Python | os.getcwd() method (original) (raw)

Last Updated : 15 Jun, 2026

os.getcwd() method returns the path of the current working directory. The current working directory is the folder from which the Python program is currently running or accessing files.

**Example: In the code below, we get and display the current working directory.

Python `

import os print(os.getcwd())

`

**Output

C:\Users\gfg0753\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code

**Explanation: os.getcwd() returns the path of the current working directory as a string.

Syntax

os.getcwd()

Returns a string representing the current working directory.

Examples

**Example 1: In the code below, we store the current working directory in a variable and print it.

Python `

import os cwd = os.getcwd() print("Current Directory:", cwd)

`

**Output

Current Directory: C:\Users\gfg0753\AppData\Local\Programs\Microsoft VS Code

**Explanation: os.getcwd() returns the current directory path, which is stored in cwd.

**Example 2: In the code below, we check whether the current directory path contains the folder name "Projects".

Python `

import os cwd = os.getcwd() print("Projects" in cwd)

`

**Output

False

**Explanation: "Projects" in cwd checks whether the folder name exists in the path returned by os.getcwd().

**Example 3: In the code below, we extract and display only the name of the current directory.

Python `

import os cwd = os.getcwd() print(os.path.basename(cwd))

`

**Output

Microsoft VS Code

**Explanation: os.path.basename(cwd) extracts the last folder name from the path returned by os.getcwd().