges667667bronzebadges 2 12 Thisreturnstherelativepathofthefiles,ascomparedwiththefullpathreturnedbyglob.glob – xji May17,2016at14:32 25 @JIXiang:os.listdir()alwaysreturnsmerefilenames(notrelativepaths).Whatglob.glob()returnsisdrivenbythepathformatoftheinputpattern. – mklement0 Nov30,2016at18:14 Addacomment  |  183 Aone-linesolutiontogetonlylistoffiles(nosubdirectories): filenames=next(os.walk(path))[2] orabsolutepathnames: paths=[os.path.join(path,fn)forfninnext(os.walk(path))[2]] Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedSep22,2019at20:40 ohe 3,26933goldbadges2424silverbadges4646bronzebadges answeredJan18,2014at17:42 RemiRemi 19.3k88goldbadges5353silverbadges4141bronzebadges 3 7 Onlyaone-linerifyou'vealreadyimportos.Seemslessconcisethanglob()tome. – ArtOfWarfare Nov28,2014at20:22 4 problemwithglobisthatafoldercalled'something.something'wouldbereturnedbyglob('/home/adam/*.*') – Remi Dec1,2014at9:08 6 OnOSX,there'ssomethingcalledabundle.It'sadirectorywhichshouldgenerallybetreatedasafile(likea.tar).Wouldyouwantthosetreatedasafileoradirectory?Usingglob()wouldtreatitasafile.Yourmethodwouldtreatitasadirectory. – ArtOfWarfare Dec1,2014at19:44 Addacomment  |  151 GettingFullFilePathsFromaDirectoryandAllItsSubdirectories importos defget_filepaths(directory): """ Thisfunctionwillgeneratethefilenamesinadirectory treebywalkingthetreeeithertop-downorbottom-up.Foreach directoryinthetreerootedatdirectorytop(includingtopitself), ityieldsa3-tuple(dirpath,dirnames,filenames). """ file_paths=[]#Listwhichwillstoreallofthefullfilepaths. #Walkthetree. forroot,directories,filesinos.walk(directory): forfilenameinfiles: #Jointhetwostringsinordertoformthefullfilepath. filepath=os.path.join(root,filename) file_paths.append(filepath)#Addittothelist. returnfile_paths#Self-explanatory. #Runtheabovefunctionandstoreitsresultsinavariable. full_file_paths=get_filepaths("/Users/johnny/Desktop/TEST") ThepathIprovidedintheabovefunctioncontained3files—twoofthemintherootdirectory,andanotherinasubfoldercalled"SUBFOLDER."Youcannowdothingslike: printfull_file_pathswhichwillprintthelist: ['/Users/johnny/Desktop/TEST/file1.txt','/Users/johnny/Desktop/TEST/file2.txt','/Users/johnny/Desktop/TEST/SUBFOLDER/file3.dat'] Ifyou'dlike,youcanopenandreadthecontents,orfocusonlyonfileswiththeextension".dat"likeinthecodebelow: forfinfull_file_paths: iff.endswith(".dat"): printf /Users/johnny/Desktop/TEST/SUBFOLDER/file3.dat Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedSep26,2019at2:29 answeredOct11,2013at0:55 JohnnyJohnny 2,01811goldbadge1313silverbadges1010bronzebadges 0 Addacomment  |  98 Sinceversion3.4therearebuiltiniteratorsforthiswhicharealotmoreefficientthanos.listdir(): pathlib:Newinversion3.4. >>>importpathlib >>>[pforpinpathlib.Path('.').iterdir()ifp.is_file()] AccordingtoPEP428,theaimofthepathliblibraryistoprovideasimplehierarchyofclassestohandlefilesystempathsandthecommonoperationsusersdooverthem. os.scandir():Newinversion3.5. >>>importos >>>[entryforentryinos.scandir('.')ifentry.is_file()] Notethatos.walk()usesos.scandir()insteadofos.listdir()fromversion3.5,anditsspeedgotincreasedby2-20timesaccordingtoPEP471. LetmealsorecommendreadingShadowRanger'scommentbelow. Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedMay23,2018at18:41 PeterMortensen 29.9k2121goldbadges9999silverbadges124124bronzebadges answeredJun18,2015at20:58 SzieberthAdamSzieberthAdam 3,74111goldbadge2121silverbadges3131bronzebadges 4 1 Thanks!Ithinkitistheonlysolutionnotreturningdirectlyalist.Couldusep.nameinsteadofthefirstpalternativelyifpreferred. – jeromej Jun22,2015at12:36 1 Welcome!Iwouldprefergeneratingpathlib.Path()instancessincetheyhavemanyusefulmethodsIwouldnotwanttowastewaste.Youcanalsocallstr(p)onthemforpathnames. – SzieberthAdam Jul13,2015at14:56 7 Note:Theos.scandirsolutionisgoingtobemoreefficientthanos.listdirwithanos.path.is_filecheckorthelike,evenifyouneedalist(soyoudon'tbenefitfromlazyiteration),becauseos.scandirusesOSprovidedAPIsthatgiveyoutheis_fileinformationforfreeasititerates,noper-fileroundtriptothedisktostatthematall(onWindows,theDirEntrysgetyoucompletestatinfoforfree,on*NIXsystemsitneedstostatforinfobeyondis_file,is_dir,etc.,butDirEntrycachesonfirststatforconvenience). – ShadowRanger Nov20,2015at22:38 1 Youcanalsouseentry.nametogetonlythefilename,orentry.pathtogetitsfullpath.Nomoreos.path.join()allovertheplace. – user136036 Mar28,2017at20:26 Addacomment  |  66 Preliminarynotes Althoughthere'sacleardifferentiationbetweenfileanddirectorytermsinthequestiontext,somemayarguethatdirectoriesareactuallyspecialfiles Thestatement:"allfilesofadirectory"canbeinterpretedintwoways: Alldirect(orlevel1)descendantsonly Alldescendantsinthewholedirectorytree(includingtheonesinsub-directories) Whenthequestionwasasked,IimaginethatPython2,wastheLTSversion,howeverthecodesampleswillberunbyPython3(.5)(I'llkeepthemasPython2compliantaspossible;also,anycodebelongingtoPythonthatI'mgoingtopost,isfromv3.5.4-unlessotherwisespecified).Thathasconsequencesrelatedtoanotherkeywordinthequestion:"addthemintoalist": InprePython2.2versions,sequences(iterables)weremostlyrepresentedbylists(tuples,sets,...) InPython2.2,theconceptofgenerator([Python.Wiki]:Generators)-courtesyof[Python3]:Theyieldstatement)-wasintroduced.Astimepassed,generatorcounterpartsstartedtoappearforfunctionsthatreturned/workedwithlists InPython3,generatoristhedefaultbehavior Notsureifreturningalistisstillmandatory(orageneratorwoulddoaswell),butpassingageneratortothelistconstructor,willcreatealistoutofit(andalsoconsumeit).Theexamplebelowillustratesthedifferenceson[Python3]:map(function,iterable,...) >>>importsys >>>sys.version '2.7.10(default,Mar82016,15:02:46)[MSCv.160064bit(AMD64)]' >>>m=map(lambdax:x,[1,2,3])#Justadummylambdafunction >>>m,type(m) ([1,2,3],) >>>len(m) 3 >>>importsys >>>sys.version '3.5.4(v3.5.4:3f56838,Aug82017,02:17:05)[MSCv.190064bit(AMD64)]' >>>m=map(lambdax:x,[1,2,3]) >>>m,type(m) (,) >>>len(m) Traceback(mostrecentcalllast): File"",line1,in TypeError:objectoftype'map'hasnolen() >>>lm0=list(m)#Buildalistfromthegenerator >>>lm0,type(lm0) ([1,2,3],) >>> >>>lm1=list(m)#Buildalistfromthesamegenerator >>>lm1,type(lm1)#Emptylistnow-generatoralreadyconsumed ([],) Theexampleswillbebasedonadirectorycalledroot_dirwiththefollowingstructure(thisexampleisforWin,butI'musingthesametreeonLnxaswell): E:\Work\Dev\StackOverflow\q003207219>tree/f"root_dir" FolderPATHlistingforvolumeWork Volumeserialnumberis000000293655:6FED E:\WORK\DEV\STACKOVERFLOW\Q003207219\ROOT_DIR ¦file0 ¦file1 ¦ +---dir0 ¦+---dir00 ¦¦¦file000 ¦¦¦ ¦¦+---dir000 ¦¦file0000 ¦¦ ¦+---dir01 ¦¦file010 ¦¦file011 ¦¦ ¦+---dir02 ¦+---dir020 ¦+---dir0200 +---dir1 ¦file10 ¦file11 ¦file12 ¦ +---dir2 ¦¦file20 ¦¦ ¦+---dir20 ¦file200 ¦ +---dir3 Solutions Programmaticapproaches: [Python3]:os.listdir(path='.') Returnalistcontainingthenamesoftheentriesinthedirectorygivenbypath.Thelistisinarbitraryorder,anddoesnotincludethespecialentries'.'and'..'... >>>importos >>>root_dir="root_dir"#Pathrelativetocurrentdir(os.getcwd()) >>> >>>os.listdir(root_dir)#Listalltheitemsinroot_dir ['dir0','dir1','dir2','dir3','file0','file1'] >>> >>>[itemforiteminos.listdir(root_dir)ifos.path.isfile(os.path.join(root_dir,item))]#Filteritemsandonlykeepfiles(stripoutdirectories) ['file0','file1'] Amoreelaborateexample(code_os_listdir.py): importos frompprintimportpformat def_get_dir_content(path,include_folders,recursive): entries=os.listdir(path) forentryinentries: entry_with_path=os.path.join(path,entry) ifos.path.isdir(entry_with_path): ifinclude_folders: yieldentry_with_path ifrecursive: forsub_entryin_get_dir_content(entry_with_path,include_folders,recursive): yieldsub_entry else: yieldentry_with_path defget_dir_content(path,include_folders=True,recursive=True,prepend_folder_name=True): path_len=len(path)+len(os.path.sep) foritemin_get_dir_content(path,include_folders,recursive): yielditemifprepend_folder_nameelseitem[path_len:] def_get_dir_content_old(path,include_folders,recursive): entries=os.listdir(path) ret=list() forentryinentries: entry_with_path=os.path.join(path,entry) ifos.path.isdir(entry_with_path): ifinclude_folders: ret.append(entry_with_path) ifrecursive: ret.extend(_get_dir_content_old(entry_with_path,include_folders,recursive)) else: ret.append(entry_with_path) returnret defget_dir_content_old(path,include_folders=True,recursive=True,prepend_folder_name=True): path_len=len(path)+len(os.path.sep) return[itemifprepend_folder_nameelseitem[path_len:]foritemin_get_dir_content_old(path,include_folders,recursive)] defmain(): root_dir="root_dir" ret0=get_dir_content(root_dir,include_folders=True,recursive=True,prepend_folder_name=True) lret0=list(ret0) print(ret0,len(lret0),pformat(lret0)) ret1=get_dir_content_old(root_dir,include_folders=False,recursive=True,prepend_folder_name=False) print(len(ret1),pformat(ret1)) if__name__=="__main__": main() Notes: Therearetwoimplementations: Onethatusesgenerators(ofcoursehereitseemsuseless,sinceIimmediatelyconverttheresulttoalist) Theclassicone(functionnamesendingin_old) Recursionisused(togetintosubdirectories) Foreachimplementationtherearetwofunctions: Onethatstartswithanunderscore(_):"private"(shouldnotbecalleddirectly)-thatdoesallthework Thepublicone(wrapperoverprevious):itjuststripsofftheinitialpath(ifrequired)fromthereturnedentries.It'sanuglyimplementation,butit'stheonlyideathatIcouldcomewithatthispoint Intermsofperformance,generatorsaregenerallyalittlebitfaster(consideringbothcreationanditerationtimes),butIdidn'ttesttheminrecursivefunctions,andalsoIamiteratinginsidethefunctionoverinnergenerators-don'tknowhowperformancefriendlyisthat Playwiththeargumentstogetdifferentresults Output: (py35x64_test)E:\Work\Dev\StackOverflow\q003207219>"e:\Work\Dev\VEnvs\py35x64_test\Scripts\python.exe""code_os_listdir.py" 22['root_dir\\dir0', 'root_dir\\dir0\\dir00', 'root_dir\\dir0\\dir00\\dir000', 'root_dir\\dir0\\dir00\\dir000\\file0000', 'root_dir\\dir0\\dir00\\file000', 'root_dir\\dir0\\dir01', 'root_dir\\dir0\\dir01\\file010', 'root_dir\\dir0\\dir01\\file011', 'root_dir\\dir0\\dir02', 'root_dir\\dir0\\dir02\\dir020', 'root_dir\\dir0\\dir02\\dir020\\dir0200', 'root_dir\\dir1', 'root_dir\\dir1\\file10', 'root_dir\\dir1\\file11', 'root_dir\\dir1\\file12', 'root_dir\\dir2', 'root_dir\\dir2\\dir20', 'root_dir\\dir2\\dir20\\file200', 'root_dir\\dir2\\file20', 'root_dir\\dir3', 'root_dir\\file0', 'root_dir\\file1'] 11['dir0\\dir00\\dir000\\file0000', 'dir0\\dir00\\file000', 'dir0\\dir01\\file010', 'dir0\\dir01\\file011', 'dir1\\file10', 'dir1\\file11', 'dir1\\file12', 'dir2\\dir20\\file200', 'dir2\\file20', 'file0', 'file1'] [Python3]:os.scandir(path='.')(Python3.5+,backport:[PyPI]:scandir) Returnaniteratorofos.DirEntryobjectscorrespondingtotheentriesinthedirectorygivenbypath.Theentriesareyieldedinarbitraryorder,andthespecialentries'.'and'..'arenotincluded. Usingscandir()insteadoflistdir()cansignificantlyincreasetheperformanceofcodethatalsoneedsfiletypeorfileattributeinformation,becauseos.DirEntryobjectsexposethisinformationiftheoperatingsystemprovidesitwhenscanningadirectory.Allos.DirEntrymethodsmayperformasystemcall,butis_dir()andis_file()usuallyonlyrequireasystemcallforsymboliclinks;os.DirEntry.stat()alwaysrequiresasystemcallonUnixbutonlyrequiresoneforsymboliclinksonWindows. >>>importos >>>root_dir=os.path.join(".","root_dir")#Explicitlyprependingcurrentdirectory >>>root_dir '.\\root_dir' >>> >>>scandir_iterator=os.scandir(root_dir) >>>scandir_iterator >>>[item.pathforiteminscandir_iterator] ['.\\root_dir\\dir0','.\\root_dir\\dir1','.\\root_dir\\dir2','.\\root_dir\\dir3','.\\root_dir\\file0','.\\root_dir\\file1'] >>> >>>[item.pathforiteminscandir_iterator]#Willyieldanemptylistasitwasconsumedbypreviousiteration(automaticallyperformedbythelistcomprehension) [] >>> >>>scandir_iterator=os.scandir(root_dir)#Reinitializethegenerator >>>foriteminscandir_iterator: ...ifos.path.isfile(item.path): ...print(item.name) ... file0 file1 Notes: It'ssimilartoos.listdir Butit'salsomoreflexible(andoffersmorefunctionality),morePythonic(andinsomecases,faster) [Python3]:os.walk(top,topdown=True,onerror=None,followlinks=False) Generatethefilenamesinadirectorytreebywalkingthetreeeithertop-downorbottom-up.Foreachdirectoryinthetreerootedatdirectorytop(includingtopitself),ityieldsa3-tuple(dirpath,dirnames,filenames). >>>importos >>>root_dir=os.path.join(os.getcwd(),"root_dir")#Specifythefullpath >>>root_dir 'E:\\Work\\Dev\\StackOverflow\\q003207219\\root_dir' >>> >>>walk_generator=os.walk(root_dir) >>>root_dir_entry=next(walk_generator)#Firstentrycorrespondstotherootdir(passedasanargument) >>>root_dir_entry ('E:\\Work\\Dev\\StackOverflow\\q003207219\\root_dir',['dir0','dir1','dir2','dir3'],['file0','file1']) >>> >>>root_dir_entry[1]+root_dir_entry[2]#Displaydirsandfiles(directdescendants)inasinglelist ['dir0','dir1','dir2','dir3','file0','file1'] >>> >>>[os.path.join(root_dir_entry[0],item)foriteminroot_dir_entry[1]+root_dir_entry[2]]#Displayalltheentriesinthepreviouslistbytheirfullpath ['E:\\Work\\Dev\\StackOverflow\\q003207219\\root_dir\\dir0','E:\\Work\\Dev\\StackOverflow\\q003207219\\root_dir\\dir1','E:\\Work\\Dev\\StackOverflow\\q003207219\\root_dir\\dir2','E:\\Work\\Dev\\StackOverflow\\q003207219\\root_dir\\dir3','E:\\Work\\Dev\\StackOverflow\\q003207219\\root_dir\\file0','E:\\Work\\Dev\\StackOverflow\\q003207219\\root_dir\\file1'] >>> >>>forentryinwalk_generator:#Displaytherestoftheelements(correspondingtoeverysubdir) ...print(entry) ... ('E:\\Work\\Dev\\StackOverflow\\q003207219\\root_dir\\dir0',['dir00','dir01','dir02'],[]) ('E:\\Work\\Dev\\StackOverflow\\q003207219\\root_dir\\dir0\\dir00',['dir000'],['file000']) ('E:\\Work\\Dev\\StackOverflow\\q003207219\\root_dir\\dir0\\dir00\\dir000',[],['file0000']) ('E:\\Work\\Dev\\StackOverflow\\q003207219\\root_dir\\dir0\\dir01',[],['file010','file011']) ('E:\\Work\\Dev\\StackOverflow\\q003207219\\root_dir\\dir0\\dir02',['dir020'],[]) ('E:\\Work\\Dev\\StackOverflow\\q003207219\\root_dir\\dir0\\dir02\\dir020',['dir0200'],[]) ('E:\\Work\\Dev\\StackOverflow\\q003207219\\root_dir\\dir0\\dir02\\dir020\\dir0200',[],[]) ('E:\\Work\\Dev\\StackOverflow\\q003207219\\root_dir\\dir1',[],['file10','file11','file12']) ('E:\\Work\\Dev\\StackOverflow\\q003207219\\root_dir\\dir2',['dir20'],['file20']) ('E:\\Work\\Dev\\StackOverflow\\q003207219\\root_dir\\dir2\\dir20',[],['file200']) ('E:\\Work\\Dev\\StackOverflow\\q003207219\\root_dir\\dir3',[],[]) Notes: Underthescenes,itusesos.scandir(os.listdironolderversions) Itdoestheheavyliftingbyrecurringinsubfolders [Python3]:glob.glob(pathname,*,recursive=False)([Python3]:glob.iglob(pathname,*,recursive=False)) Returnapossibly-emptylistofpathnamesthatmatchpathname,whichmustbeastringcontainingapathspecification.pathnamecanbeeitherabsolute(like/usr/src/Python-1.5/Makefile)orrelative(like../../Tools/*/*.gif),andcancontainshell-stylewildcards.Brokensymlinksareincludedintheresults(asintheshell)....Changedinversion3.5:Supportforrecursiveglobsusing“**”. >>>importglob,os >>>wildcard_pattern="*" >>>root_dir=os.path.join("root_dir",wildcard_pattern)#Matcheveryfile/dirname >>>root_dir 'root_dir\\*' >>> >>>glob_list=glob.glob(root_dir) >>>glob_list ['root_dir\\dir0','root_dir\\dir1','root_dir\\dir2','root_dir\\dir3','root_dir\\file0','root_dir\\file1'] >>> >>>[item.replace("root_dir"+os.path.sep,"")foriteminglob_list]#Stripthedirnameandthepathseparatorfrombegining ['dir0','dir1','dir2','dir3','file0','file1'] >>> >>>forentryinglob.iglob(root_dir+"*",recursive=True): ...print(entry) ... root_dir\ root_dir\dir0 root_dir\dir0\dir00 root_dir\dir0\dir00\dir000 root_dir\dir0\dir00\dir000\file0000 root_dir\dir0\dir00\file000 root_dir\dir0\dir01 root_dir\dir0\dir01\file010 root_dir\dir0\dir01\file011 root_dir\dir0\dir02 root_dir\dir0\dir02\dir020 root_dir\dir0\dir02\dir020\dir0200 root_dir\dir1 root_dir\dir1\file10 root_dir\dir1\file11 root_dir\dir1\file12 root_dir\dir2 root_dir\dir2\dir20 root_dir\dir2\dir20\file200 root_dir\dir2\file20 root_dir\dir3 root_dir\file0 root_dir\file1 Notes: Usesos.listdir Forlargetrees(especiallyifrecursiveison),iglobispreferred Allowsadvancedfilteringbasedonname(duetothewildcard) [Python3]:classpathlib.Path(*pathsegments)(Python3.4+,backport:[PyPI]:pathlib2) >>>importpathlib >>>root_dir="root_dir" >>>root_dir_instance=pathlib.Path(root_dir) >>>root_dir_instance WindowsPath('root_dir') >>>root_dir_instance.name 'root_dir' >>>root_dir_instance.is_dir() True >>> >>>[item.nameforiteminroot_dir_instance.glob("*")]#Wildcardsearchingforalldirectdescendants ['dir0','dir1','dir2','dir3','file0','file1'] >>> >>>[os.path.join(item.parent.name,item.name)foriteminroot_dir_instance.glob("*")ifnotitem.is_dir()]#Displaypaths(includingparent)forfilesonly ['root_dir\\file0','root_dir\\file1'] Notes: Thisisonewayofachievingourgoal It'stheOOPstyleofhandlingpaths Offerslotsoffunctionalities [Python2]:dircache.listdir(path)(Python2only) But,accordingto[GitHub]:python/cpython-(2.7)cpython/Lib/dircache.py,it'sjusta(thin)wrapperoveros.listdirwithcaching deflistdir(path): """Listdirectorycontents,usingcache.""" try: cached_mtime,list=cache[path] delcache[path] exceptKeyError: cached_mtime,list=-1,[] mtime=os.stat(path).st_mtime ifmtime!=cached_mtime: list=os.listdir(path) list.sort() cache[path]=mtime,list returnlist [man7]:OPENDIR(3)/[man7]:READDIR(3)/[man7]:CLOSEDIR(3)via[Python3]:ctypes-AforeignfunctionlibraryforPython(POSIXspecific) ctypesisaforeignfunctionlibraryforPython.ItprovidesCcompatibledatatypes,andallowscallingfunctionsinDLLsorsharedlibraries.ItcanbeusedtowraptheselibrariesinpurePython. code_ctypes.py: #!/usr/bin/envpython3 importsys fromctypesimportStructure,\ c_ulonglong,c_longlong,c_ushort,c_ubyte,c_char,c_int,\ CDLL,POINTER,\ create_string_buffer,get_errno,set_errno,cast DT_DIR=4 DT_REG=8 char256=c_char*256 classLinuxDirent64(Structure): _fields_=[ ("d_ino",c_ulonglong), ("d_off",c_longlong), ("d_reclen",c_ushort), ("d_type",c_ubyte), ("d_name",char256), ] LinuxDirent64Ptr=POINTER(LinuxDirent64) libc_dll=this_process=CDLL(None,use_errno=True) #ALWAYSsetargtypesandrestypeforfunctions,otherwiseit'sUB!!! opendir=libc_dll.opendir readdir=libc_dll.readdir closedir=libc_dll.closedir defget_dir_content(path): ret=[path,list(),list()] dir_stream=opendir(create_string_buffer(path.encode())) if(dir_stream==0): print("opendirreturnedNULL(errno:{:d})".format(get_errno())) returnret set_errno(0) dirent_addr=readdir(dir_stream) whiledirent_addr: dirent_ptr=cast(dirent_addr,LinuxDirent64Ptr) dirent=dirent_ptr.contents name=dirent.d_name.decode() ifdirent.d_type&DT_DIR: ifnamenotin(".",".."): ret[1].append(name) elifdirent.d_type&DT_REG: ret[2].append(name) dirent_addr=readdir(dir_stream) ifget_errno(): print("readdirreturnedNULL(errno:{:d})".format(get_errno())) closedir(dir_stream) returnret defmain(): print("{:s}on{:s}\n".format(sys.version,sys.platform)) root_dir="root_dir" entries=get_dir_content(root_dir) print(entries) if__name__=="__main__": main() Notes: Itloadsthethreefunctionsfromlibc(loadedinthecurrentprocess)andcallsthem(formoredetailscheck[SO]:HowdoIcheckwhetherafileexistswithoutexceptions?(@CristiFati'sanswer)-lastnotesfromitem#4.).ThatwouldplacethisapproachveryclosetothePython/Cedge LinuxDirent64isthectypesrepresentationofstructdirent64from[man7]:dirent.h(0P)(soaretheDT_constants)frommymachine:Ubtu16x64(4.10.0-40-genericandlibc6-dev:amd64).Onotherflavors/versions,thestructdefinitionmightdiffer,andifso,thectypesaliasshouldbeupdated,otherwiseitwillyieldUndefinedBehavior Itreturnsdataintheos.walk'sformat.Ididn'tbothertomakeitrecursive,butstartingfromtheexistingcode,thatwouldbeafairlytrivialtask EverythingisdoableonWinaswell,thedata(libraries,functions,structs,constants,...)differ Output: [cfati@cfati-ubtu16x64-0:~/Work/Dev/StackOverflow/q003207219]>./code_ctypes.py 3.5.2(default,Nov122018,13:43:14) [GCC5.4.020160609]onlinux ['root_dir',['dir2','dir1','dir3','dir0'],['file1','file0']] [ActiveState.Docs]:win32file.FindFilesW(Winspecific) Retrievesalistofmatchingfilenames,usingtheWindowsUnicodeAPI.AninterfacetotheAPIFindFirstFileW/FindNextFileW/Findclosefunctions. >>>importos,win32file,win32con >>>root_dir="root_dir" >>>wildcard="*" >>>root_dir_wildcard=os.path.join(root_dir,wildcard) >>>entry_list=win32file.FindFilesW(root_dir_wildcard) >>>len(entry_list)#Don'tdisplaythewholecontentasit'stoolong 8 >>>[entry[-2]forentryinentry_list]#Onlydisplaytheentrynames ['.','..','dir0','dir1','dir2','dir3','file0','file1'] >>> >>>[entry[-2]forentryinentry_listifentry[0]&win32con.FILE_ATTRIBUTE_DIRECTORYandentry[-2]notin(".","..")]#Filterentriesandonlydisplaydirnames(exceptselfandparent) ['dir0','dir1','dir2','dir3'] >>> >>>[os.path.join(root_dir,entry[-2])forentryinentry_listifentry[0]&(win32con.FILE_ATTRIBUTE_NORMAL|win32con.FILE_ATTRIBUTE_ARCHIVE)]#Onlydisplayfile"full"names ['root_dir\\file0','root_dir\\file1'] Notes: win32file.FindFilesWispartof[GitHub]:mhammond/pywin32-PythonforWindows(pywin32)Extensions,whichisaPythonwrapperoverWINAPIs ThedocumentationlinkisfromActiveState,asIdidn'tfindanyPyWin32officialdocumentation Installsome(other)third-partypackagethatdoesthetrick Mostlikely,willrelyonone(ormore)oftheabove(maybewithslightcustomizations) Notes: Codeismeanttobeportable(exceptplacesthattargetaspecificarea-whicharemarked)orcross: platform(Nix,Win,) Pythonversion(2,3,) Multiplepathstyles(absolute,relatives)wereusedacrosstheabovevariants,toillustratethefactthatthe"tools"usedareflexibleinthisdirection os.listdirandos.scandiruseopendir/readdir/closedir([MS.Docs]:FindFirstFileWfunction/[MS.Docs]:FindNextFileWfunction/[MS.Docs]:FindClosefunction)(via[GitHub]:python/cpython-(master)cpython/Modules/posixmodule.c) win32file.FindFilesWusesthose(Winspecific)functionsaswell(via[GitHub]:mhammond/pywin32-(master)pywin32/win32/src/win32file.i) _get_dir_content(frompoint#1.)canbeimplementedusinganyoftheseapproaches(somewillrequiremoreworkandsomeless) Someadvancedfiltering(insteadofjustfilevs.dir)couldbedone:e.g.theinclude_foldersargumentcouldbereplacedbyanotherone(e.g.filter_func)whichwouldbeafunctionthattakesapathasanargument:filter_func=lambdax:True(thisdoesn'tstripoutanything)andinside_get_dir_contentsomethinglike:ifnotfilter_func(entry_with_path):continue(ifthefunctionfailsforoneentry,itwillbeskipped),butthemorecomplexthecodebecomes,thelongeritwilltaketoexecute Notabene!Sincerecursionisused,ImustmentionthatIdidsometestsonmylaptop(Win10x64),totallyunrelatedtothisproblem,andwhentherecursionlevelwasreachingvaluessomewhereinthe(990..1000)range(recursionlimit-1000(default)),IgotStackOverflow:).Ifthedirectorytreeexceedsthatlimit(IamnotanFSexpert,soIdon'tknowifthatisevenpossible),thatcouldbeaproblem. ImustalsomentionthatIdidn'ttrytoincreaserecursionlimitbecauseIhavenoexperienceinthearea(howmuchcanIincreaseitbeforehavingtoalsoincreasethestackatOSlevel),butintheorytherewillalwaysbethepossibilityforfailure,ifthedirdepthislargerthanthehighestpossiblerecursionlimit(onthatmachine) Thecodesamplesarefordemonstrativepurposesonly.ThatmeansthatIdidn'ttakeintoaccounterrorhandling(Idon'tthinkthere'sanytry/except/else/finallyblock),sothecodeisnotrobust(thereasonis:tokeepitassimpleandshortaspossible).Forproduction,errorhandlingshouldbeaddedaswell Otherapproaches: UsePythononlyasawrapper Everythingisdoneusinganothertechnology ThattechnologyisinvokedfromPython ThemostfamousflavorthatIknowiswhatIcallthesystemadministratorapproach: UsePython(oranyprogramminglanguageforthatmatter)inordertoexecuteshellcommands(andparsetheiroutputs) Someconsiderthisaneathack Iconsideritmorelikealameworkaround(gainarie),astheactionperseisperformedfromshell(cmdinthiscase),andthusdoesn'thaveanythingtodowithPython. Filtering(grep/findstr)oroutputformattingcouldbedoneonbothsides,butI'mnotgoingtoinsistonit.Also,Ideliberatelyusedos.systeminsteadofsubprocess.Popen. (py35x64_test)E:\Work\Dev\StackOverflow\q003207219>"e:\Work\Dev\VEnvs\py35x64_test\Scripts\python.exe"-c"importos;os.system(\"dir/broot_dir\")" dir0 dir1 dir2 dir3 file0 file1 Ingeneralthisapproachistobeavoided,sinceifsomecommandoutputformatslightlydiffersbetweenOSversions/flavors,theparsingcodeshouldbeadaptedaswell;nottomentiondifferencesbetweenlocales). Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedMar21,2019at14:14 answeredJan23,2018at3:09 CristiFatiCristiFati 32.5k99goldbadges4545silverbadges7070bronzebadges 0 Addacomment  |  50 Ireallylikedadamk'sanswer,suggestingthatyouuseglob(),fromthemoduleofthesamename.Thisallowsyoutohavepatternmatchingwith*s. Butasotherpeoplepointedoutinthecomments,glob()cangettrippedupoverinconsistentslashdirections.Tohelpwiththat,Isuggestyouusethejoin()andexpanduser()functionsintheos.pathmodule,andperhapsthegetcwd()functionintheosmodule,aswell. Asexamples: fromglobimportglob #ReturneverythingunderC:\Users\adminthatcontainsafoldercalledwlp. glob('C:\Users\admin\*\wlp') Theaboveisterrible-thepathhasbeenhardcodedandwillonlyeverworkonWindowsbetweenthedrivenameandthe\sbeinghardcodedintothepath. fromglobimportglob fromos.pathimportjoin #ReturneverythingunderUsers,admin,thatcontainsafoldercalledwlp. glob(join('Users','admin','*','wlp')) Theaboveworksbetter,butitreliesonthefoldernameUserswhichisoftenfoundonWindowsandnotsooftenfoundonotherOSs.Italsoreliesontheuserhavingaspecificname,admin. fromglobimportglob fromos.pathimportexpanduser,join #Returneverythingundertheuserdirectorythatcontainsafoldercalledwlp. glob(join(expanduser('~'),'*','wlp')) Thisworksperfectlyacrossallplatforms. Anothergreatexamplethatworksperfectlyacrossplatformsanddoessomethingabitdifferent: fromglobimportglob fromosimportgetcwd fromos.pathimportjoin #Returneverythingunderthecurrentdirectorythatcontainsafoldercalledwlp. glob(join(getcwd(),'*','wlp')) HopetheseexampleshelpyouseethepowerofafewofthefunctionsyoucanfindinthestandardPythonlibrarymodules. Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedMay23,2017at11:47 CommunityBot 111silverbadge answeredJul9,2014at11:43 ArtOfWarfareArtOfWarfare 19.1k1616goldbadges126126silverbadges184184bronzebadges 1 4 Extraglobfun:startinginPython3.5,**worksaslongasyousetrecursive=True.Seethedocshere:docs.python.org/3.5/library/glob.html#glob.glob – ArtOfWarfare Jan26,2015at3:24 Addacomment  |  40 deflist_files(path): #returnsalistofnames(withextension,withoutfullpath)ofallfiles #infolderpath files=[] fornameinos.listdir(path): ifos.path.isfile(os.path.join(path,name)): files.append(name) returnfiles Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedOct7,2014at18:30 answeredJun10,2014at16:16 ApogentusApogentus 5,98144goldbadges3131silverbadges3232bronzebadges 0 Addacomment  |  26 IfyouarelookingforaPythonimplementationoffind,thisisarecipeIuseratherfrequently: fromfindtools.find_filesimport(find_files,Match) #Recursivelyfindall*.shfilesin**/usr/bin** sh_files_pattern=Match(filetype='f',name='*.sh') found_files=find_files(path='/usr/bin',match=sh_files_pattern) forfound_fileinfound_files: printfound_file SoImadeaPyPIpackageoutofitandthereisalsoaGitHubrepository.Ihopethatsomeonefindsitpotentiallyusefulforthiscode. Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedMay28,2017at23:17 PeterMortensen 29.9k2121goldbadges9999silverbadges124124bronzebadges answeredApr10,2014at14:09 YauhenYakimovichYauhenYakimovich 12.9k77goldbadges5656silverbadges6565bronzebadges 0 Addacomment  |  16 Forgreaterresults,youcanuselistdir()methodoftheosmodulealongwithagenerator(ageneratorisapowerfuliteratorthatkeepsitsstate,remember?).Thefollowingcodeworksfinewithbothversions:Python2andPython3. Here'sacode: importos deffiles(path): forfileinos.listdir(path): ifos.path.isfile(os.path.join(path,file)): yieldfile forfileinfiles("."): print(file) Thelistdir()methodreturnsthelistofentriesforthegivendirectory.Themethodos.path.isfile()returnsTrueifthegivenentryisafile.Andtheyieldoperatorquitsthefuncbutkeepsitscurrentstate,anditreturnsonlythenameoftheentrydetectedasafile.Alltheaboveallowsustoloopoverthegeneratorfunction. Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedMay17,2019at9:23 Georgy 9,83277goldbadges5757silverbadges6666bronzebadges answeredJan9,2019at10:11 AndyJazzAndyJazz 35.4k1212goldbadges106106silverbadges172172bronzebadges Addacomment  |  12 Returningalistofabsolutefilepaths,doesnotrecurseintosubdirectories L=[os.path.join(os.getcwd(),f)forfinos.listdir('.')ifos.path.isfile(os.path.join(os.getcwd(),f))] Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedDec28,2014at3:27 CristianCiupitu 19.2k77goldbadges4848silverbadges7373bronzebadges answeredJun13,2014at16:26 The2ndSonThe2ndSon 30722silverbadges77bronzebadges 2 2 Note:os.path.abspath(f)wouldbeasomewhatcheapersubstituteforos.path.join(os.getcwd(),f). – ShadowRanger May6,2017at0:14 1 I'dbemoreefficientstillifyoustartedwithcwd=os.path.abspath('.'),thenusedcwdinsteadof'.'andos.getcwd()throughouttoavoidloadsofredundantsystemcalls. – MartijnPieters ♦ Dec5,2018at10:46 Addacomment  |  12 Awiseteachertoldmeoncethat: Whenthereareseveralestablishedwaystodosomething,noneofthemisgoodforallcases. Iwillthusaddasolutionforasubsetoftheproblem:quiteoften,weonlywanttocheckwhetherafilematchesastartstringandanendstring,withoutgoingintosubdirectories.Wewouldthuslikeafunctionthatreturnsalistoffilenames,like: filenames=dir_filter('foo/baz',radical='radical',extension='.txt') Ifyoucaretofirstdeclaretwofunctions,thiscanbedone: deffile_filter(filename,radical='',extension=''): "Checkifafilenamematchesaradicalandextension" ifnotfilename: returnFalse filename=filename.strip() return(filename.startswith(radical)andfilename.endswith(extension)) defdir_filter(dirname='',radical='',extension=''): "Filterfilenamesindirectoryaccordingtoradicalandextension" ifnotdirname: dirname='.' return[filenameforfilenameinos.listdir(dirname) iffile_filter(filename,radical,extension)] Thissolutioncouldbeeasilygeneralizedwithregularexpressions(andyoumightwanttoaddapatternargument,ifyoudonotwantyourpatternstoalwayssticktothestartorendofthefilename). Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedMar24,2019at7:17 answeredMar24,2019at7:07 fralaufralau 2,65111goldbadge2424silverbadges3737bronzebadges 0 Addacomment  |  11 importos importos.path defget_files(target_dir): item_list=os.listdir(target_dir) file_list=list() foriteminitem_list: item_dir=os.path.join(target_dir,item) ifos.path.isdir(item_dir): file_list+=get_files(item_dir) else: file_list.append(item_dir) returnfile_list HereIusearecursivestructure. Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedJul18,2018at13:44 AndrewRohne 15033silverbadges1010bronzebadges answeredJun19,2018at12:03 pah8Jpah8J 75777silverbadges1515bronzebadges 1 Thesamecanbeachievedjustinonelinewithpathlib:filter(Path.is_file,Path().rglob('*')) – Georgy May17,2019at9:37 Addacomment  |  9 Usinggenerators importos defget_files(search_path): for(dirpath,_,filenames)inos.walk(search_path): forfilenameinfilenames: yieldos.path.join(dirpath,filename) list_files=get_files('.') forfilenameinlist_files: print(filename) Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedMay17,2017at15:35 answeredDec2,2016at7:01 shantanooshantanoo 3,59711goldbadge2323silverbadges3636bronzebadges 1 THANKS!exactlywhatIneeded.AlotoftheanswersatthetopareoutdatedandnotworkingwithPython3.9:) – Wlad Oct14,2021at8:01 Addacomment  |  8 AnotherveryreadablevariantforPython3.4+isusingpathlib.Path.glob: frompathlibimportPath folder='/foo' [fforfinPath(folder).glob('*')iff.is_file()] Itissimpletomakemorespecific,e.g.onlylookforPythonsourcefileswhicharenotsymboliclinks,alsoinallsubdirectories: [fforfinPath(folder).glob('**/*.py')ifnotf.is_symlink()] Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedMay23,2018at19:25 PeterMortensen 29.9k2121goldbadges9999silverbadges124124bronzebadges answeredMar28,2018at12:20 fhchlfhchl 63977silverbadges1717bronzebadges Addacomment  |  5 ForPython2: pipinstallrglob Thendo importrglob file_list=rglob.rglob("/home/base/dir/","*") printfile_list Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedFeb8,2021at16:00 PeterMortensen 29.9k2121goldbadges9999silverbadges124124bronzebadges answeredOct19,2018at2:34 chris-piekarskichris-piekarski 97877silverbadges66bronzebadges 1 3 Whenanexternaldepcanbeavoided,doit.Whatistheaddedvalueofusinganexternaldependencywhenallyouneedisalreadyinthelanguage? – Eric Mar30,2021at13:45 Addacomment  |  4 Here'smygeneral-purposefunctionforthis.ItreturnsalistoffilepathsratherthanfilenamessinceIfoundthattobemoreuseful.Ithasafewoptionalargumentsthatmakeitversatile.Forinstance,Ioftenuseitwithargumentslikepattern='*.txt'orsubfolders=True. importos importfnmatch deflist_paths(folder='.',pattern='*',case_sensitive=False,subfolders=False): """Returnalistofthefilepathsmatchingthepatterninthespecified folder,optionallyincludingfilesinsidesubfolders. """ match=fnmatch.fnmatchcaseifcase_sensitiveelsefnmatch.fnmatch walked=os.walk(folder)ifsubfolderselse[next(os.walk(folder))] return[os.path.join(root,f) forroot,dirnames,filenamesinwalked forfinfilenamesifmatch(f,pattern)] Share Improvethisanswer Follow answeredDec7,2017at20:10 MarredCheeseMarredCheese 13.3k55goldbadges7575silverbadges7878bronzebadges Addacomment  |  4 Iwillprovideasampleonelinerwheresourcepathandfiletypecanbeprovidedasinput.Thecodereturnsalistoffilenameswithcsvextension.Use.incaseallfilesneedstobereturned.Thiswillalsorecursivelyscansthesubdirectories. [yforxinos.walk(sourcePath)foryinglob(os.path.join(x[0],'*.csv'))] Modifyfileextensionsandsourcepathasneeded. Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedDec12,2017at5:30 answeredDec11,2017at17:51 VinodhKrishnarajuVinodhKrishnaraju 15711silverbadge77bronzebadges 1 1 Ifyouaregoingtouseglob,thenjustuseglob('**/*.csv',recursive=True).Noneedtocombinethiswithos.walk()torecurse(recursiveand**aresupportedsincePython3.5). – MartijnPieters ♦ Dec5,2018at11:09 Addacomment  |  3 dircacheis"Deprecatedsinceversion2.6:ThedircachemodulehasbeenremovedinPython3.0." importdircache list=dircache.listdir(pathname) i=0 check=len(list[0]) temp=[] count=len(list) whilecount!=0: iflen(list[i])!=check: temp.append(list[i-1]) check=len(list[i]) else: i=i+1 count=count-1 printtemp Share Improvethisanswer Follow editedMay17,2019at20:30 Georgy 9,83277goldbadges5757silverbadges6666bronzebadges answeredJul25,2012at10:25 shajishaji 13911silverbadge33bronzebadges 0 Addacomment  |  Nottheansweryou'relookingfor?Browseotherquestionstaggedpythondirectoryoraskyourownquestion. 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