python - Where does os.remove go?

Question

I've been using Python for a long time and have numerous scripts running all over my office. I use a few in particular scripts to back up then delete data. In these script I use os.remove function.

My question is: Where does the os.remove function delete items to?

• Does it delete them right off the HD?
• I know they don't go to the recycle bin
• Does it simply remove the item's link, but keep it on the HD somehow?

Answer 1

os.remove will call the operating system's unlink functionality, and delete the file from the disk.

Technically the OS/filesystem probably just marks the sectors as free, and removes the file entry from the directory, but that's up to the filesystem implementation.