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How do i change directory to the directory with my python script in? So far I figured out I should use os.chdir and sys.argv[0]. I'm sure there is a better way then to write my own function to parse argv[0].

Forge
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  • You can directly copy-paste this: `import os; os.chdir(os.path.dirname(__file__))` – Basj Feb 11 '18 at 21:52
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    Possible duplicate of [How do I change directory (cd) in Python?](https://stackoverflow.com/q/431684/608639) – jww Jan 31 '19 at 00:23

4 Answers4

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os.chdir(os.path.dirname(__file__))
ayrnieu
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  • for whatever reason __file__ was C:\dev\Python25\Lib\idlelib so a quick replace with argv[0] solved it. +1 and check marked –  Feb 04 '09 at 03:07
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    Also, depending on platform you may want to use `os.path.abspath` on the result of `os.path.dirname` to make sure any symbolic links or other filesystem redirection get expanded properly. – James Bennett Feb 04 '09 at 07:16
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os.chdir(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))) should do it.

os.chdir(os.path.dirname(__file__)) would not work if the script is run from the directory in which it is present.

iamas
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    It also works to write `os.chdir(os.path.dirname(__file__) or '.')`. The in-directory problem arises when `__file__` is not prefixed with `./`. `os.path.dirname` returns an empty string in that case. – George Aug 03 '14 at 20:12
  • Nice observation @George :) – iamas Oct 17 '14 at 15:09
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Sometimes __file__ is not defined, in this case you can try sys.path[0]

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on windows OS, if you call something like python somefile.py this os.chdir(os.path.dirname(__file__)) will throw a WindowsError. But this should work for all cases: 

import os
absFilePath = os.path.abspath(__file__)
os.chdir( os.path.dirname(absFilePath) )
Scott 混合理论
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