How to import data into Google Colab Jupyter Noteook

Accesing data is one of the first step that we need when performing any data analysis. In this tutorial, we will see two ways of loading data into the google colab environment.

Uploading csv from local machine and loading into colab

Loading data from google drive to colab

Uploading CSV from local machine using IMPORT functionality.

Load import files library from google colab

upload file using the upload button control

Running below commands will allow us to upload data files into the colab environment. Once the Choose Files button is visible, after executing the below listed python commands, we can easily upload files from local directory.

from google.colab import files
uploaded = files.upload()

Saving DOLPHIN.csv to DOLPHIN.csv

To view the uploaded files

Below command allows us to verify if the file is uploaded correctly.

for fn in uploaded.keys():
  print('User uploaded file "{name}" with length {length} bytes'.format(name=fn, length=len(uploaded[fn])))

User uploaded file "DOLPHIN.csv" with length 117269 bytes



Reading the uploaded from into pandas dataframe and displaying results

After the data file is uploaded to the colab, we can use pandas functions to load data into python environment and continue our further analysis.

import pandas as pd
import io
df = pd.read_csv(io.StringIO(uploaded['DOLPHIN.csv'].decode('utf-8')))

print(df.head(2))

Load data from google drive:

Sometimes we may require to load data from google drive. Below commands will be useful in reading data from google drive. Here we assume that the data file to be loaded into python environemnt is already uploaded to Google Drive.

Step 1, we need to mount the google drive

Step 2, After mounting we need to provide authorization

Step 3, we can view the current list of files available at the mounted location

Step 4, Load data using pandas read_csv function

Go to this URL in a browser: https://accounts.google.com/o/oauth2/auth?client_id=947318989803-6bn6qk8qdgf4n4g3pfee6491hc0brc4i.apps.googleusercontent.com&redirect_uri=urn%3Aietf%3Awg%3Aoauth%3A2.0%3Aoob&scope=email%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.googleapis.com%2Fauth%2Fdocs.test%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.googleapis.com%2Fauth%2Fdrive%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.googleapis.com%2Fauth%2Fdrive.photos.readonly%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.googleapis.com%2Fauth%2Fpeopleapi.readonly&response_type=code
Enter your authorization code:
··········
Mounted at /content/gdrive


Note: My data files are located at MY DRIVE\COLAB NOTEBOOKS folder of my google drive account. Please change the code accordingly
After clicking the link and entering the authorization code, you can access your drive as follows:

!ls -la /content/gdrive/My\ Drive/Colab\ Notebooks/

total 230
-rw------- 1 root root 117269 Feb 23 06:43 DOLPHINOFFALLN.csv
-rw------- 1 root root 12104 Feb 23 06:46 ImportDatatoColab.ipynb
-rw------- 1 root root 8935 Sep 8 17:23 'Running first neural network model on google colaboratory'
-rw------- 1 root root 13498 Aug 25 17:19 SettingupDrive_GSPGC.ipynb
-rw------- 1 root root 81691 Nov 26 06:47 'Upload data to colab from google drive'

df2 = pd.read_csv('/content/gdrive/My Drive/Colab Notebooks/DOLPHINOFFALLN.csv')

print(df2.head(2))

TIP: We can Install new libraries in python environment inline using below command
Note that appending ! before pip command

!pip install matplotlib

Requirement already satisfied: matplotlib in /usr/local/lib/python3.6/dist-packages (3.0.2)
Requirement already satisfied: numpy>=1.10.0 in /usr/local/lib/python3.6/dist-packages (from matplotlib) (1.14.6)
Requirement already satisfied: cycler>=0.10 in /usr/local/lib/python3.6/dist-packages (from matplotlib) (0.10.0)
Requirement already satisfied: pyparsing!=2.0.4,!=2.1.2,!=2.1.6,>=2.0.1 in /usr/local/lib/python3.6/dist-packages (from matplotlib) (2.3.1)
Requirement already satisfied: kiwisolver>=1.0.1 in /usr/local/lib/python3.6/dist-packages (from matplotlib) (1.0.1)
Requirement already satisfied: python-dateutil>=2.1 in /usr/local/lib/python3.6/dist-packages (from matplotlib) (2.5.3)
Requirement already satisfied: six in /usr/local/lib/python3.6/dist-packages (from cycler>=0.10->matplotlib) (1.11.0)
Requirement already satisfied: setuptools in /usr/local/lib/python3.6/dist-packages (from kiwisolver>=1.0.1->matplotlib) (40.8.0)

References:

https://www.kdnuggets.com/2019/01/more-google-colab-environment-management-tips.html

https://www.kdnuggets.com/2018/02/essential-google-colaboratory-tips-tricks.html

Full code implementation: