How to List File Information in a Directory with Python

A helper that walks a directory and returns each file's name, size, and extension as a list of dictionaries.

Easy Python 3.9+ Aug 9, 2026 Files & data 12 views 0 copies

pathlib filesystem file-metadata directory helper

Python code

26 lines

Python 3.9+

from pathlib import Path


def get_files_data(directory: str) -> list[dict]:
    """Return basic info about all files in a directory."""
    files = []
    for path in Path(directory).iterdir():
        if path.is_file():
            files.append({
                "name": path.name,
                "size": path.stat().st_size,
                "extension": path.suffix,
            })
    return files


if __name__ == "__main__":
    import tempfile
    import os

    with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as tmp_dir:
        for fname, content in [("notes.txt", "hello"), ("data.csv", "1,2,3"), ("script.py", "print('hi')")]:
            Path(tmp_dir, fname).write_text(content)
        result = get_files_data(tmp_dir)
        for file_info in sorted(result, key=lambda f: f["name"]):
            print(file_info)

Output

stdout

{'name': 'data.csv', 'size': 5, 'extension': '.csv'}
{'name': 'notes.txt', 'size': 5, 'extension': '.txt'}
{'name': 'script.py', 'size': 13, 'extension': '.py'}

How it works

This function uses Path.iterdir() from the pathlib module, which provides a clean object-oriented way to work with file paths. Each Path object in the iteration is checked with .is_file() to skip subdirectories, then .stat().st_size gives the byte size and .suffix returns the file extension including the dot. The result is a list of dictionaries — a flexible format that's easy to convert to JSON or a DataFrame for further analysis.

Common mistakes

Forgetting to filter with `.is_file()`, which causes the function to choke on directories.
Using `Path(directory).glob('*')` when you don't need hidden files or existing filtering.
Assuming files will be returned in sorted order without explicitly sorting.

Variations

Use `os.listdir()` with `os.path.isfile()` if you prefer the older os module.
Convert the dictionary values directly to a pandas DataFrame for tabular analysis.

Real-world use cases

Building an inventory report of uploaded files in a storage bucket.
Creating a manifest of release artifacts before deploying to production.
Preparing a dataset list for a machine learning pipeline by scanning image or CSV files.

How to List File Information in a Directory with Python

Python code

Output

How it works

Common mistakes

Variations

Real-world use cases

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