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Python, how to write to a file

Published Feb 12 2021

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To write content to a file, first you need to open it using the open() global function, which accepts 2 parameters: the file path, and the mode.

You can use a as the mode, to tell Python to open the file in append mode and add content to the file

filename = '/Users/flavio/test.txt'

file = open(filename, 'a')

#or

file = open(filename, mode='a')

Or you can use the w flag to clear the existing content:

filename = '/Users/flavio/test.txt'

file = open(filename, 'w')

#or

file = open(filename, mode='w')

Once you have the file open, you can use the write() and writelines() methods.

write() accepts a string.

writelines() accepts a list of strings:

filename = '/Users/flavio/test.txt'

file = open(filename, 'w')

file.write('This is a line\n')

file.writelines(['One\n', 'Two'])

file.close()

\n is a special character used to go to a new line

Remember to close a file after writing to it, using the file’s close() method.

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