Finding the largest file in a directory using Python

Last Updated : 29 Dec, 2020

In this article, we will find the file having the largest size in a given directory using Python. We will check all files in the main directory and each of its subdirectories.

Modules required:
os:
The os module in Python provides a way of using operating system dependent functionality. OS module is available with Python’s Standard Library and does not require installation.

Explanation:

The folder path is taken as input. We then walk through the entire directory using os.walk() function.
os.walk() returns a tuple containing the root folder name, a list of subdirectories and a list of files.
os.stat() is used to get the status of the file and st_size attribute returns its size in bytes.

Below is the implementation.

import os 
  
  
# folder path input 
print("Enter folder path") 
path = os.path.abspath(input()) 
  
# for storing size of each  
# file 
size = 0
  
# for storing the size of  
# the largest file 
max_size = 0
  
# for storing the path to the  
# largest file 
max_file ="" 
  
# walking through the entire folder, 
# including subdirectories 
  
for folder, subfolders, files in os.walk(path): 
      
    # checking the size of each file 
    for file in files: 
        size = os.stat(os.path.join( folder, file  )).st_size 
          
        # updating maximum size 
        if size>max_size: 
            max_size = size 
            max_file = os.path.join( folder, file  ) 
  
print("The largest file is: "+max_file) 
print('Size: '+str(max_size)+' bytes') 

Output:

Input:
Enter folder path
/Users/tithighosh/Downloads/wordpress

Output:
The largest file is: /Users/tithighosh/Downloads/wordpress/wp-includes/js/dist/components.js
Size: 1792316 bytes

Input:
Enter folder path
/Users/tithighosh/Desktop

Output:
The largest file is: /Users/tithighosh/Desktop/new/graph theory.pdf
Size: 64061656 bytes

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