Python | os.path.getmtime() method (original) (raw)

Last Updated : 15 Jun, 2026

os.path.getmtime() is used to get the last modification time of a file or directory. It returns the modification time as the number of seconds since the Unix epoch. This method is useful for checking when a file was last updated.

**Example: The following example gets the last modification time of a file.

Python `

import os path = "sample.txt" t = os.path.getmtime(path) print(t)

`

**Output

1718275200.0

**Explanation: os.path.getmtime(path) returns the last modification time of the specified file as a floating-point value.

Syntax

os.path.getmtime(path)

• **Parameters: path - Path of the file or directory whose modification time is to be retrieved.
• **Return Value: Returns a floating-point number representing the last modification time in seconds since the epoch.

Examples

**Example 1: This example retrieves the modification time and converts it into a human-readable date and time format using the time module.

Python `

import os import time

path = "sample.txt" t = os.path.getmtime(path) print(time.ctime(t))

`

**Output

Sat Jun 13 10:45:20 2026

**Explanation: time.ctime(t) converts the timestamp returned by os.path.getmtime() into a readable date and time string.

**Example 2: This example compares modification times of two files and identifies the most recently modified file.

Python `

import os

f1 = "file1.txt" f2 = "file2.txt"

if os.path.getmtime(f1) > os.path.getmtime(f2): print(f1) else: print(f2)

`

**Output

file2.txt

**Explanation: os.path.getmtime() is used on both files and the file with the greater timestamp is the one modified more recently.

**Example 3: This example safely checks the modification time and handles the case where the file does not exist.

Python `

import os path = "data.txt"

try: print(os.path.getmtime(path)) except OSError: print("File does not exist or cannot be accessed")

`

**Output

File does not exist or cannot be accessed

**Explanation: If os.path.getmtime(path) cannot access the specified file, it raises an OSError, which is handled using try-except.