Of course! In Python, the standard way to get the "short path" (also known as the 8.3 path or short name) is by using the win32api module from the pywin32 library.

This is a Windows-specific function and will not work on macOS or Linux.

What is a "Short Path"?

The short path is a legacy feature from MS-DOS and Windows 95/98. It provides an alternative, shorter way to access files and folders with long names or spaces.

• Long Path: C:\Users\My Very Long User Name\Documents\Project Final Report.docx
• Short Path: C:\Users\MyVer~1\Docume~1\Proje~1.docx

It consists of an 8-character base name and a 3-character extension, separated by a tilde (), followed by a number to avoid conflicts.

Method 1: Using pywin32 (Recommended)

This is the most common and reliable method. You first need to install the library.

Step 1: Install pywin32

Open your command prompt or terminal and run:

pip install pywin32

Step 2: Python Code

The function GetShortPathName from the win32api module does exactly what you need.

import win32api
def get_short_path(long_path):
    """
    Gets the short path (8.3 path) for a given long path on Windows.
    Args:
        long_path (str): The full long path to a file or directory.
    Returns:
        str: The short path, or the original path if an error occurs.
    """
    try:
        # The GetShortPathNameW function handles Unicode paths correctly.
        short_path = win32api.GetShortPathName(long_path)
        return short_path
    except Exception as e:
        print(f"Error getting short path for '{long_path}': {e}")
        return long_path # Return the original path on error
# --- Example Usage ---
# A path with spaces and a long name
long_path_example = r"C:\Users\My User\My Documents\My Very Long Project Name\final_report_v2.docx"
# Get the short path
short_path = get_short_path(long_path_example)
print(f"Long Path:  {long_path_example}")
print(f"Short Path: {short_path}")
# Example with a directory
long_dir_example = r"C:\Program Files\My Application"
short_dir = get_short_path(long_dir_example)
print(f"\nLong Dir:   {long_dir_example}")
print(f"Short Dir:  {short_dir}")

Explanation

1. import win32api: Imports the necessary module from the pywin32 library.
2. win32api.GetShortPathName(long_path): This is the core Windows API call. It takes a long path string and returns its corresponding 8.3 short path.
3. Error Handling: The try...except block is important because the function can raise an exception if the path doesn't exist, for example. Returning the original path in case of error makes the function more robust.

Method 2: Using ctypes (No External Dependencies)

If you cannot or do not want to install pywin32, you can call the Windows API directly using Python's built-in ctypes library. This avoids external dependencies but is more verbose.

import ctypes
from ctypes import wintypes
# Define the Windows API function and its arguments
kernel32 = ctypes.WinDLL('kernel32', use_last_error=True)
# Function prototype for GetShortPathNameW (W for Wide/Unicode)
GetShortPathNameW = kernel32.GetShortPathNameW
GetShortPathNameW.argtypes = [
    wintypes.LPCWSTR,  # lpszLongPath
    wintypes.LPWSTR,   # lpszShortPath
    wintypes.DWORD     # cchBuffer
]
GetShortPathNameW.restype = wintypes.DWORD
def get_short_path_ctypes(long_path):
    """
    Gets the short path using ctypes (no external dependencies).
    """
    # The maximum path length in Windows is 260 characters, including the null terminator.
    # We'll allocate a buffer of 260 wide characters (wchar).
    buffer_size = 260
    buffer = ctypes.create_unicode_buffer(buffer_size)
    # Call the Windows API function
    result_length = GetShortPathNameW(long_path, buffer, buffer_size)
    # Check for errors
    if result_length == 0:
        error_code = ctypes.get_last_error()
        # You can look up error_code to get a more specific error message
        print(f"Error getting short path. Error code: {error_code}")
        return long_path
    # The function returns the number of characters written (not including null terminator).
    # The buffer now contains the short path.
    return buffer.value
# --- Example Usage ---
long_path_example = r"C:\Users\My User\My Documents\My Very Long Project Name\final_report_v2.docx"
short_path = get_short_path_ctypes(long_path_example)
print(f"Long Path:  {long_path_example}")
print(f"Short Path: {short_path}")

When to Use This?

Getting short paths is generally not needed for modern applications, as long paths are well-supported. However, you might need it for:

• Interacting with old legacy systems or scripts that only understand 8.3 paths.
• Working with very old command-line tools that have trouble parsing long paths with spaces.
• Squeezing a path into a very limited-length field in a legacy file format or database.

For almost all modern Python development on Windows, you should use the full long path.