Today I (re)learned how to delete a file in Python with the module pathlib.

Module pathlib

The module pathlib is one of the modules I use the most, but I keep forgetting how to delete files with it. I always expect a method remove, rmfile, or rm to exist, especially because the method rmdir is the method that removes directories.

Alas, the pathlib.Path method to remove a file is unlink!

How to delete a file using pathlib?

If you have a path filepath that points to an existing file, then pathlib.Path(filepath).unlink() will remove that file:

>>> from pathlib import Path
>>> filepath = Path("myfile.txt")  # File I want to delete.

>>> filepath.exists(), filepath.is_file()  # The file exists for now...
(True, True)

>>> filepath.unlink()  # Delete the file 💣

>>> filepath.exists(), filepath.is_file()  # The file no longer exists.
(False, False)

That's it for now! Stay tuned and I'll see you around!

Become a better Python 🐍 developer, drop by drop 💧

Get a daily drop of Python knowledge. A short, effective tip to start writing better Python code: more idiomatic, more effective, more efficient, with fewer bugs. Subscribe here.