 <p>The backslash <code>\</code> is an <a href="http://pythonconquerstheuniverse.wordpress.com/2008/06/04/gotcha-%E2%80%94-backslashes-are-escape-characters/" rel="nofollow">escape character</a> in Python. So your actual filepath is going to be <code>D:\work\Kindle\srcs&lt;tab&gt;est1.html</code>. Use os.sep, escape the backslashes with <code>\\</code> or use a raw string by having <code>r'some text'</code>.</p>