os.listdir() method - Python

os.listdir() method in Python is used to list all files and directories in a specified directory. If no directory is provided, it returns the contents of the current working directory.

This code shows how to list all files and folders from a given directory path.

Output

Explanation:

• import os loads the operating system module.
• os.listdir(path) reads all file and folder names from the given path.
• contents stores the list of directory items.

Syntax

os.listdir(path='.')

Parameters: path (str, bytes or os.PathLike, optional) directory whose contents you want to list. Defaults to the current directory ('.') if not provided.

Returns: A list of strings, containing the names of files, directories, and links in the given directory.

Raises:

• FileNotFoundError: if the specified path does not exist.
• NotADirectoryError: if the specified path is not a directory.
• PermissionError: if the program does not have permission to access the directory.

Examples

Example 1: This code displays all files and folders present in the current working directory.

Current directory contents: ['Solution.py', 'input.txt', 'output.txt', 'driver']

Explanation:

• os.listdir() without a path uses the current folder.
• All file and folder names from that directory are returned as a list.

Example 2: This code tries to read a directory that does not exist and handles the error.

Output

Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'C:/Invalid/Path'

Explanation:

• os.listdir(path) attempts to open the given directory.
• If the folder does not exist, Python raises an error.
• The try-except block catches the error and prints a friendly message.

Example 3: This code lists only files and ignores folders inside a directory.

Output

Explanation:

• os.listdir(path) gets all items from the directory.
• os.path.join() builds the full file path.
• os.path.isfile() checks whether the item is a file.
• Only file names are kept in the final list and printed.

Related Articles:

• os.scandir() method
• os.path.isdir() method
• os.path.isfile() method
• os.getcwd() method
• os.makedirs() method