Python - open file

In this article, we would like to show you how to open the file for working with it in Python.

Quick solution:

file = open("example.txt")

file = open("D:\\myfiles\example.txt", "r")

The open() file is one of the key functions for working with files in Python.

It takes two parameters - file name and mode.

There are four available modes for opening a file:

• r - read - default value, opens a file for reading, throws an error if the file doesn't exist,
• w - write - opens a file for writing, creates the file if it doesn't exist,
• a - append - opens a file for appending at the end of it, creates the file if it doesn't exist,
• x - create - creates the file, throws an error if the file exists.

additionally, there is a parameter that specifies if the file should be handled as binary or text mode:

• t - text mode (default value),
• b - binary mode (e.g. for images).

Practical examples

Example 1

In this example, we open a text file for reading.

file = open("example.txt")

or

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

Note:

To open a file for reading it is enough to specify only the file name.

Example 2

In this example, we show how to open a file in a different location.

file = open("C:\\file\\example.txt", "rt")