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os.listdir() method-Python - GeeksforGeeks

Last Updated : 01 Jul, 2025

os.listdir() method in Python is used to get the list of all files and directories in the specified directory. If we don’t specify any directory, then a list of files and directories in the current working directory will be returned. Example:

import os

path = "C:/Users/GFG0578/Documents"
contents = os.listdir(path)
print("Directory contents:", contents)

Output

Explanation: This code lists all files and folders in the specified Documents directory.

os.listdir(path='.')

Parameters: path (str, bytes or os.PathLike, optional) is the directory whose contents you want to list. Defaults to the current directory ('.') if not provided.

Returns: A list containing the names of entries (files, subdirectories, links, etc.) in the given directory. The names are returned as strings.

Raises:

• FileNotFoundError: if the specified path does not exist.
• NotADirectoryError: if the specified path is not a directory.
• PermissionError: if the program does not have permission to access the directory.

Example 1: List contents of the current directory

import os

contents = os.listdir()
print("Current directory contents:", contents)

Output

Current directory contents: ['example.py']

Explanation: When no path is provided, os.listdir() defaults to the current working directory .

Example 2: Handling errors if the path is invalid

import os

path = "C:/Invalid/Path"

try:
    print(os.listdir(path))
except OSError as e:
    print("Error:", e)

Error: [Errno 2] No such file or directory: 'C:/Invalid/Path'

Explanation: This code tries to list the contents of a non-existent directory. The try-except block catches any error like FileNotFoundError or PermissionError and prints it.

Example 3: Filter only files in a directory

import os

path = "C:/Users/GFG0578/Documents"
files = [f for f in os.listdir(path) if os.path.isfile(os.path.join(path, f))]
print("Only files:", files)

Output

Explanation: This code lists only the files (excluding folders) in the specified directory by checking each entry with os.path.isfile().

Related articles

• os.scandir() method
• os.path.isdir() method
• os.path.isfile() method
• os.getcwd() method
• os.makedirs() method

Python | os.listdir() method

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