?️ Python Delete Files

? Quick Overview

Python lets you delete files from your system using the os module. You can remove individual files, check if a file exists before deleting it, or loop through a list of filenames. File deletion is permanent, so always be careful to avoid accidental data loss.

? Key Concepts

• os.remove(path) deletes a file at the given path.
• os.unlink(path) is effectively the same as os.remove().
• Use os.path.exists(path) to check if a file exists before deleting.
• Looping over a list of filenames lets you delete multiple files safely.
• Trying to delete a non-existing file will raise an error unless you check first.

? Syntax and Theory

To work with file deletion, you first import the os module:

os.remove(path) and os.unlink(path) both remove the file specified by path. If the file does not exist, a FileNotFoundError is raised. That’s why it is a good practice to check with os.path.exists(path) before deleting.

When deleting multiple files, you typically store their names in a list and then iterate over that list, deleting each file that exists and optionally printing a message for those that do not.

? Code Examples

import os

os.remove("example.txt")  # Deletes the file named 'example.txt'

import os

if os.path.exists("example.txt"):  # Check if the file exists before deleting
    os.remove("example.txt")  # Delete the file only when it exists
else:
    print("The file does not exist")  # Handle the case where the file is missing

import os

os.unlink("example.txt")  # Deletes the file using os.unlink()

import os

files = ["file1.txt", "file2.txt", "file3.txt"]  # List of files to delete

for f in files:  # Loop through each file name
    if os.path.exists(f):  # Delete only if the file exists
        os.remove(f)
    else:
        print(f"{f} does not exist")  # Inform when a file is missing

? Use Cases

• Cleaning up temporary files generated by your script.
• Removing exported reports or logs after they are processed.
• Deleting outdated cache files to save disk space.