How do you copy a file from a folder to another folder in python?

In this short guide, you’ll see how to copy a file, from one folder to another, using Python.

To start, here is a template that you may use to copy a file in Python using shutil.copyfile:

import shutil

original = r'original path where the file is currently stored\file name.file extension'
target = r'target path where the file will be copied\file name.file extension'

shutil.copyfile[original, target]

Let’s now see the steps to apply the above template in practice.

Step 1: Capture the original path

To begin, capture the path where your file is currently stored.

For example, let’s suppose that a CSV file is stored in a folder called Test_1:

C:\Users\Ron\Desktop\Test_1\products.csv

Where the CSV file name is ‘products‘ and the file extension is csv.

Step 2: Capture the target path

Next, capture the target path where you’d like to copy the file.

For our example, the file will be copied into a folder called Test_2:

C:\Users\Ron\Desktop\Test_2\products.csv

Step 3: Copy the file in Python using shutil.copyfile

For the final step, use the following template to copy your file:

import shutil

original = r'original path where the file is currently stored\file name.file extension'
target = r'target path where the file will be copied\file name.file extension'

shutil.copyfile[original, target]

Make sure to place the ‘r‘ character before your paths to avoid the following error:

SyntaxError: [unicode error] ‘unicodeescape’ codec can’t decode bytes in position 2-3: truncated \UXXXXXXXX escape

In the context of our example, the complete code would look like this:

import shutil

original = r'C:\Users\Ron\Desktop\Test_1\products.csv'
target = r'C:\Users\Ron\Desktop\Test_2\products.csv'

shutil.copyfile[original, target]

If you run the code in Python [adjusted to your paths], you’ll see that the ‘products‘ CSV file would be copied into the Test_2 folder.

Alternatively, you may copy a file with a new name.

For instance, let’s copy the original CSV file [with the file name of ‘products‘] to the new location with a new file name [‘new_products‘]:

import shutil

original = r'C:\Users\Ron\Desktop\Test_1\products.csv'
target = r'C:\Users\Ron\Desktop\Test_2\new_products.csv'

shutil.copyfile[original, target]

The new file name [called ‘new_products‘] would then be copied in the target location [the Test_2 folder].

The same principles would apply for other file types. For instance, let’s suppose that a JPG file called ‘image‘ is stored in the Test_1 folder.

The following code can then be used to copy the image to the Test_2 folder:

import shutil

original = r'C:\Users\Ron\Desktop\Test_1\image.jpg'
target = r'C:\Users\Ron\Desktop\Test_2\image.jpg'

shutil.copyfile[original, target]

The JPG file should now appear in the Test_2 folder.

Firstly, I made an exhaustive cheatsheet of shutil methods for your reference.

shutil_methods =
{'copy':['shutil.copyfileobj',
          'shutil.copyfile',
          'shutil.copymode',
          'shutil.copystat',
          'shutil.copy',
          'shutil.copy2',
          'shutil.copytree',],
 'move':['shutil.rmtree',
         'shutil.move',],
 'exception': ['exception shutil.SameFileError',
                 'exception shutil.Error'],
 'others':['shutil.disk_usage',
             'shutil.chown',
             'shutil.which',
             'shutil.ignore_patterns',]
}

Secondly, explain methods of copy in exmaples:

1. shutil.copyfileobj[fsrc, fdst[, length]] manipulate opened objects

In [3]: src = '~/Documents/Head+First+SQL.pdf'
In [4]: dst = '~/desktop'
In [5]: shutil.copyfileobj[src, dst]
AttributeError: 'str' object has no attribute 'read'
#copy the file object
In [7]: with open[src, 'rb'] as f1,open[os.path.join[dst,'test.pdf'], 'wb'] as f2:
    ...:      shutil.copyfileobj[f1, f2]
In [8]: os.stat[os.path.join[dst,'test.pdf']]
Out[8]: os.stat_result[st_mode=33188, st_ino=8598319475, st_dev=16777220, st_nlink=1, st_uid=501, st_gid=20, st_size=13507926, st_atime=1516067347, st_mtime=1516067335, st_ctime=1516067345]

1. shutil.copyfile[src, dst, *, follow_symlinks=True] Copy and rename

In [9]: shutil.copyfile[src, dst]
IsADirectoryError: [Errno 21] Is a directory: ~/desktop'
#so dst should be a filename instead of a directory name

1. shutil.copy[] Copy without preseving the metadata

In [10]: shutil.copy[src, dst]
Out[10]: ~/desktop/Head+First+SQL.pdf'
#check their metadata
In [25]: os.stat[src]
Out[25]: os.stat_result[st_mode=33188, st_ino=597749, st_dev=16777220, st_nlink=1, st_uid=501, st_gid=20, st_size=13507926, st_atime=1516066425, st_mtime=1493698739, st_ctime=1514871215]
In [26]: os.stat[os.path.join[dst, 'Head+First+SQL.pdf']]
Out[26]: os.stat_result[st_mode=33188, st_ino=8598313736, st_dev=16777220, st_nlink=1, st_uid=501, st_gid=20, st_size=13507926, st_atime=1516066427, st_mtime=1516066425, st_ctime=1516066425]
# st_atime,st_mtime,st_ctime changed

1. shutil.copy2[] Copy with preseving the metadata

In [30]: shutil.copy2[src, dst]
Out[30]: ~/desktop/Head+First+SQL.pdf'
In [31]: os.stat[src]
Out[31]: os.stat_result[st_mode=33188, st_ino=597749, st_dev=16777220, st_nlink=1, st_uid=501, st_gid=20, st_size=13507926, st_atime=1516067055, st_mtime=1493698739, st_ctime=1514871215]
In [32]: os.stat[os.path.join[dst, 'Head+First+SQL.pdf']]
Out[32]: os.stat_result[st_mode=33188, st_ino=8598313736, st_dev=16777220, st_nlink=1, st_uid=501, st_gid=20, st_size=13507926, st_atime=1516067063, st_mtime=1493698739, st_ctime=1516067055]
# Preseved st_mtime

1. shutil.copytree[]

Recursively copy an entire directory tree rooted at src, returning the destination directory

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