python change default directory

Question

so I recently tried using playsound and the .mp3 is in the same folder as the .py, and it says it could not find the file.

I printed out the current directory and it says it's at C:\Users\me

Shouldn't this be at the same directory as where the .py script is at? This has been happening with my other python scripts where I have to explicitly give it the directory, whereas before I didn't have to and it was just where the python script was at.

Is there a setting for this?

Answer 1

The current directory is defined by where you execute the python file not the location of it. If you want to change the directory you can use the os module:

import os
os.chdir(PATH)

Answer 2

If you're looking for a file in the same directory as the executing python program:

basename = os.path.basename(__file__)
my_file_name = basename + "/myfile"
with open(my_file_name) as my_file:
 ...

The variable __file__ contains the full pathname of the currently executing Python program.