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How to print to stderr in Python?

Last Updated : April 27, 2025

The print() method in Python3 supports a file argument, which specifies where the function should write to given objects to. If not specified, then the print statements has defaulted to sys.stdout.

Print to stderr using Python 2

You can print error messages by writing to sys.stderr instead of the standard output.

Example

import sys
print >> sys.stderr , "Include help for learning"

The output of the above example is:

Include help for learning

Print to stderr using Python 3

In Python 3, You can send error messages by specifying file=sys.stderr in the print() function.

Example

import sys
print('Include help for learning', file = sys.stderr)

The output of the above example is:

Include help for learning

Print multiple variables to stderr

You can print multiple variables to stderr using Python 3 by passing them into print() with file=sys.stderr specified.

Example

# Python code for printing to stderr

# importing the package
import sys # for sys.stderr

# variables
name = "Mike"
age = 21
city = "Washington, D.C."

print("printing to stderr...")
print(name, age, city, file=sys.stderr)

The output of the above example is:

printing to stderr...
Mike 21 Washington, D.C.

Exercise

Select the correct option to complete each statement about printing to standard error (stderr) in Python.

1. In Python, you can access the standard error stream using the ___ object. --Select-- sys.stderr sys.stdout os.stderr
2. To print to stderr, you typically use the ___ function with the file parameter set to sys.stderr. --Select-- print write printf
3. Before using sys.stderr, you need to ___ the sys module. --Select-- import include define

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