How do I print to stderr in Python?

Better Stack Team
Updated on February 3, 2023

In Python, you can use the print() function to print to stderr by passing the value file=sys.stderr as a keyword argument. For example:

 
import sys

print("This is an error message", file=sys.stderr)

This will print the string "This is an error message" to the standard error stream.

Alternatively, you can use the sys.stderr.write() method to write a string to the standard error stream:

 
import sys

sys.stderr.write("This is an error message\n")

This will have the same effect as the print() function above.

Got an article suggestion? Let us know
Explore more
Licensed under CC-BY-NC-SA

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

We are hiring.

Software is our way of making the world a tiny bit better. We build tools for the makers of tomorrow.

Explore all positions →