mkdir() rmdir() : creating & deleting directory using OS module in Python

os.mkdir(path, mode=0o777, *, dir_fd=None)

path : Path of the directory
mode : Permission level
dir_fd : If dir_fd is not None, it should be a file descriptor referring to a directory, and the path to operate on should be relative; path will then be relative to that directory.

If the directory already exists then we will get this error.
FileExistsError: [WinError 183] Cannot create a file when that file already exists:

If a parent directory in the path does not exist we will get this error.
FileNotFoundError: [WinError 3] The system cannot find the path specified:

Example 1: Create directory

Create one directory in D drive of your system.

import os
path='D:\\my_dir'
os.mkdir(path) # create the directory my_dir

We can create sub directories inside by using for loop, here we are creating three level of directories ( or subdirectories).
Here str(i) is used to convert integer to string.

import os
drive='D:\\'
sub_path='my_dir\\'
os.mkdir(drive+sub_path) # create directory D:\my_dir
for i in range(3): # update the level required.    
    sub_path=sub_path+'my_dir'+str(i)+'\\'
    path=drive + sub_path
    print(path)
    os.mkdir(path)

While creating the directories we can add files.
creating multiple directories and files using loop

import os
drive='D:\\'
sub_path='my_dir\\'
os.mkdir(drive+sub_path) # create directory D:\my_dir
for i in range(3): # update the level required.    
    sub_path=sub_path+'my_dir'+str(i)+'\\'
    path=drive + sub_path
    print(path)
    os.mkdir(path)
    path_file=path+'my_file'+str(i)+'.txt'
    print(path_file)    
    f = open(path_file, "w")

Using try except to catch error

We will use try except error handling to display the error message here.

import os
path='D:\\my_dir'
try:
    os.mkdir(path) # create the directory my_dir
except (FileExistsError):
    print (" File or directory is already exists")
except (FileNotFoundError):
    print (" Path is not correct ")
except OSError:
    print ("Failed to create  %s " % path)
else:
    print ("Successfully created the directory %s " % path)

makedirs()

By using makedirs() we can make all intermediate-level directories needed to contain the leaf directory.
Here None of the directories are existing before and all four directories will be created by using mekedirs()

import os
path='D:\\my_dir1\\my_dir2\\my_dir3\\my_dir4'
os.makedirs(path) # create all directories in the path

Above code will raise FileNotFoundError or FileExistsError based on the condition.

Deleting Directory rmdir()

We can delete the directory if it is empty.

import os
path='D:\\my_dir1\\my_dir2\\my_dir3\\my_dir4'
#os.makedirs(path) # create all directoris in the path
os.rmdir(path) # delete directory my_dir4

Above code will delete the directory my_dir4 only.

listdir()

Listing all the directories and files of a given directory. Here is the code with output

import os
path='D:\\my_dir\\my_dir0\\my_dir1'
my_list=os.listdir(path)
print(my_list) # ['my_dir2', 'my_file1.txt']

Error handling while deleting directories

We will use try except error handling to display the error message while deleting directories.

import os
path='D:\\my_dir1\\my_dir2\\my_dir3\\my_dir4'
#os.makedirs(path) # create all directories in the path
try:
    os.rmdir(path) # delete directory my_dir4 
except OSError as e:
    print(e) # Specific error message 
    print ("Failed to delete %s " % path)
else:
    print ("Successfully deleted the directory %s " % path)

Output ( my_dir4 is not available to delete )

[WinError 2] The system cannot find the file specified: 'D:\\my_dir1\\my_dir2\\my_dir3\\my_dir4'
Failed to delete D:\my_dir1\my_dir2\my_dir3\my_dir4

Create the full path by using this code ( Delete and create again if required ).

import os
path='D:\\my_dir1\\my_dir2\\my_dir3\\my_dir4'
#os.makedirs(path) # create all directories in the path
os.rmdir(path) # delete directory my_dir4

After creating directory up to my_dir4, try to delete my_dir3.

import os
path='D:\\my_dir1\\my_dir2\\my_dir3'
try:
    os.rmdir(path) # delete directory my_dir3
except OSError as e:
    print(e) # Specific error message 
    print ("Failed to delete %s " % path)
else:
    print ("Successfully deleted the directory %s " % path)

Output is here.

[WinError 145] The directory is not empty: 'D:\\my_dir1\\my_dir2\\my_dir3'
Failed to delete D:\my_dir1\my_dir2\my_dir3

os : operating system interfaces os.walk()

File handling list Python- Tutorials

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os: Create and delete directories