File Handling in Python

File handling in Python involves interacting with files on your computer to read data from them or write data
to them. Python provides several built-in functions and methods for creating, opening, reading, writing, and
closing files. This tutorial covers the basics of file handling in Python with examples.

Opening a File in Python

To perform any file operation, the first step is to open the file. Python's built-in open() function is used to
open files in various modes, such as reading, writing, and appending. The syntax for opening a file in Python
is −

file = open("filename", "mode")

Where, filename is the name of the file to open and mode is the mode in which the file is opened (e.g., 'r'
for reading, 'w' for writing, 'a' for appending).

File Opening Modes

Following are the file opening modes −

Sr.N
Modes & Description
o.

1 r
Opens a file for reading only. The file pointer is placed at the beginning of the file.
This is the default mode.

2 rb
Opens a file for reading only in binary format. The file pointer is placed at the
beginning of the file. This is the default mode.

3 r+
Opens a file for both reading and writing. The file pointer placed at the beginning of
the file.

4 rb+
Opens a file for both reading and writing in binary format. The file pointer placed at
the beginning of the file.

5 w
Opens a file for writing only. Overwrites the file if the file exists. If the file does not
exist, creates a new file for writing.

6 b
Opens the file in binary mode

7 t
Opens the file in text mode (default)

8 +
open file for updating (reading and writing)

9 wb
Opens a file for writing only in binary format. Overwrites the file if the file exists. If
the file does not exist, creates a new file for writing.

10 w+
 Opens a file for both writing and reading. Overwrites the existing file if the file
exists. If the file does not exist, creates a new file for reading and writing.

wb+
11 Opens a file for both writing and reading in binary format. Overwrites the existing
file if the file exists. If the file does not exist, creates a new file for reading and
writing.

a
12 Opens a file for appending. The file pointer is at the end of the file if the file exists.
That is, the file is in the append mode. If the file does not exist, it creates a new file
for writing.

ab
13 Opens a file for appending in binary format. The file pointer is at the end of the file
if the file exists. That is, the file is in the append mode. If the file does not exist, it
creates a new file for writing.

a+
14 Opens a file for both appending and reading. The file pointer is at the end of the file
if the file exists. The file opens in the append mode. If the file does not exist, it
creates a new file for reading and writing.

ab+
15 Opens a file for both appending and reading in binary format. The file pointer is at
the end of the file if the file exists. The file opens in the append mode. If the file
does not exist, it creates a new file for reading and writing.

16 x
open for exclusive creation, failing if the file already exists

Once a file is opened and you have one file object, you can get various information related to that file.

Example 1

In the following example, we are opening a file in different modes −

# Opening a file in read mode

file = open("example.txt", "r")

# Opening a file in write mode

file = open("example.txt", "w")

# Opening a file in append mode

file = open("example.txt", "a")

# Opening a file in binary read mode

file = open("example.txt", "rb")

Example 2

In here, we are opening a file named "foo.txt" in binary write mode ("wb"), printing its name, whether it's
closed, and its opening mode, and then closing the file −
 # Open a file fo = open("foo.txt", "wb") print ("Name of the file:
", fo.name) print ("Closed or not: ", fo.closed) print ("Opening
mode: ", fo.mode) fo.close()

It will produce the following output −

Name of the file: foo.txt
Closed or not: False
Opening mode: wb

Reading a File in Python

Reading a file in Python involves opening the file in a mode that allows for reading, and then
using various methods to extract the data from the file. Python provides several methods to read
data from a file −

 read() − Reads the entire file.

 readline() − Reads one line at a time.
 readlines − Reads all lines into a list.
To read a file, you need to open it in read mode. The default mode for the open()
function is read mode ('r'), but it's good practice to specify it explicitly.

Example: Using read() method

In the following example, we are using the read() method to read the whole file into a single
string −

with open("example.txt", "r") as file:

content = file.read()
print(content)

Following is the output obtained −

Hello!!!
Welcome to TutorialsPoint!!!

Example: Using readline() method

In here, we are using the readline() method to read one line at a time, making it memory efficient
for reading large files line by line −

with open("example.txt", "r") as file:

line = file.readline()
while line:
print(line, end='')
line = file.readline()
Output of the above code is as shown below −

Hello!!!
Welcome to TutorialsPoint!!!

Example: Using readlines() method

Now, we are using the readlines() method to read the entire file and splits it into a list where each
element is a line −

with open("example.txt", "r") as file:

lines = file.readlines()
for line in lines:
print(line, end='')

We get the output as follows −

Hello!!!
Welcome to TutorialsPoint!!!

Writing to a File in Python

Writing to a file in Python involves opening the file in a mode that allows writing, and then using
various methods to add content to the file.

To write data to a file, use the write() or writelines() methods. When opening a file in write mode
('w'), the file's existing content is erased.

Example: Using the write() method

In this example, we are using the write() method to write the string passed to it to the file. If the
file is opened in 'w' mode, it will overwrite any existing content. If the file is opened in 'a' mode,
it will append the string to the end of the file −
with open("foo.txt", "w") as file:

file.write("Hello, World!")

print ("Content added Successfully!!")

Output of the above code is as follows −

Content added Successfully!!

Example: Using the writelines() method

In here, we are using the writelines() method to take a list of strings and writes each string to the file. It is
useful for writing multiple lines at once −

Open Compiler

lines = ["First line\n", "Second line\n", "Third line\n"]

with open("example.txt", "w") as file:
file.writelines(lines)
print ("Content added Successfully!!")

The result obtained is as follows −

Content added Successfully!!

Closing a File in Python

We can close a file in Python using the close() method. Closing a file is an essential step in file handling to
ensure that all resources used by the file are properly released. It is important to close files after operations
are completed to prevent data loss and free up system resources.

Example

In this example, we open the file for writing, write data to the file, and then close the file using the close()
method −

Open Compiler

file = open("example.txt", "w")

file.write("This is an example.")
file.close()
print ("File closed successfully!!")

The output produced is as shown below −

File closed successfully!!

Using "with" Statement for Automatic File Closing

The with statement is a best practice in Python for file operations because it ensures that the file is
automatically closed when the block of code is exited, even if an exception occurs.

Example

In this example, the file is automatically closed at the end of the with block, so there is no need to call close()
method explicitly −

Open Compiler
 with open("example.txt", "w") as file:
file.write("This is an example using the with statement.")
print ("File closed successfully!!")

Following is the output of the above code −

File closed successfully!!

Handling Exceptions When Closing a File

When performing file operations, it is important to handle potential exceptions to ensure your program can
manage errors gracefully.

In Python, we use a try-finally block to handle exceptions when closing a file. The "finally" block ensures
that the file is closed regardless of whether an error occurs in the try block −
try:
file = open("example.txt", "w")
file.write("This is an example with exception handling.")
finally:
file.close()
print ("File closed successfully!!")

After executing the above code, we get the following output −

File closed successfully!!

Opening a File for Writing

Opening a file for writing is the first step in performing write operations in Python. The open() function is
used to open files in different modes, each suited for specific use cases.

The open() Function

The open() function in Python is used to open a file. It requires at least one argument, the name of the file,
and can take an optional second argument that specifies the mode in which the file should be opened.

File Modes for Writing

Following are the main modes you can use to open a file for writing −

 w (Write mode) − Opens the file for writing. If the file exists, it truncates (empties) the file before writing. If
the file does not exist, it creates a new file.
 a (Append Mode) − Data is written at the end of the file. If the file does not exist, it creates a new file.
 x (Exclusive Creation Mode) − Opens the file for exclusive creation. If the file already exists, the
operation fails.
 b (Binary Mode) − When used with other modes, opens the file in binary mode.
 + (Update Mode) − Opens the file for updating (reading and writing).
Example: Opening a File in Write Mode

This mode is used when you want to write data to a file, starting from scratch each time the file is opened −

file = open("example.txt", "w")

file.write("Hello, World!")
file.close()
print ("File opened successfully!!")

Following is the output obtained −

File opened successfully!!

Example: Opening a File in Append Mode

This mode is used when you want to add data to the end of the file without altering its existing contents −

file = open("example.txt", "a")

file.write("Appending this line.\n")
file.close()
print ("File opened successfully!!")

This will produce the following result −

File opened successfully!!

Writing to a File Using write() Method

The write() method is used to write a single string to a file. This makes it suitable for various text-based file
operations.

The write() method takes a single argument: the string that you want to write to the file. It writes the exact
content of the string to the file without adding any additional characters, such as newlines.

Example

In the following example, we are opening the file "example.txt" in write mode. We then use the write()
method to write a string to the file −

# Open a file in write mode

with open("example.txt", "w") as file:
file.write("Hello, World!\n")
file.write("This is a new line.\n")
print ("File opened successfully!!")

Following is the output of the above code −

File opened successfully!!

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Writing to a File Using writelines() Method

The writelines() method is used to write a list of strings to a file. Each string in the list is written to the file
sequentially without adding any newline characters automatically.

Example

In this example, we are creating a list of strings, lines, with each string ending in a newline character. We
then open a file "example.txt" in write mode and use the writelines() method to write all the strings in the list
to the file in one operation −

# List of lines to write to the file

lines = ["First line\n", "Second line\n", "Third line\n"]

# Open a file in write mode

with open("example.txt", "w") as file:
file.writelines(lines)

print ("File opened successfully!!")

The output obtained is as shown below −

File opened successfully!!