Extract Part of the File Path in Python

In Python, we can extract a specific part of a file path of the directory using built-in modules such os.path and pathlib. Extracting a part of the file path is commonly needed when working with file systems, data processing, or scripts that handle files dynamically.

Using os.path Module

The os.path module in Python provides functions to manipulate files and directory paths. We can use this module to extract directory names, file names, and traverse up directory levels.

Example

Following is an example, which shows how to use the os.path module to extract a directory path from a full file path -

import os

file_path = r"D:\Tutorialspoint\sample"

# Extract the directory containing the file
directory = os.path.dirname(file_path)
print(directory)

Following is the output of the above program -

D:\Tutorialspoint

Extract a Specific Directory

We can also extract a particular part of the path by splitting it using os.sep. Following is an example of using the os.sep to extract a part of the file path -

import os

file_path = r"D:\Tutorialspoint\sample"

# Extract the directory containing the file
directory = os.path.dirname(file_path)
print(directory)

parts = file_path.split(os.sep)

# Example: Get the third part of the path
print(parts[2])  # Output: Tutorials

Here is the output of the above example -

D:\Tutorialspoint
sample

Using pathlib Module (Python 3.4+)

The pathlib module in Python provides an object-oriented interface for working with file system paths. It is more readable and Pythonic compared to the older os.path module and is recommended for Python 3.4 and above.

Example

Following is an example, which shows how to use the pathlib module to extract a directory path from a full file path -

from pathlib import Path

file_path = Path(r"D:\Tutorialspoint\sample")

# Extract the parent directory
print(file_path.parent)

Following is the output of the above program -

D:\Tutorialspoint

Extract a Specific Directory

We can access any specific part of the path using the parts attribute and which returns the path components as a tuple -

from pathlib import Path

file_path = Path(r"D:\Tutorialspoint\sample")

# Extract the parent directory
print(file_path.parent)

# Get the parts of the path
parts = file_path.parts

# Example: Get the third part of the path
print(parts[2])  # Output: Tutorials

Here is the output of the above program -

D:\Tutorialspoint
sample