Of course! In Python, you can remove files using modules from the standard library. The most common and recommended way is to use the pathlib module (available in Python 3.4+), but the older os module method is also widely used.

Here’s a complete guide covering both methods, including important safety checks.

The Recommended Method: pathlib (Modern & Object-Oriented)

The pathlib module treats filesystem paths as proper Python objects, which makes the code cleaner and less error-prone.

Basic File Removal

You use the Path.unlink() method to remove a file.

from pathlib import Path
# Define the path to the file you want to delete
file_to_delete = Path("my_test_file.txt")
# Check if the file exists before trying to delete it
if file_to_delete.exists():
    try:
        file_to_delete.unlink()
        print(f"File '{file_to_delete}' has been successfully deleted.")
    except OSError as e:
        print(f"Error: {file_to_delete} : {e.strerror}")
else:
    print(f"Error: The file '{file_to_delete}' does not exist.")

Handling Directories

To remove a directory, you must use the Path.rmdir() method. This will only work on empty directories.

from pathlib import Path
# Define the path to the directory you want to delete
dir_to_delete = Path("my_empty_directory")
# Check if the directory exists and is empty
if dir_to_delete.exists() and not any(dir_to_delete.iterdir()):
    try:
        dir_to_delete.rmdir()
        print(f"Directory '{dir_to_delete}' has been successfully deleted.")
    except OSError as e:
        print(f"Error: {dir_to_delete} : {e.strerror}")
else:
    print(f"Error: The directory '{dir_to_delete}' does not exist or is not empty.")

To remove a directory and all its contents (files and subdirectories), you can use shutil.rmtree(), which we'll cover in the os section below.

The Classic Method: os & shutil

The os module provides a more direct, string-based interface to the operating system. You'll often see this in older codebases.

Basic File Removal with os.remove()

This function removes a file. If the path points to a directory, it will raise an IsADirectoryError.

import os
# Define the path to the file you want to delete
file_to_delete = "my_test_file.txt"
# Check if the file exists before trying to delete it
if os.path.exists(file_to_delete):
    try:
        os.remove(file_to_delete)
        print(f"File '{file_to_delete}' has been successfully deleted.")
    except OSError as e:
        print(f"Error: {file_to_delete} : {e.strerror}")
else:
    print(f"Error: The file '{file_to_delete}' does not exist.")

Removing Directories with os.rmdir() and shutil.rmtree()

• os.rmdir(path): Deletes an empty directory. It will raise an OSError if the directory is not empty.

  
  （图片来源网络，侵删）

  import os
  dir_to_delete = "my_empty_directory"
  if os.path.isdir(dir_to_delete) and not os.listdir(dir_to_delete):
      try:
          os.rmdir(dir_to_delete)
          print(f"Directory '{dir_to_delete}' has been successfully deleted.")
      except OSError as e:
          print(f"Error: {dir_to_delete} : {e.strerror}")
  else:
      print(f"Error: The directory '{dir_to_delete}' does not exist or is not empty.")

• shutil.rmtree(path): This is the function you need to delete a directory and all of its contents. It's powerful but destructive, so use it with caution.

  import shutil
  import os
  dir_to_delete = "my_directory_with_content"
  if os.path.isdir(dir_to_delete):
      try:
          shutil.rmtree(dir_to_delete)
          print(f"Directory '{dir_to_delete}' and all its contents have been successfully deleted.")
      except OSError as e:
          print(f"Error: {dir_to_delete} : {e.strerror}")
  else:
      print(f"Error: The directory '{dir_to_delete}' does not exist.")

Summary: Which One to Use?

Recommendation: For any new Python code (3.4+), strongly prefer pathlib. It's more readable, less prone to errors with path separators (e.g., vs \), and its object-oriented approach is generally considered more Pythonic.

⚠️ Important Safety Tips

1. ALWAYS Check for Existence: Never try to delete a file or directory without first checking if it exists. Your program will crash with a FileNotFoundError if you don't.
2. Handle Permissions: Files and directories might be read-only or you might not have the necessary permissions. Always wrap your deletion logic in a try...except OSError block to gracefully handle these cases.
3. Be Careful with shutil.rmtree(): This function is irreversible. Once you run it, the data is gone (unless you have a backup). Double-check the path before executing it, especially in scripts that run automatically.
4. Consider Using a "Trash" or "Recycle Bin": For applications where users might want to recover deleted files, simply deleting the file is not enough. You would need to move the file to the system's trash/recycle bin directory. Libraries like send2trash can help with this.