How to Recover Deleted Python Files (Available Methods)

Discover practical methods to recover deleted files in Python and learn safe ways to delete files in Python. This detailed guide provides solutions to successfully delete or recover Python files.

By @Zoey Last Updated October 25, 2024

What is Python?

Python is a high-level interpreted programming language known for its clear syntax and readability, making it a great choice for both beginners and experienced programmers. Python has become one of the most popular programming languages, used in everything from web development to software engineering and scientific computing. Contains many important instructions and commands.

File management in Python is more than just writing and running scripts. At some point, you may need to delete Python files or, conversely, recover accidentally deleted files. In this comprehensive guide, we will cover two aspects of how to effectively delete files in Python and how to recover deleted Python files if necessary. Let's get started!

How to Delete a File in Python (3 Ways)

Deleting files in Python is a common task, usually to manage temporary files or clean up old data. How to safely delete a file in Python? Fortunately, Python provides an OS module, Shutil module, or Pathlib module to delete the file. We will analyze this below.

Method 1. How to Delete a File Using OS Module in Python

The OS module in Python is a comprehensive toolkit that contains features that allow you to interact with the operating system. It can be used to delete individual files or entire directories. Deleting files using operating system modules is simple, but requires caution to avoid deleting the wrong files. Follow the steps below to delete a file using Python.

⚠️Note: It does not provide any administrative privileges or error handling capabilities.

Step 1. Start by importing the module at the start of the script: import os

Step 2. Specify the path of the file you want to delete. You can use absolute or relative paths: file_path = 'path/to/your/file.py'

Step 3. Use the os.remove function to perform the removal: if os.path.isfile(filepath)

Method 2. How to Delete a File Using Shutil Module in Python

The Python Shutil module provides many file and directory management utility functions, including copying, moving, renaming, and deleting files. Although OS module functions are more often used to delete files due to their simplicity, Shutil is also very effective, especially when working with directory trees.

Step 1. Start by importing the module at the start of your Python script: import Shutil

Step 2. Specify the path of the file or directory you want to delete. Although Shutil is often used for directory operations, it can also handle operations on individual files if necessary: ​​file_path = 'path/to/your/file.py'

Step3. To delete the entire directory tree: shutdown.rmtree(filepath)

Method 3. How to Delete a File Using Pathlib Module in Python

The Pathlib module provides an object-oriented approach to file system paths. This is particularly useful for more complex path operations and can make code easier to read and write.

Step 1. Enter Pathlib at the beginning of the script: from pathlib import Path

Step 2. Create a path object pointing to the file you want to delete: file_path = Path('path/to/your/file.py')

Step 3. Use the unlink() function to delete the file: file.unlink()

How to Recover Deleted Python Files (2 Methods)

Can you recover deleted Python files? Yes, you can quickly and easily recover something you accidentally deleted. You have two main recovery options: use Python's built-in history function to restore the file or try reliable data recovery software like MyRecover.

Method 1. Recover Deleted Files Using Python Local History Feature

How to recover deleted files using Python? Deleted files in Python can often be recovered by accessing the local history feature of your development environment. This feature automatically saves changes to files so you can revert to a previous version if necessary. Here are the steps to use Python to retrieve data:

Step 1. Navigate to the folder directly above where the deleted file is located. Right-click the folder and select Local History > Show History. A window will open displaying a list of changes and deletions to saved files over time.

Step 2. Find the desired files or folders and click the Restore button at the upper left corner of the window.

Way 2. Recover Deleted Python Files with MyRecover

For more Python file recovery needs, such as those not limited to recent deletions tracked by local history, using dedicated data recovery software can be very effective. Python Data Recovery - MyRecover allows you to easily and quickly recover deleted files in Python.

  • Apply to recover deleted files in almost all data loss cases, including accidental deletion, partition loss or corruption, virus infection, system crash, etc.
  • Supports all common file types: Recover deleted Excel files, images, audio, video, emails and 200+ other file types.
  • It supports previewing deleted files before recovery and recovering files while retaining the original file name/format.
  • Recover files from USB drives, SD cards and internal/external hard drives, including FAT, NTFS and exFAT file systems.

How to recover deleted Python files? Download MyRecover and follow the 3 simple steps below to recover deleted Python files.

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Step 1. Download, install and run MyRecover on your computer, then place your mouse on the drive where your deleted Python files were stored. Click Scan.

Step 2. Runs a quick scan and a deep scan to find deleted Python files automatically and thoroughly. Once the process is completed, you can apply the filter and preview feature to quickly find your deleted files.

Step 3. Then select the Python file and click Recover X Files. Remember to choose a different location to save the file.

🌟Tip: MyRecover can recover deleted Python files with a total size of up to 500 MB. For unlimited data recovery capabilities, consider upgrading to the advanced version.

Summary

Python provides 3 ways to delete files. The simplest is to use the "os" module, which allows you to interact with the operating system. If you want to delete an entire directory and its contents, you can use the "Shutil" module to manage files and directories. To delete open files you can use "os.unlink" which can delete any open or closed file.

If you accidentally delete a file and want to know how to recover deleted Python files, don't worry. You can restore it using the Restore in Python option in your development environment, or you can use specialized data recovery software such as MyRecover to successfully recover deleted files.

Frequently asked questions

1. What is the Python code that deletes files?

To delete a file or folder in Python, you can use the following commands:

os.remove() is used to delete a file.

os.rmdir() is used to delete an empty folder.

2. Does Python automatically delete objects?

Yes, Python has a built-in garbage collection system, which is an automated memory management process. Automatically deletes items when they are no longer in use.

3. What is the difference between cleanup and delete in Python?

In Python, the del keyword is used to delete objects like lists, list items, variables, user-defined objects, dictionaries, etc. Conversely, the clear() method is specifically used to remove all elements from a dictionary, leaving it empty. but still existing.