File Metadata in Python

Retrieve basic file metadata like size and modification time.

IntermediateFile Handling ProgramsExample 17 of 20
file-metadata.py
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1# Program to get file metadata
2
3import os
4import time
5
6filename = input("Enter filename: ")
7
8try:
9 stats = os.stat(filename)
10 print("Size (bytes):", stats.st_size)
11 print("Last modified:", time.ctime(stats.st_mtime))
12except FileNotFoundError:
13 print("File not found.")

Output

Enter filename: notes.txt
Size (bytes): 120
Last modified: Mon Nov 25 10:30:00 2025

What's going on

os.stat returns an object with size, timestamps, and other low-level metadata; time.ctime renders timestamps nicely.