How to Fix the 'UnicodeError: 'unicodeescape' codec can't decode bytes' When Handling Windows File Paths in Python?

Unicode Error: Resolving "unicodeescape" Issue When Writing Windows File Paths

In Python 3.1 on Windows 7, attempting to read or write Windows file paths can result in a "Unicode Error 'unicodeescape' codec can't decode bytes" exception. This issue is often encountered when the default system language is Russian and UTF-8 encoding is used.

Root of the Problem

The error occurs because of invalid Unicode escapes in the file path. For instance, the path "C:UsersEricDesktopbeeline.txt" contains an invalid Unicode escape sequence "U in the "Users" directory. The following examples illustrate the problem:

>>> g = codecs.open("C:\Users\Eric\Desktop\beeline.txt", "r", encoding="utf-8")
>>> g = codecs.open("C:\Users\Eric\Desktop\Site.txt", "r", encoding="utf-8")
>>> g = codecs.open("C:\Python31\Notes.txt", "r", encoding="utf-8")

Solution

To resolve the issue, there are two main approaches:

1. Double Backslashes: Duplicate all backslashes in the file path to escape them, as seen in the example below:

>>> g = codecs.open("C:\Users\Eric\Desktop\beeline.txt", "r", encoding="utf-8")

2. Raw Strings: Prefix the file path with the letter 'r' to create a raw string, which prevents backslashes from being interpreted as escape characters:

>>> g = codecs.open(r"C:\Users\Eric\Desktop\beeline.txt", "r", encoding="utf-8")

By implementing one of these solutions, you can rectify the Unicode error and successfully open and access files with Russian characters in their paths.

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