The json.load() method (without "s" in "load") can read a file directly:
Copyimport json
with open('strings.json') as f:
d = json.load(f)
print(d)
You were using the json.loads() method, which is used for string arguments only.
The error you get with json.loads is a totally different problem. In that case, there is some invalid JSON content in that file. For that, I would recommend running the file through a JSON validator.
There are also solutions for fixing JSON like for example How do I automatically fix an invalid JSON string?.
Answer from ubomb on Stack OverflowPython
docs.python.org › 3 › library › json.html
JSON encoder and decoder — Python 3.14.5 documentation
Identical to load(), but instead of a file-like object, deserialize s (a str, bytes or bytearray instance containing a JSON document) to a Python object using this conversion table.
GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org › python › json-load-in-python
json.load() in Python - GeeksforGeeks
April 3, 2026 - json.load() is a function from Python's built-in json module.
Videos
[Practice Problems] JSON in Python - Visually Explained
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Top answer 1 of 7
1093
The json.load() method (without "s" in "load") can read a file directly:
Copyimport json
with open('strings.json') as f:
d = json.load(f)
print(d)
You were using the json.loads() method, which is used for string arguments only.
The error you get with json.loads is a totally different problem. In that case, there is some invalid JSON content in that file. For that, I would recommend running the file through a JSON validator.
There are also solutions for fixing JSON like for example How do I automatically fix an invalid JSON string?.
2 of 7
136
Here is a copy of code which works fine for me,
Copyimport json
with open("test.json") as json_file:
json_data = json.load(json_file)
print(json_data)
with the data
Copy{
"a": [1,3,"asdf",true],
"b": {
"Hello": "world"
}
}
You may want to wrap your json.load line with a try catch, because invalid JSON will cause a stacktrace error message.
GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org › python › json-loads-in-python
json.loads() in Python - GeeksforGeeks
json.loads() is a function from Python’s built-in json module that converts a JSON-formatted string into a corresponding Python object.
Published January 13, 2026
Medium
medium.com › @gadallah.hatem › the-difference-between-json-loads-and-json-load-2dbd30065f26
The difference between json.loads() and json.load() in Python | by Hatem A. Gad | Medium
December 15, 2024 - Feature json.loads() json.load() Input JSON string (in memory). File object or stream (on disk or in memory). Output Python object (dict, list, etc.). Python object (dict, list, etc.). Use Case Parsing JSON strings (e.g., API responses). Parsing JSON files or streams.
freeCodeCamp
freecodecamp.org › news › how-to-use-the-json-module-in-python
How to Use the JSON Module in Python – A Beginner's Guide
June 5, 2023 - The json.load() function accepts a file object as an argument and returns deserialized JSON data in the form of Python objects such as dictionaries, lists, strings, numbers, booleans, and null values.
W3Schools
w3schools.com › python › python_json.asp
Python JSON
Python has a built-in package called json, which can be used to work with JSON data. ... If you have a JSON string, you can parse it by using the json.loads() method.
GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org › python › read-json-file-using-python
Read JSON file using Python - GeeksforGeeks
json.load() reads and parses JSON data from a file object. ... After deserialization, the top-level JSON object is typically converted into a Python dict or list, depending on the structure of the JSON data.
Published 3 weeks ago
Imperial College London
python.pages.doc.ic.ac.uk › java › lessons › java › 10-files › 03-load.html
Python for Java Programmers > Loading JSON files | Department of Computing | Imperial College London
To load your data from a JSON file, use json.load(file_object).
Codecademy
codecademy.com › docs › python › json module › .load()
Python | JSON Module | .load() | Codecademy
May 29, 2025 - The .load() method in Python’s JSON module is used to parse JSON data from a file-like object and convert it into a Python object. This method reads JSON content directly from files, such as .json files, and transforms the structured data ...
PYnative
pynative.com › home › python › json › python json parsing using json.load() and loads()
Python JSON Parsing using json.load() and loads()
May 14, 2021 - Understand use of json.loads() and load() to parse JSON. Read JSON encoded data from a file or string and convert it into Python dict
Analytics Vidhya
analyticsvidhya.com › home › python json.loads() and json.dump() methods
Python json.loads() and json.dump() methods - Analytics Vidhya
May 1, 2025 - The json.loads() function automatically converts JSON data types to their corresponding Python data types. For example, JSON strings are converted to Python strings, JSON numbers are converted to Python integers or floats, and JSON arrays are ...
Real Python
realpython.com › python-json
Working With JSON Data in Python – Real Python
August 20, 2025 - How can you read JSON data from a file into a Python program?Show/Hide · You can use the json.load() function to deserialize JSON data from a file into a Python object.
Medium
medium.com › @imrohitkushwaha2001 › understanding-json-loads-in-python-a-simple-guide-0b0dedd9e824
Understanding json.loads() in Python: A Simple Guide | by Rohit Kushwaha | Medium
July 8, 2025 - The function json.loads() parses a JSON-formatted string and converts it into a corresponding Python object.
OneUptime
oneuptime.com › home › blog › how to read and write json files in python
How to Read and Write JSON Files in Python
January 25, 2026 - # data = eval(json_string) # Allows code execution # Safe - Always do this data = json.loads(json_string) When loading JSON from untrusted sources, validate the structure:
Leapcell
leapcell.io › blog › how-to-read-json-in-python
How to Read JSON in Python | Leapcell
July 25, 2025 - Use json.loads() to parse JSON strings into Python objects.
Programiz
programiz.com › python-programming › json
Python JSON: Read, Write, Parse JSON (With Examples)
You can use json.load() method to read a file containing JSON object.
DEV Community
dev.to › pineapple_26 › python-load-json-from-file-14i2
Python Load Json From File - DEV Community
November 20, 2025 - The json.load() function reads JSON data directly from a file object and converts it to a Python dictionary or list.
GeeksforGeeks
geeksforgeeks.org › python › python-difference-between-json-load-and-json-loads
Difference Between json.load() and json.loads() - Python - GeeksforGeeks
July 3, 2025 - json.load() takes a file object and returns the json object. It is used to read JSON encoded data from a file and convert it into a Python dictionary and deserialize a file itself i.e.
Note.nkmk.me
note.nkmk.me › home › python
Load, Parse, Serialize JSON Files and Strings in Python | note.nkmk.me
August 6, 2023 - You can use json.load() to load JSON files into Python objects, such as dictionaries.