Importing .py files in Google Colab

Question

Is there any way to upload my code in .py files and import them in colab code cells?

The other way I found is to create a local Jupyter notebook then upload it to Colab, is it the only way?

Answer 1

You can save it first, then import it.

from google.colab import files
src = list(files.upload().values())[0]
open('mylib.py','wb').write(src)
import mylib

Update (nov 2018): Now you can upload easily by

• click at [>] to open the left pane
• choose file tab
• click [upload] and choose your [mylib.py]
• import mylib

Update (oct 2019): If you don't want to upload every time, you can store it in S3 and mount it to Colab, as shown in this gist

Update (apr 2020): Now that you can mount your Google Drive automatically. It is easier to just copy it from Drive than upload it.

• Store mylib.py in your Drive
• Open a new Colab
• Open the (left)side pane, select Files view
• Click Mount Drive then Connect to Google Drive
• Copy it by !cp drive/MyDrive/mylib.py .
• import mylib