Python Shutil Module
The shutil module offers a number of high-level operations on files and collections of files. In particular, functions are provided which support file copying and removal.
Importing the Module
import shutilCopying Files
shutil.copy()
Copies the file src to the file or directory dst. Permissions are copied, but metadata like creation time might not be.
import shutil
shutil.copy('source.txt', 'destination.txt')shutil.copy2()
Identical to copy(), but attempts to preserve file metadata (timestamps, etc.).
shutil.copy2('source.txt', 'destination.txt')Copying Directories
shutil.copytree()
Recursively copies an entire directory tree rooted at src to a directory named dst. The destination directory must not already exist.
import shutil
shutil.copytree('source_folder', 'destination_folder')Moving and Renaming
shutil.move()
Recursively moves a file or directory (src) to another location (dst). This is effectively a rename if on the same filesystem.
import shutil
shutil.move('source.txt', 'new_folder/source.txt')Deleting Directories
shutil.rmtree()
Delete an entire directory tree; path must point to a directory (but not a symbolic link to a directory).
import shutil
# Be careful! This deletes everything inside the folder.
shutil.rmtree('folder_to_delete')Archiving
The shutil module provides high-level utilities to create and read compressed archive files (zip, tar, etc.).
Creating an Archive
import shutil
# Create a zip file 'backup.zip' from the directory 'data'
shutil.make_archive('backup', 'zip', 'data')Unpacking an Archive
import shutil
shutil.unpack_archive('backup.zip', 'extracted_folder')Disk Usage
Get disk usage statistics about the given path.
import shutil
total, used, free = shutil.disk_usage("/")
print(f"Total: {total // (2**30)} GiB")
print(f"Used: {used // (2**30)} GiB")
print(f"Free: {free // (2**30)} GiB")