.remove()

The Python .remove() file method allows the user to delete a file if it exists in the system or computer. .unlink() is an alternative to delete a file.

Note: A FileNotFoundError is raised if the file is not found or isn’t in the current directory.

Syntax

This method is provided by the os module which must be imported beforehand.

import os

os.remove("file_name.file_type")

os.remove("file_path")

The .remove() method works in the following ways:

• If the file exists in the current directory, a string argument for the file (written as "file_name.file_type") can be used to successfully delete it.
• A "file_path" can also be passed if a file exists outside the current directory.

Entire folders or directories can be removed using the .rmdir() method.

Example

In the example below, the .remove() method is used to delete the my_file.txt file:

import os

# Delete file in current directory
os.remove("my_file.txt")

# Delete file in another directory
os.remove("path/to/my_file.txt")

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Codebyte Example

The example below creates a file called example.txt and then deletes it using the .remove() method. The .isfile() method is used to show at which stage the file is found.

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