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I need to create a list of folders each with multiple subfolders that are not nested. I have used

os.makedirs('folder/subfolder')

to create a folder and a subfolder but I can only make multiple nested folders work:

os.makedirs('folder/subfolder1/subfolder2/subfolder3')

where sub3 is nested in sub2 which is nested in sub1. What I want is for sub 1, 2 and 3 all to be nested in 'folder' together (3 folders inside 1 folder). I tried

os.makedirs('folder/(subfolder1, subfolder2)')

but that just creates a folder titled "(subfolder1, subfolder2)" Does anyone know the correct syntax for this? Is it even possible with the makedirs function?

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3 Answers 3

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16

Use a loop:

for i in range(1,100):
    os.makedirs(os.path.join('folder', 'subfolder' + str(i)))

Or, if you have the names in a list:

subfolder_names = []
for subfolder_name in subfolder_names:
    os.makedirs(os.path.join('folder', subfolder_name))

p.s.

In case to ignore already-exist folder

os.makedirs('/path/to/dir', exist_ok=True)
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4 Comments

Why not subfolders and subfolder?
I think it's more descriptive (Just subfolder could be anything; a handle, an ID etc.). Anyway, it's just a variable name!
Awesome, this works. I think I need two loops to create each folder and then create the list of subfolders within each folder.
How can I create another "level" of subfolders? I mean, I'd like to create a structure like this one: folder/(subfolder_1, subfolder_2, subfolder_3) where the subfolder between parenthesis are on the same second level, and then subfolder_1/(subfolder_1.1, subfolder_1.2), subfolder_2/(subfolder_2.1, subfolder_2.2), subfolder_3/(subfolder_3.1, subfolder_3.2)?
2

You can't do it in one call like that. Just put one call after another:

os.makedirs("folder/subfolder1")
os.makedir("folder/subfolder2")
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2 Comments

Darn. I have to create subs in about 100 folders. I was hoping it would be quicker.
You can use a loop to make it faster. for subfolder in subfolders: os.makedir(os.path.join("folder", subfolder))
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You can loop using a list comprehension, create the directory at each iteration using os.mkdir and assigning it a name that is the result of joining the base path to a given directory name.

import os

[os.mkdir(os.path.join("/folder", "subdir{}".format(i))) for i in range(100)]
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6 Comments

Could you explain it a bit, please?
@dawid-ferenczy Sure. It's a list comprehension python-3-patterns-idioms-test.readthedocs.org/en/latest/… with two nested methods from the os library.
No, sorry, I meant if you can edit your answer and add some explanation there (a little bit better than "It's a list comprehension"). It's not for me, rather for preventing the answer deletion in Low Quality Posts review and also for others. Stack Overflow users shouldn't just copy&paste answers, but rather understand a problem and be able to solve it themselves. But that means they need some explanation.
I understand and i'm sorry but the system doesn't allow me to edit the answer
Yep another user left his editing form open probably. Now i could edit.
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