A quick solution in Python
import os os.remove("filename.txt")
The above code will delete a file in Python, it will not however delete a directory, or a directory containing files. For this we will need to explore a bit more..
Check file exists before deleting
First check if the file exists before deleting it:
import os if os.path.exists("filename.txt"): os.remove("filename.txt") else: print("The file doesn't exist")
Delete a directory/folder
Sometimes you may want to delete an entire folder as well:
import os os.rmdir("foldername")
What options are available?
#removes a file. os.remove() #removes an empty directory. os.rmdir() #deletes a directory and all its contents. shutil.rmtree()
Using Pathlib as an alternative
As of Python 3.4+, you can also use pathlib
as follows:
import pathlib path = pathlib.Path(name_of_file) path.unlink()
rmdir
is also available to remove a blank directory:
import pathlib path = pathlib.Path(name_of_folder) path.rmdir()