How to move a file in Python

How to move a file in Python.

Here is a detailed step-by-step tutorial on how to move a file in Python:

1. Import the necessary modules: To work with files in Python, you need to import the os module. This module provides a way to interact with the operating system, including file operations.

import os

2. Specify the source and destination paths: You need to provide the path for the file you want to move (source path) and the path where you want to move the file (destination path). These paths can be either absolute or relative.

source_path = 'path/to/source/file.txt'
destination_path = 'path/to/destination/file.txt'

3. Check if the source file exists: Before moving the file, it's a good practice to ensure that the source file exists. You can use the os.path.exists() function to check if a file or directory exists at the given path.

if os.path.exists(source_path):
    # Proceed with moving the file
    pass
else:
    print('Source file does not exist')

4. Move the file: To move a file in Python, you can use the os.rename() function. This function takes two arguments: the source path and the destination path. It renames or moves the file from the source path to the destination path.

os.rename(source_path, destination_path)

Alternatively, you can use the shutil.move() function from the shutil module. This function provides a high-level interface to file operations and can handle moving files across different file systems.

import shutil

shutil.move(source_path, destination_path)

5. Check if the file was successfully moved: After moving the file, you can verify if it was moved to the desired location by checking if the destination file exists.

if os.path.exists(destination_path):
    print('File moved successfully')
else:
    print('Failed to move the file')

That's it! You have successfully moved a file in Python. Make sure to replace the source_path and destination_path with the actual paths relevant to your file system.

Note: When moving a file, if a file already exists at the destination path, it will be overwritten by the moved file. So, be cautious while specifying the destination path to avoid accidental data loss.

I hope this tutorial helps you understand how to move a file in Python!