Python list Files in Directory with Extension txt

In this Python tutorial, we will see how to list all files of a directory having a specific extension.

Sometimes we need to list files having a specific extension before performing any operation on them. For example, if you wanted to copy only text files from one location to another. In this case, we need to make sure we are only looking for files having a .txt extension.

We will use the following three methods.

How to list files in directory with extension txt

Example: list files in directory with extension txt

The following text files are present in my current working directory.

sales.txt
profit.txt
samples.txt

Example 1: List all txt files present in the ‘account’ directory.

import glob

# absolute path to search all text files inside a specific folder
path = r'E:/demos/files_demos/account/*.txt'
files = glob.glob(path)
print(files)

Output:

['E:/account\\profit.txt', 'E:/account\\sales.txt', 'E:/account\\sample.txt']

If you want to list files from a current directory the use glob.glob('./*.txt').

Os module to list files in directory with extension

This module helps us to work with operating system-dependent functionality in Python. The os module provides functions for interacting with the operating system.

Use the below steps: –

• Use the os.listdir('path') function to get the list of all files in directory. This function returns the names of the files and directories present in the directory.
• Next, use a for loop to iterate all files from a list.
• Next, use the if condition in each iteration to check if the file name ends with a txt extension. If yes, add it to the final list

Example:

import os

# folder path
dir_path = r'E:\account'

# list to store files
res = []
# Iterate directory
for file in os.listdir(dir_path):
    # check only text files
    if file.endswith('.txt'):
        res.append(file)
print(res)

Output:

['profit.txt', 'sales.txt', 'sample.txt']

list files in directory and subdirectories with extension txt

We can use the following two approaches: –

• glob module
• os.walk() function

Glob module to list files from subdirectories with txt extension

Set the recursive attribute of a glob() method to True to list text files from subdirectories.

Use Python 3.5+ to find files recursively using the glob module. If you are using the older version of Python, then use the os.walk() method.

The glob module supports the ** directive. If you want it recursive you can use glob.glob('**/*.txt') and set a recursive flag to True, the glob() method parses the given path and looks recursively in the directories.

Example:

import glob

# absolute path to search all text files inside a specific folder
path = r'E:/account/**/*.txt'
files = glob.glob(path, recursive=True)
print(files)

Output:

['E:/account\\profit.txt', 'E:/account\\sales.txt', 'E:/account\\sample.txt', 'E:/account\\reports_2021\\december_2021.txt']

os.walk() to list files in directory and subdirectories with extension txt

It is a recursive function, i.e., Every time the generator is called it creates a tuple of values (current_path, directories in current_path, files in current_path) and it will follow each directory recursively to get a list of files and directories until no further sub-directories are available from the initial directory.

• Call the os.walk(''path') function. It will yield two lists for each directory it visits. The first list contains files, and the second list includes directories.
• Next, Iterate the list of files using a for loop
• Next, use the if condition in each iteration to check if the file name ends with a txt extension. If yes, add it to the final list.

Example:

import os

# list to store txt files
res = []
# os.walk() returns subdirectories, file from current directory and 
# And follow next directory from subdirectory list recursively until last directory
for root, dirs, files in os.walk(r"E:\demos\files_demos\account"):
    for file in files:
        if file.endswith(".txt"):
            res.append(os.path.join(root, file))
print(res)

['E:/account\\profit.txt', 'E:/account\\sales.txt', 'E:/account\\sample.txt', 'E:/account\\reports_2021\\december_2021.txt']