File Methods
Last Updated : 5th September 2025
In Python, files have several methods that allow you to perform various operations on the file.
- read(): Reads the entire content of the file and returns it as a string.
- readline(): Reads a single line from the file and returns it as a string.
- readlines(): Reads all the lines of the file and returns them as a list of strings.
- write(): Writes the given content to the file.
- writelines(): Writes a list of strings to the file.
- close(): Closes the file.
- flush(): Flushes the file buffer.
We cover already in previous section
- tell(): Returns the current position of the file pointer.
file = open("example.txt", "r")
position = file.tell()
print(position)
content = file.read()
print(content)
position = file.tell()
print(position)
file.close()
- seek(): Moves the file pointer to a specific position in the file.
file = open("example.txt", "r")
content = file.read()
print(content)
file.seek(0)
content = file.read()
print(content)
with open("data.txt", "r") as f:
print(f.read(5)) # first 5 chars
print(f.tell()) # position
f.seek(0) # reset pointer
print(f.read(5)) # again first 5 chars
- readable(): Returns True if the file is readable, False otherwise.
- writable(): Returns True if the file is writable, False otherwise.
- closed(): Returns True if the file is closed, False otherwise.
- seekable(): Returns True if the file is seekable, False otherwise.
💡 Quick Practice
