Is there a way to insert an extra "\" into a string in Python?

Question

I am trying to turn the regular '\' (single backslash) in a file path, which the user inputs in the form of a string, to two backslashes.

Is there a way to do this?

`print(mystring.replace("\\", "\\\\"))` - compare with `print(mystring)` — alani, Jul 16 '20 at 00:06
Does this answer your question? [python replace single backslash with double backslash](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/17327202/python-replace-single-backslash-with-double-backslash) — wjandrea, Jul 16 '20 at 01:35
Also related: [How to double a char in a string?](https://stackoverflow.com/q/22605967/4518341), [Replace part of a string in Python?](https://stackoverflow.com/q/10037742/4518341), maybe [Why do backslashes appear twice?](https://stackoverflow.com/q/24085680/4518341) and [Windows path in Python](https://stackoverflow.com/q/2953834/4518341) — wjandrea, Jul 16 '20 at 01:35

Damião Martins · Answer 1 · 2020-07-16T02:05:20.997

2

Did you try the str.replace?

>>> s = 'C:\\Users'
>>> s = s.replace('\\', '\\\\')
>>> s
'C:\\\\Users'
>>> print(s)
C:\\Users

edited Jul 16 '20 at 02:05

answered Jul 16 '20 at 00:09

Damião Martins

I edited the code already, but just wanted to mention, don't use `input` as a variable name since it shadows the builtin `input()`. – wjandrea Jul 16 '20 at 01:25

score 2 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 16 '20 at 00:14

2

You do not need any special handling:

 a = 'abc\def'
 print(repr(a))
 #'abc\\def'
 print(a)
 #'abc\def'

answered Jul 16 '20 at 00:14

Danizavtz

Note that `'\d'` will be invalid in a future version of Python. You should write `'\\d'` instead. See [docs](https://docs.python.org/3/reference/lexical_analysis.html#index-23). – wjandrea Jul 16 '20 at 01:22

score 2 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 16 '20 at 01:25

2

Here is how you can use an r string:

path = input("Input the path: ")
print(path.replace('\\',r'\\'))

Input:

Input the path: C:\Users\User\Desktop
C:\\Users\\User\\Desktop

answered Jul 16 '20 at 01:25

Ann Zen

score 0 · Answer 4 · edited Jul 16 '20 at 01:37

0

Would definitely go with the .replace() method:

object.replace("\\", "\\\\")

edited Jul 16 '20 at 01:37

Ann Zen

answered Jul 16 '20 at 00:59

Michele Giglioni

The syntax is wrong. You need to double the backslashes. Anyway this method was [already posted](https://stackoverflow.com/a/62925525/4518341). – wjandrea Jul 16 '20 at 01:23

4 Answers4