Back 🌟 Pathlib Module in Python – Complete Guide 03 Sep, 2025

Programming

ABHISHEK AGNIHOTRI

Python’s pathlib module makes file system paths easier to work with.

It gives you an object-oriented approach instead of dealing with os and os.path.

🏗️ Why Pathlib?

✅ Cleaner syntax (OOP style)
✅ Cross-platform (Windows, Linux, Mac)
✅ Easy to read & write files
✅ Replace messy os.path code

🎨 Importing Pathlib

from pathlib import Path

📂 Creating Path Objects

p = Path("my_folder/my_file.txt")

🔹 Relative Path → "my_folder/my_file.txt"
🔹 Absolute Path → Path("/home/user/docs")
🔹 Current directory → Path.cwd()
🔹 Home directory → Path.home()

🌈 Pathlib Methods & Properties

Let’s group them for easy learning 👇

1️⃣ Path Creation & Navigation

Method / Property	Use
`Path.cwd()`	Current working directory
`Path.home()`	Home directory
`Path(__file__).resolve()`	Absolute path of current script
`.resolve()`	Converts to absolute path
`.absolute()`	Absolute path (less strict than `resolve`)
`.parent`	Get parent directory
`.parents`	All ancestors
`.name`	File name with extension
`.stem`	File name without extension
`.suffix`	File extension
`.suffixes`	List of multiple extensions
`.with_suffix(".csv")`	Change extension
`.with_name("new.txt")`	Change file name
`/` operator	Join paths easily → `Path("folder") / "file.txt"`

2️⃣ Path Checking

Method	What it does
`.exists()`	Check if path exists
`.is_file()`	True if it’s a file
`.is_dir()`	True if it’s a directory
`.is_symlink()`	True if symbolic link
`.match("*.txt")`	Pattern match
`.samefile(other)`	Check if two paths point to same file

3️⃣ Directory Operations

Method	What it does
`.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)`	Create directory
`.rmdir()`	Remove empty directory
`.iterdir()`	Iterate through directory contents
`.glob("*.txt")`	Match files by pattern
`.rglob("*.py")`	Recursive glob (search in all subfolders)

4️⃣ File Operations

Method	What it does
`.read_text()`	Read text file
`.read_bytes()`	Read binary file
`.write_text("Hello")`	Write text to file
`.write_bytes(b"data")`	Write binary
`.open("mode")`	Open file (like built-in `open()`)
`.unlink()`	Delete file
`.touch()`	Create empty file

5️⃣ Advanced Features

Method	Use
`.stat()`	File metadata (size, modified time, etc.)
`.chmod(0o777)`	Change file permissions
`.rename("newname.txt")`	Rename file
`.replace("newpath.txt")`	Rename/replace
`.relative_to(other)`	Relative path
`.as_posix()`	Convert to POSIX string
`.as_uri()`	Convert to URI format

🌟 Example in Action

from pathlib import Path

# Create a path
p = Path("example/test.txt")

# Check existence
if not p.exists():
    p.parent.mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
    p.write_text("Hello Abhi 👋")

# Read it back
print(p.read_text())   # 👉 "Hello Abhi 👋"

# Change extension
new_p = p.with_suffix(".csv")
p.rename(new_p)
print("Renamed:", new_p)

🎇 Summary Mindmap

📌 Pathlib = OOP way for files

🔹 Create & Navigate Paths → Path.cwd(), .home(), .parent
🔹 Check Paths → .exists(), .is_file(), .is_dir()
🔹 Directory Ops → .mkdir(), .rmdir(), .glob()
🔹 File Ops → .read_text(), .write_text(), .unlink()
🔹 Advanced → .stat(), .chmod(), .rename()

✨ Pro Tip:
Always prefer pathlib over os.path in modern Python projects.