How to Write a String to a Text File using Python

In this tutorial, you will save a string as text file using Python.

# create a new file, if file does not exist. Do nothing, if file exists.
with open("target-path/file_name.txt", "x") as file:
  file.write("a string")

# create a new file - overwrites if the file already exists
with open("target-path/file_name.txt", "w") as file:
  file.write("a string")

# read and append to an existing file
with open("path-to-file/file_name.txt", "a") as file:
  file.write(" additional text")

Example 1: Create a New Text File

Let's say, you want to save the string "Hello" as helloworld.txt on your desktop, where no file other text file with that name exists. The following code achieves that:

import os

desktop_path = os.path.expanduser("~/Desktop")

with open(desktop_path + "/helloworld.txt", "x") as file:
  file.write("Hello")

Example 2: Overwrite a Text File

Suppose, you already have a file called helloworld.txt on your desktop. The following code overwrites it:

import os

desktop_path = os.path.expanduser("~/Desktop")

with open(desktop_path + "/helloworld.txt", "w") as file:
  file.write("Hello")

Example 3: Read a Text File and Add Text

Suppose, you already have a file called helloworld.txt on your desktop, which holds the string "Hello". The following code appends the string " World!" to that file:

import os

desktop_path = os.path.expanduser("~/Desktop")

with open(desktop_path + "/helloworld.txt", "a") as file:
  file.write(" World!")

Example 4: Create a Text File From a List of Strings

Now if you write a list of strings to a text file, use a for loop and append a newline character to each string:

import os

desktop_path = os.path.expanduser("~/Desktop")

string_list = ['Hello', 'World!']

with open(desktop_path + "/helloworld.txt", "w") as file:
  for string in string_list:
      file.write(string + '\n')

That's it! You just learned how to create a text file in Python.