> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://memoryerror.gitbook.io/python-basics/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://memoryerror.gitbook.io/python-basics/manipulating-files.md).

# Manipulating files

Hey there! Welcome back to the Python basics tutorial. Today we'll start to do some fun stuff, like manipulating files.

Let's say you have a text file with data. You want to read the text file and print it to the console. For that, we'll have to use the `open` function.

## Setting up the files

First of all, create a new directory/folder and create a Python file inside it called `test.py` or anything else you would like to to be, just make sure it ends with `.py`. Now, make another file called `test.txt` and put the following text inside it:

```
Hell is empty and all the devils are here.
```

Now, open the Python file and type this:

```python
f = open('test.txt', 'r')
```

Done. We've opened a file. We're passing two arguments to `open` : The path to the file we're opening, and the **mode** we want to open it in. A quick list of the modes:

`r` - Read mode ( To read plaintext files)\
`w` - Write mode (To write to files)\
`a` - Append mode (To add more text to the end of a file)\
`rb` - Read Binary mode (To read binary files like images, videos, audio etc)\
`wb` - Write Binary mode (To write to binary files)\
`ab` - Append Binary mode (To add more binary to the end of a file)

{% hint style="info" %}
We can use full paths too, such as `D:\\testfolder\hello.txt` in Windows or `/home/harrypotter/Documents/hello.txt` in \*nix systems (Mac and Linux). Or relative paths `../hello.txt` to get a file named `hello.txt` in the parent directory.
{% endhint %}

OK, now we try to read from the file. Edit the Python file now:

```python
f = open('test.txt', 'r')
text = f.read()
print(text)
```

Run, and you should see `Hell is empty and all the devils are here.` being printed to the console. It's good practice to **close** a file after you're done working with it:

```python
f = open('test.txt', 'f')
# Do some stuff...
f.close()
```

Now, to write to a file:

```python
quote_file = open('test.txt', 'w') # Open in write mode.
quote_file.write('All that glitters is not gold.')
quote_file.close()
```

Done. Now if you open the file with a text editor you should see the new text inside.

{% hint style="info" %}
Opening in write mode completely overwrites the file, whether you write anything or not.
{% endhint %}

Let's try `append` mode to keep the current text and add some more to the end.

```python
# Now we append, just like a list.
file_name = 'test.txt'
f = open(file_name, 'a')
f.write('Fair is foul, and foul is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air.')
f.close()

f = open(file_name, 'r')
text = f.read()
print(text)
f.close()

"""
All that glitters is not gold. Fair is foul, and foul is fair: Hover through the fog and filthy air.
"""
```

## Auto closing files

If you feel that the method above is too verbose you can:

```python
with open('text.txt', 'r') as f:
    text = f.read()
```

This automatically closes the file.

{% hint style="info" %}
The `with` method is the recommended way of opening files.
{% endhint %}

OK. Now we know how to manipulate files. You can now do all sorts of cool stuff. I'd say you've learned 75% of Python basics.