In Python reading a file line-by-line into a list is a common task when working with a text files. Here are multiple ways to achieve this in a clean and efficient way.
Method 1: Using readlines()
Read all lines at once into a list of strings.
python
with open("example.txt", "r") as file: lines = file.readlines()
print(lines)
Each line becomes an item in the list including newline characters (\n).
Method 2: Using a Loop with append()
Reads lines one by one and appends manually.
python
lines = []with open("example.txt", "r") as file:
for line in file:
lines.append(line)
print(lines)
More memory efficient for large files than readlines().
Method 3: Using List Comprehension
A clean one-liner to read and strip lines.
python
with open("example.txt", "r") as file: lines = [line.strip() for line in file]
print(lines)
Strips newline characters and gives a clean list of lines.
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Method 4: Reading File Without Newline Characters
If you don’t want trailing \n in your list items.
python
with open("example.txt", "r") as file: lines = file.read().splitlines()
print(lines)
splitlines() is useful when you want a newline-free version.
Tip
Always use with open(...) to auto close the file. For large files, avoid readlines() unless you really need to load everything at once.
