Python - OSError: [WinError 17] The system cannot move the file to a different disk drive:

Question

I'm using

os.rename()

to try to move pdf files between drives. Attempting this I receive the error:

OSError: [WinError 17] The system cannot move the file to a different disk drive

Is anyone aware of a function which contains similar functionality to os.rename and allows for across disk file transfer?

http://docs.python.org/2/library/shutil.html – kylieCatt Jan 14 '14 at 14:54 — kylieCatt, Jan 14 '14 at 14:54

score 53 · Accepted Answer · edited Feb 19 '23 at 16:21

53

os.rename() change the path of the file but doesn't move its actual data on the disk. this is why you can't move (rename) it from one drive to another.

moving between drives is actually copy it first, and then delete the source file. you can use shutil.move() method which do it when you trying to transfer files between two drives

import shutil
shutil.move(src, dest)

edited Feb 19 '23 at 16:21

Neuron

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answered Jan 14 '14 at 14:58

Elisha

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Python - OSError: [WinError 17] The system cannot move the file to a different disk drive:

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