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How to Copy or Move a File

To copy a file from one location to another, use the shutil.copy() standard function:

import shutil

# Copy the file from the current location to the
# "Documents" folder.
shutil.copy("file.txt", "Documents/file.txt")

Likewise, this function can be used to rename.

shutil.copy("old-name.txt", "new-name.txt")

The shutil.copy2() function operates in a similar way but also attempts to copy the file's metadata.

On the other hand, shutil.move() takes the same arguments but removes the file from its original location.

# Move the file from the current location to the
# "Documents" folder.
shutil.move("file.txt", "Documents/file.txt")

shutil files

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