Get the Latest File in a Folder using Python

To get the latest file in a folder using Python (where “type” represents the file type, such as csv, or txt):

import glob
import os.path

folder_path = r"path where your files are located"
file_type = r"\*type"
files = glob.glob(folder_path + file_type)
max_file = max(files, key=os.path.getctime)

print(max_file)

Steps to get the Latest File in a Folder using Python

Step 1: Capture the Path where the files are stored

To begin, capture the path where your files are currently stored.

For example, assume that 2 CSV files are stored in a ‘Test‘ folder, where the path to the folder is:

C:\Users\Ron\Desktop\Test

The names, and the creation date, of the files, are as follows:

You’ll notice that the:

• First file, called Furniture, was created on 2024-01-09 8:04 PM
• Second file, called Products, was created 6 minutes later on 2024-01-09 8:10 PM

The ultimate goal is to get the latest file created. In this case, it would be the ‘Products’ file.

Step 2: Get the Latest File in the Folder using Python

To get the latest CSV file in the folder using Python:

import glob
import os.path

folder_path = r"C:\Users\Ron\Desktop\Test"
file_type = r"\*csv"
files = glob.glob(folder_path + file_type)
max_file = max(files, key=os.path.getctime)

print(max_file)

Run the code in Python (adjusted to you path), and you’ll get the latest CSV file (here it is ‘Products’):

C:\Users\Ron\Desktop\Test\Products.csv

Step 3 (optional step): Import the Latest File into Python

You can use Pandas in order to import the latest CSV file into Python:

import glob
import os.path
import pandas as pd

folder_path = r"C:\Users\Ron\Desktop\Test"
file_type = r"\*csv"
files = glob.glob(folder_path + file_type)
max_file = max(files, key=os.path.getctime)

import_file = pd.read_csv(max_file)
print(import_file)

You’ll then see the following data from the Products file:

   product_id  product_name  price
0           1          Oven    800
1           2     Microwave    350
2           3       Toaster     80
3           4  Refrigerator   1100
4           5    Dishwasher    900