How to get an absolute file path in Python

Question

Given a path such as "mydir/myfile.txt", how do I find the file's absolute path relative to the current working directory in Python? E.g. on Windows, I might end up with:

"C:/example/cwd/mydir/myfile.txt"

Answer 1

>>> import os
>>> os.path.abspath("mydir/myfile.txt")
'C:/example/cwd/mydir/myfile.txt'

Also works if it is already an absolute path:

>>> import os
>>> os.path.abspath("C:/example/cwd/mydir/myfile.txt")
'C:/example/cwd/mydir/myfile.txt'

Answer 2

You could use the new Python 3.4 library pathlib. (You can also get it for Python 2.6 or 2.7 using pip install pathlib.) The authors wrote: "The aim of this library is to provide a simple hierarchy of classes to handle filesystem paths and the common operations users do over them."

To get an absolute path in Windows:

>>> from pathlib import Path
>>> p = Path("pythonw.exe").resolve()
>>> p
WindowsPath('C:/Python27/pythonw.exe')
>>> str(p)
'C:\\Python27\\pythonw.exe'

Or on UNIX:

>>> from pathlib import Path
>>> p = Path("python3.4").resolve()
>>> p
PosixPath('/opt/python3/bin/python3.4')
>>> str(p)
'/opt/python3/bin/python3.4'

Docs are here: https://docs.python.org/3/library/pathlib.html

Answer 3

>>> import os
>>> os.path.abspath('mydir/myfile.txt')
'C:\\example\\cwd\\mydir\\myfile.txt'
>>> 

Answer 4

Better still, install the module (found on PyPI), it wraps all the os.path functions and other related functions into methods on an object that can be used wherever strings are used:

>>> from path import path
>>> path('mydir/myfile.txt').abspath()
'C:\\example\\cwd\\mydir\\myfile.txt'
>>>

Answer 5

Today you can also use the unipath package which was based on path.py: http://sluggo.scrapping.cc/python/unipath/

>>> from unipath import Path
>>> absolute_path = Path('mydir/myfile.txt').absolute()
Path('C:\\example\\cwd\\mydir\\myfile.txt')
>>> str(absolute_path)
C:\\example\\cwd\\mydir\\myfile.txt
>>>

I would recommend using this package as it offers a clean interface to common os.path utilities.

Answer 6

Update for Python 3.4+ pathlib that actually answers the question:

from pathlib import Path

relative = Path("mydir/myfile.txt")
absolute = relative.absolute()  # absolute is a Path object

If you only need a temporary string, keep in mind that you can use Path objects with all the relevant functions in os.path, including of course abspath:

from os.path import abspath

absolute = abspath(relative)  # absolute is a str object

Answer 7

import os
os.path.abspath(os.path.expanduser(os.path.expandvars(PathNameString)))

Note that expanduser is necessary (on Unix) in case the given expression for the file (or directory) name and location may contain a leading ~/(the tilde refers to the user's home directory), and expandvars takes care of any other environment variables (like $HOME).

Answer 8

I prefer to use glob

here is how to list all file types in your current folder:

import glob
for x in glob.glob():
    print(x)

here is how to list all (for example) .txt files in your current folder:

import glob
for x in glob.glob('*.txt'):
    print(x)

here is how to list all file types in a chose directory:

import glob
for x in glob.glob('C:/example/hi/hello/'):
    print(x)

hope this helped you

Answer 9

Module os provides a way to find abs path.

BUT most of the paths in Linux start with ~ (tilde), which doesn't give a satisfactory result.

so you can use srblib for that.

>>> import os
>>> os.path.abspath('~/hello/world')
'/home/srb/Desktop/~/hello/world'
>>> from srblib import abs_path
>>> abs_path('~/hello/world')
'/home/srb/hello/world'

install it using python3 -m pip install srblib

https://pypi.org/project/srblib/

Answer 10

if you are on a mac

import os
upload_folder = os.path.abspath("static/img/users")

this will give you a full path:

print(upload_folder)

will show the following path:

>>>/Users/myUsername/PycharmProjects/OBS/static/img/user

Answer 11

In case someone is using python and linux and looking for full path to file:

>>> path=os.popen("readlink -f file").read()
>>> print path
abs/path/to/file

Answer 12

This always gets the right filename of the current script, even when it is called from within another script. It is especially useful when using subprocess.

import sys,os

filename = sys.argv[0]

from there, you can get the script's full path with:

>>> os.path.abspath(filename)
'/foo/bar/script.py'

It also makes easier to navigate folders by just appending /.. as many times as you want to go 'up' in the directories' hierarchy.

To get the cwd:

>>> os.path.abspath(filename+"/..")
'/foo/bar'

For the parent path:

>>> os.path.abspath(filename+"/../..")
'/foo'

By combining "/.." with other filenames, you can access any file in the system.

Answer 13

filePath = os.path.abspath(directoryName)
filePathWithSlash = filePath + "\\"
filenameWithPath = os.path.join(filePathWithSlash, filename)