The shutil Module - Copying, Moving, and Deleting

diagram which shutil function keeps what mermaid

  flowchart TD
  A["copyfile(src, dst)"] --> B["contents only -- dst must be a FILE path"]
  C["copy(src, dst)"] --> D["contents + permissions"]
  E["copy2(src, dst)"] --> F["contents + permissions + timestamps"]
  G["copytree(src, dst)"] --> H["a whole directory, recursively"]
  I["move(src, dst)"] --> J["rename if possible, else copy+delete"]
  D --> K["dst may be a directory -- it copies INTO it"]
  F --> K
  J --> K
  L["rmtree(path)"] --> M["deletes recursively, with no confirmation and no undo"]

The four copying functions differ in what they carry across and what they accept as a destination. copyfile is bytes only and needs a filename; copy adds permissions and will accept a directory; copy2 additionally preserves the timestamps, which is what you want when the mtime is meaningful. Choosing the wrong one is how a backup ends up with every file dated today.

copy loses the modification time; copy2 keeps it — verified

Function	mtime preserved
shutil.copy	no
shutil.copy2	yes

That single difference decides whether a backup, a sync script or an archive keeps any record of when files were actually written. copytree uses copy2 by default, so a directory copy keeps timestamps while a file-by-file loop with copy does not — an inconsistency that is easy to introduce without noticing.

Also confirmed: given an existing directory as the destination, both copy and move place the file inside it rather than replacing it. Given an existing file, move overwrites it silently. There is no prompt and no backup, which is the argument for the dry-run pattern on the safety page.

What shutil is for

shutil (shell utilities) helps with:

• copying files/folders
• moving files
• removing directory trees

Copying files

copy_file.py

import shutil
 
shutil.copy2("source.txt", "backup_source.txt")

copy2 attempts to preserve metadata.

Copying folders

copy_tree.py

import shutil
 
shutil.copytree("my_folder", "my_folder_backup", dirs_exist_ok=True)

Moving files

move_file.py

import shutil
 
shutil.move("old/name.txt", "new/name.txt")

Deleting folders (danger!)

remove_tree.py

import shutil
 
shutil.rmtree("danger_folder")

Always do a dry run before destructive operations.

🧪 Try It Yourself

Exercise 1 – List Files with os.listdir

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Exercise 2 – Join Paths with os.path.join

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Exercise 3 – Write and Read a File

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