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Working with csv files in Python

Last Updated : 28 Jul, 2025

Python is a key tool for data scientists and programmers to process diverse data types. Among the most widely used formats for storing and exchanging tabular data is CSV (Comma-Separated Values).

A CSV file is a plain text file where each line represents a data record, and fields within each record are separated by commas. It's commonly used for spreadsheets and databases due to its simplicity and readability. Python offers a built-in csv module to easily read, write and manipulate CSV files, making it an essential tool for data handling tasks.

Below are some operations that we perform while working with Python CSV files in Python

Reading a CSV file
Reading CSV Files Into a Dictionary With csv
Writing to a CSV file
Writing a dictionary to a CSV file
Reading CSV Files With Pandas
Writing CSV Files With Pandas
Storing email in CSV file

Reading a CSV file

Reading from a CSV file is done using the reader object. The CSV file is opened as a text file with Python’s built-in open() function, which returns a file object. In this example, we first open the CSV file in READ mode, file object is converted to csv.reader object and further operation takes place. Code and detailed explanation is given below.

Python


 import csv
filename = "aapl.csv"  # File name
fields = []  # Column names
rows = []    # Data rows

with open(filename, 'r') as csvfile:
    csvreader = csv.reader(csvfile)  # Reader object

    fields = next(csvreader)  # Read header
    for row in csvreader:     # Read rows
        rows.append(row)

    print("Total no. of rows: %d" % csvreader.line_num)  # Row count

print('Field names are: ' + ', '.join(fields))

print('\nFirst 5 rows are:\n')
for row in rows[:5]:
    for col in row:
        print("%10s" % col, end=" ")
    print('\n')

Output

The above example uses a CSV file aapl.csv which can be downloaded from here .

Explanation:

with open(...) opens the CSV file in read mode safely using a context manager.
csv.reader(csvfile) turns the file into a CSV reader object.
next(csvreader) extracts the first row as column headers.
Loop through csvreader to append each row (as a list) to rows.
Print total rows, headers and first 5 data rows in a formatted view.

Reading CSV Files Into a Dictionary With csv

We can read a CSV file into a dictionary using the csv module in Python and the csv.DictReader class. Here's an example:

Suppose, we have a employees.csv file and content inside it will be:

name,department,birthday_month
John Smith,HR,July
Alice Johnson,IT,October
Bob Williams,Finance,January

Example: This reads each row as a dictionary (headers as keys), then appends it to list .

Python


 import csv
with open('employees.csv', mode='r') as file:
    csv_reader = csv.DictReader(file)  # Create DictReader

    data_list = []  # List to store dictionaries
    for row in csv_reader:
        data_list.append(row)

for data in data_list:
    print(data)

Output:

{'name': 'John Smith', 'department': 'HR', 'birthday_month': 'July'}
{'name': 'Alice Johnson', 'department': 'IT', 'birthday_month': 'October'}
{'name': 'Bob Williams', 'department': 'Finance', 'birthday_month': 'January'}

Explanation:

with open(...) opens the file using a context manager.
csv.DictReader(file) reads each row as a dictionary using headers as keys.
data_list.append(row) stores each dictionary in a list.

Writing to a CSV file

To write to a CSV file, we first open the CSV file in WRITE mode. The file object is converted to csv.writer object and further operations takes place. Code and detailed explanation is given below.

Python


 import csv

# Define header and data rows
fields = ['Name', 'Branch', 'Year', 'CGPA']
rows = [
    ['Nikhil', 'COE', '2', '9.0'],
    ['Sanchit', 'COE', '2', '9.1'],
    ['Aditya', 'IT', '2', '9.3'],
    ['Sagar', 'SE', '1', '9.5'],
    ['Prateek', 'MCE', '3', '7.8'],
    ['Sahil', 'EP', '2', '9.1']
]

filename = "university_records.csv"
with open(filename, 'w') as csvfile:
    csvwriter = csv.writer(csvfile)        # Create writer object
    csvwriter.writerow(fields)             # Write header
    csvwriter.writerows(rows)              # Write multiple rows

Explanation:

fields defines the column headers and rows contains the data as a list of lists.
with open(..., 'w') opens the file in write mode using a context manager.
csv.writer(csvfile) creates a writer object for writing to the CSV.
writerow(fields) writes the header row to the file.
writerows(rows) writes all data rows to the CSV at once.

Writing a dictionary to a CSV file

To write a dictionary to a CSV file, the file object (csvfile) is converted to a DictWriter object. Detailed example with explanation and code is given below.

Python


 # importing the csv module
import csv

# my data rows as dictionary objects
mydict = [{'branch': 'COE', 'cgpa': '9.0',
           'name': 'Nikhil', 'year': '2'},
          {'branch': 'COE', 'cgpa': '9.1',
           'name': 'Sanchit', 'year': '2'},
          {'branch': 'IT', 'cgpa': '9.3',
           'name': 'Aditya', 'year': '2'},
          {'branch': 'SE', 'cgpa': '9.5',
           'name': 'Sagar', 'year': '1'},
          {'branch': 'MCE', 'cgpa': '7.8',
           'name': 'Prateek', 'year': '3'},
          {'branch': 'EP', 'cgpa': '9.1',
           'name': 'Sahil', 'year': '2'}]

# field names
fields = ['name', 'branch', 'year', 'cgpa']

# name of csv file
filename = "university_records.csv"

# writing to csv file
with open(filename, 'w') as csvfile:
    # creating a csv dict writer object
    writer = csv.DictWriter(csvfile, fieldnames=fields)

    # writing headers (field names)
    writer.writeheader()

    # writing data rows
    writer.writerows(mydict)

Output

csv file

Consider that a CSV file looks like this in plain text:

university record

Explanation:

with open(...) opens file safely using a context manager.
csv.DictWriter(...) maps dictionary keys to CSV columns.
writeheader() writes column headers.
writerows(mydict) writes all dictionaries as CSV rows.

Reading CSV Files With Pandas

We can read a Python CSV files with Pandas using pandas.read_csv() function. Here's an example:

Suppose, we have a employees.csv file and content inside it will be:

name,department,birthday_month
John Smith,HR,July
Alice Johnson,IT,October
Bob Williams,Finance,January

In this example, pd.read_csv() reads the CSV file into a Pandas DataFrame. The resulting DataFrame can be used for various data manipulation and analysis tasks.

Python


 import pandas as pd

# Read the CSV file into a DataFrame
df = pd.read_csv('employees.csv')

# Display the DataFrame
print(df)

Output:

name department birthday_month
0 John Smith HR July
1 Alice Johnson IT October
2 Bob Williams Finance January

We can access specific columns, filter data, and perform various operations using pandas DataFrame functionality. For example, if we want to access the "name" column, we can use df['name'].

Python


 # Access the 'name' column
names = df['name']
print(names)

Output :

0 John Smith
1 Alice Johnson
2 Bob Williams
Name: name, dtype: object

Writing CSV Files with Pandas

We can use Pandas to write CSV files. It can done by using pd.DataFrame() function. In this example, the Pandas library is used to convert a list of dictionaries (mydict) into a DataFrame, representing tabular data. The DataFrame is then written to a Python CSV file named "output.csv" using the to_csv method, creating a structured and readable data file for further analysis or sharing.

Python


 import pandas as pd

mydict = [
    {'branch': 'COE', 'cgpa': '9.0', 'name': 'Nikhil', 'year': '2'},
    {'branch': 'COE', 'cgpa': '9.1', 'name': 'Sanchit', 'year': '2'},
    {'branch': 'IT', 'cgpa': '9.3', 'name': 'Aditya', 'year': '2'},
    {'branch': 'SE', 'cgpa': '9.5', 'name': 'Sagar', 'year': '1'},
    {'branch': 'MCE', 'cgpa': '7.8', 'name': 'Prateek', 'year': '3'},
    {'branch': 'EP', 'cgpa': '9.1', 'name': 'Sahil', 'year': '2'}
]

# Create a DataFrame from the list of dictionaries
df = pd.DataFrame(mydict)

# Write the DataFrame to a CSV file
df.to_csv('output.csv', index=False)

Output CSV File:

branch,cgpa,name,year
COE,9.0,Nikhil,2
COE,9.1,Sanchit,2
IT,9.3,Aditya,2
SE,9.5,Sagar,1
MCE,7.8,Prateek,3
EP,9.1,Sahil,2

Storing Emails in CSV files

Here we are importing the csv module and then simply using the same concept of storing the emails in the form of comma-separated entity also with their names. We're opening the file open() function and specifying that we need that as a csv file and then writing the each column into the csv file using writer object.

Python


 # importing the csv module
import csv

# field names
fields = ['Name', 'Email']

# data rows of csv file
rows = [ ['Nikhil', 'nikhil.gfg@gmail.com'],
        ['Sanchit', 'sanchit.gfg@gmail.com'],
        ['Aditya', 'aditya.gfg@gmail.com'],
        ['Sagar', 'sagar.gfg@gmail.com'],
        ['Prateek', 'prateek.gfg@gmail.com'],
        ['Sahil', 'sahil.gfg@gmail.com']]

# name of csv file
filename = "email_records.csv"

# writing to csv file
with open(filename, 'w') as csvfile:
    # creating a csv writer object
    csvwriter = csv.writer(csvfile)
    
    # writing the fields
    csvwriter.writerow(fields)
    
    # writing the data rows
    csvwriter.writerows(rows)

Output:

Emails in csv

Working with CSV files in Python

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