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We can use [Python os module](/community/tutorials/python-os-module) splitext() function to get the file extension. This function splits the file path into a tuple having two values – root and extension.
Getting File Extension in Python
Here is a simple program to get the file extension in Python.
import os
# unpacking the tuple
file_name, file_extension = os.path.splitext("/Users/pankaj/abc.txt")
print(file_name)
print(file_extension)
print(os.path.splitext("/Users/pankaj/.bashrc"))
print(os.path.splitext("/Users/pankaj/a.b/image.png"))
Output:
- In the first example, we are directly unpacking the tuple values to the two variables.
- Note that the .bashrc file has no extension. The dot is added to the file name to make it a hidden file.
- In the third example, there is a dot in the directory name.
Get File Extension using Pathlib Module
We can also use pathlib module to get the file extension. This module was introduced in Python 3.4 release.
>>> import pathlib
>>> pathlib.Path("/Users/pankaj/abc.txt").suffix
'.txt'
>>> pathlib.Path("/Users/pankaj/.bashrc").suffix
''
>>> pathlib.Path("/Users/pankaj/.bashrc")
PosixPath('/Users/pankaj/.bashrc')
>>> pathlib.Path("/Users/pankaj/a.b/abc.jpg").suffix
'.jpg'
>>>
Conclusion
It's always better to use the standard methods to get the file extension. If you are already using the os module, then use the splitext() method. For the object-oriented approach, use the pathlib module.
