["python","cross-platform","home-directory"]
What is a cross-platform way to get the home directory?

I need to get the location of the home directory of the current logged-on user. Currently, I've been using the following on Linux: os.getenv("HOME") However, this does not work on Windows. What is the correct cross-platform way to do this ?
On Python 3.5+ you can use pathlib.Path.home(): from pathlib import Path home = Path.home() # example usage: with open(home / ".ssh" / "known_hosts") as f: lines = f.readlines() to get a pathlib.PosixPath object. Use str() to convert to a string if necessary. On older Python versions, you can use os.path.expanduser. from os.path import expanduser home = expanduser("~")