For Windows 10/8/7:
- Open
System Properties(Right clickComputerin the start menu, or use the keyboard shortcut Win+Pause) - Click
Advanced system settingsin the sidebar. - Click
Environment Variables... - Select
PATHin theSystem variablessection - Click
Edit 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
For Windows XP:
- Open
System Properties(Type it in the start menu, or use the keyboard shortcut Win+Pause) - Switch to the
Advancedtab - Click
Environment Variables... - Select
PATHin theSystem variablessection - Click
Edit Add Python's path to the end of the list (the paths are separated by semicolons). For example:
C:\Windows;C:\Windows\System32;C:\Python27Test 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.
For Windows 10/8/7:
- Open
System Properties(Right clickComputerin the start menu, or use the keyboard shortcut Win+Pause) - Click
Advanced system settingsin the sidebar. - Click
Environment Variables... - Select
PATHin theSystem variablessection - Click
Edit 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
For Windows XP:
- Open
System Properties(Type it in the start menu, or use the keyboard shortcut Win+Pause) - Switch to the
Advancedtab - Click
Environment Variables... - Select
PATHin theSystem variablessection - Click
Edit Add Python's path to the end of the list (the paths are separated by semicolons). For example:
C:\Windows;C:\Windows\System32;C:\Python27Test 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.
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.
python - How to add to the PYTHONPATH in Windows, so it finds my modules/packages? - Stack Overflow
Python and the PATH variable in Windows 10
command line - How to set a environment variable for a python script on windows10? - Stack Overflow
How to add Anaconda to path AFTER installation? (Windows 10)
Look at the example of what else is in your path statement. You don't include the exe name there, just the path to it.
More on reddit.comYou know what has worked for me really well on windows.
My Computer > Properties > Advanced System Settings > Environment Variables >
Just add the path as C:\Python27 (or wherever you installed python)
OR
Then under system variables I create a new Variable called PythonPath. In this variable I have C:\Python27\Lib;C:\Python27\DLLs;C:\Python27\Lib\lib-tk;C:\other-folders-on-the-path
This is the best way that has worked for me which I hadn't found in any of the docs offered.
EDIT: For those who are not able to get it, Please add
C:\Python27;
along with it. Else it will never work.
Windows 7 Professional I Modified @mongoose_za's answer to make it easier to change the python version:
- [Right Click]Computer > Properties >Advanced System Settings > Environment Variables
- Click [New] under "System Variable"
- Variable Name: PY_HOME, Variable Value:C:\path\to\python\version
- Click [OK]
- Locate the "Path" System variable and click [Edit]
Add the following to the existing variable:
%PY_HOME%;%PY_HOME%\Lib;%PY_HOME%\DLLs;%PY_HOME%\Lib\lib-tk;
Click [OK] to close all of the windows.
As a final sanity check open a command prompt and enter python. You should see
>python [whatever version you are using]
If you need to switch between versions, you only need to modify the PY_HOME variable to point to the proper directory. This is bit easier to manage if you need multiple python versions installed.
Do you remember checking the box in the image shown below to add your Python installation to PATH in Windows 10?
Adding Python to PATHWell, I was curious! What if someone accidentally forgot to check that little radio button? What would be the possible recovery steps?
So I spent my evening yesterday uninstalling Python and re-installing to figure out a way to add Python to the PATH post-installation.
If you forget to add Python to the PATH variable, you won't be able to run Python in your command line.
You will get a message saying,
‘python' is not recognized as an internal or external command.
Here are the steps I used to add Python to the PATH variable in Windows 10.
-
Copy the directory to which Python is being installed.
-
Search for System Properties in the Search Bar.
-
Click on the "Environment Variables" button in System Properties.
-
Click on the "Path" variable and then click on "Edit".
-
Now here's the deal. 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".
I found out that if you paste the path at the end, it still doesn't work. Can someone tell me why?
Anyways, if the steps are not clear to anyone, here is a visual guide containing images of every step, on my blog for achieving the above objective. If you are interested, do take a look.
If you made the python an exe and cd into the directory or add it to your environment variables you could call it by myfile or myfile.exe
Another way would be to make a batch file that contains
python C:/my/path/to/python/file.py
and name it myfile which would allow you to call the batch file and it would type out the rest
Also if you cd into C:/my/path/to/python you could type python file.py instead of the whole path.
You can basically create Custom Environment Variables. This link will guide how can you do that.
Link: Create Custom Environment Variables in Windows
The file option is interesting because it means you can also create an environment variable to launch a program. For example, you can point an environment variable to any EXE file on your system. When you invoke the variable, it will launch the program. If you have a custom executable program file stored in some random directory on your PC, this is an easy way to launch it without having to go look for it.
Or if you want to run your python script from anywhere, technically not anywhere but from other directory also then you can create a .bat file. And opening that .bat will automatically run your python script. You can create a .bat by :
- Right click create a new file. Name it as
script.bat. - Right click on
script.batand open it in Notepad. - Copy/paste this script
python C:/my/path/to/python/file.py - Save it and run that
script.bat. It will automatically run youfile.pyfrom here. You can placescript.batin your preferred place like indesktop.