How to list files in a directory in Python
Path('.').iterdir() lists direct children. Path('.').rglob('*.py') walks the tree matching a pattern.
from pathlib import Path
for p in Path(".").iterdir():
print(p.name).iterdir() yields Path objects for every immediate child of the directory — files, subdirectories, and symlinks. It's lazy: even on directories with millions of entries it returns an iterator that you can filter without loading everything into memory.
For recursive listing use .rglob(pattern) — 'r' for recursive. Path('.').rglob('*.py') walks the entire tree and yields every Python file. Path('src').rglob('*.tsx') is similarly restricted to a subtree.
Filter with a comprehension: [p for p in Path('.').iterdir() if p.is_file() and p.suffix == '.txt']. Avoid os.listdir() in new code — it returns strings and doesn't give you the Path methods.
Variations
Only .py files, recursive
for p in Path(".").rglob("*.py"):
print(p)rglob does the whole tree in one call.
Only files, one level
files = [p for p in Path(".").iterdir() if p.is_file()]Excludes subdirectories and hidden system entries.
Sorted by name
for p in sorted(Path(".").iterdir()):
print(p.name)iterdir has no guaranteed order — sorted() gives you a stable one.
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