1. Hold Win and press Pause.
  2. Click Advanced System Settings.
  3. Click Environment Variables.
  4. Append ;C:\python27 to the Path variable.
  5. Restart Command Prompt.
Answer from melhosseiny on Stack Overflow
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Stack Overflow
stackoverflow.com › questions › 6318156 › adding-python-to-path-on-windows
Adding Python to PATH on Windows - Stack Overflow
Top answer
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  1. Hold Win and press Pause.
  2. Click Advanced System Settings.
  3. Click Environment Variables.
  4. Append ;C:\python27 to the Path variable.
  5. Restart Command Prompt.
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When setting Environmental Variables in Windows, I have gone wrong on many, many occasions. I thought I should share a few of my past mistakes here hoping that it might help someone. (These apply to all Environmental Variables, not just when setting Python Path)

Watch out for these possible mistakes:

  1. Kill and reopen your shell window: Once you make a change to the ENVIRONMENTAL Variables, you have to restart the window you are testing it on.
  2. NO SPACES when setting the Variables. Make sure that you are adding the ;C:\Python27 WITHOUT any spaces. (It is common to try C:\SomeOther; C:\Python27 That space (␣) after the semicolon is not okay.)
  3. USE A BACKWARD SLASH when spelling out your full path. You will see forward slashes when you try echo $PATH but only backward slashes have worked for me.
  4. DO NOT ADD a final backslash. Only C:\Python27 NOT C:\Python27\
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July 23, 2026 - The quick fix for this is just adding your new Python directory before the old Python directory, though you’d probably want to clean your system of the bad Python installation too.
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October 25, 2025 -

So the answer I've been getting is add python to environment variables which I have done

But I still get the error when running from user/downloads

python -c "from pdf2docx import Converter"

The system cannot execute the specified program.

p.s why are we banning images makes things so much more complicated?

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Reinstall Python from https://python.org . During the first step in setup, there'll be an option to add Python to PATH. Select it
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Images are banned so you post code blocks instead of screenshots/picture of your code, I'm assuming. It's much easier to diagnose and troubleshoot from a code block than a picture.
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r/pythontips on Reddit: What if you forget to add Python to PATH?
August 20, 2021 -

If you forget to add Python to the PATH, you won't be able to run Python in your command line from any other directory.

You will get a message saying,

'python' is not recognized as an internal or external command.

This is because Windows is trying to search for Python in its PATH variable and is unable to find it.

Here is a step-by-step instruction to add Python to the PATH variable in Windows 10.

  1. Copy the directory to which Python is being installed.

  2. Search for System Properties in the Search Bar.

  3. Click on the "Environment Variables" button in System Properties.

  4. Click on the "Path" variable and then click on "Edit".

  5. Now here's the deal. Pay Attention! Paste the directory path from Step 1 at the top of the list. You can use the "Move up" button to get it to the top. Now click on "Ok".

Now you can open up your command line and run python. The Python interactive shell will open up.

*Here is a little extra tip! *

Add the Scripts folder to the PATH variable too. This is the folder where all your libraries will be installed.

If the instructions are not clear enough for you, you can also check out the visual guide containing images of every step, on my blog for achieving the above objective.

Good luck and let me know!

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Try typing "py" which is the python launcher. It lives in C:\windows\ so is on the path. It allows you to choose which version of Python to launch if you have more than one. Use "py -h" to see the options.
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thanks for sharing, i hadn't added the scripts path before and will now.
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105

For Windows 10/8/7:

  1. Open System Properties (Right click Computer in the start menu, or use the keyboard shortcut Win+Pause)
  2. Click Advanced system settings in the sidebar.
  3. Click Environment Variables...
  4. Select PATH in the System variables section
  5. Click Edit

  6. Add Python's path to the end of the list (the paths are separated by semicolons). For example:

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For Windows XP:

  1. Open System Properties (Type it in the start menu, or use the keyboard shortcut Win+Pause)
  2. Switch to the Advanced tab
  3. Click Environment Variables...
  4. Select PATH in the System variables section
  5. Click Edit

  6. Add Python's path to the end of the list (the paths are separated by semicolons). For example:

    C:\Windows;C:\Windows\System32;C:\Python27

  7. Test on a new terminal window or if using an integrated terminal within a text editor, close and restart your editor or the changes won't be applied.

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For anyone trying to achieve this with Python 3.3+, the Windows installer now includes an option to add python.exe to the system search path. Read more in the docs.

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June 13, 2020 - After installing Python and running it, you should see a pop up like the one below. Note that I will be using Windows 10. ... If you are new to Python go ahead and tick “add Python 3.7 to PATH.” It could be “Python 3.8” or the latest version.