Get the File/Directory Size in Python: os.path.getsize
In Python, os.path.getsize() allows you to get the file size in bytes. Additionally, os.scandir() can be used to calculate the total size of all files within a directory (folder).
For retrieving timestamps, such as creation or modification dates, see the following article.
Get file size with os.path.getsize()
You can get the file size in bytes with os.path.getsize().
Specify the file path using a string or a path-like object like pathlib.Path.
import os
print(os.path.getsize('data/src/lena_square.png'))
# 473831
Get directory size with os.scandir() (Python 3.5 or later)
To calculate the total size of files in a directory (folder), use os.scandir().
Note that os.scandir() was added in Python 3.5. Use os.listdir() for earlier versions, as discussed in the next section.
Define a function as follows.
import os
def get_dir_size(path='.'):
total = 0
with os.scandir(path) as it:
for entry in it:
if entry.is_file():
total += entry.stat().st_size
elif entry.is_dir():
total += get_dir_size(entry.path)
return total
print(get_dir_size('data/src'))
# 56130856
This function uses os.scandir() to iterate over os.DirEntry objects, representing files and directories in the specified directory.
For each entry, the is_file() and is_dir() methods check if it is a file or a directory. For files, the size is acquired from the st_size attribute of the stat_result object returned by the stat() method. For directories, this function is called recursively to sum the sizes of all contained files and subdirectories.
By default, is_file() and is_dir() return True for symbolic links to files and directories, respectively. To ignore symbolic links, set the follow_symlinks argument to False in both methods.
To exclude subdirectories from the calculation, remove the code segment shown below.
elif entry.is_dir():
total += get_dir_size(entry.path)
Passing a file path to the function results in an error. To handle both file and directory paths without error, define a wrapper function as follows.
def get_size(path='.'):
if os.path.isfile(path):
return os.path.getsize(path)
elif os.path.isdir(path):
return get_dir_size(path)
print(get_size('data/src'))
# 56130856
print(get_size('data/src/lena_square.png'))
# 473831
Get directory size with os.listdir() (Python 3.4 or earlier)
For Python 3.4 or earlier, use os.listdir(), since os.scandir() is unavailable.
Define a function as follows.
import os
def get_dir_size_old(path='.'):
total = 0
for p in os.listdir(path):
full_path = os.path.join(path, p)
if os.path.isfile(full_path):
total += os.path.getsize(full_path)
elif os.path.isdir(full_path):
total += get_dir_size_old(full_path)
return total
print(get_dir_size_old('data/src'))
# 56130856
The basic concept is the same as the function using os.scandir().
os.listdir() returns a list of file and directory names. Each name is joined with the parent directory path with os.path.join() to make a full path.
When dealing with symbolic links, os.path.isfile() and os.path.isdir() check the linked entities themselves. To specifically ignore symbolic links, use os.path.islink(), which returns True for them, and combine it with other conditions.
To exclude subdirectories from the calculation, remove the code segment shown below.
elif os.path.isdir(full_path):
total += get_dir_size_old(full_path)
Passing a file path to the function results in an error. To handle both file and directory paths without error, define a wrapper function as follows.
def get_size_old(path='.'):
if os.path.isfile(path):
return os.path.getsize(path)
elif os.path.isdir(path):
return get_dir_size_old(path)
print(get_size_old('data/src'))
# 56130856
print(get_size_old('data/src/lena_square.png'))
# 473831