Frequently asked questions#

Getting Anaconda#

How do I get previous versions of Anaconda or older versions of packages?

You can download previous versions of Anaconda from the Anaconda installer archive.

The installation procedures for previous versions are the same as the installation for the current version. For graphical installs, double click the downloaded installer file and follow the prompts. For command line installs, run “bash filename.sh” and follow the prompts. The installer filenames and hashes for previous versions will be different.

Older versions of packages can usually be downloaded from the package repository or from https://anaconda.org/anaconda/PackageName.

Note

Replace PackageName with the name of the desired package.

EXAMPLE: At https://anaconda.org/anaconda/beautifulsoup4, previous versions of beautifulsoup4 are shown on the Files tab.

You can also search for packages from the command line with conda search PackageName.

I am behind a firewall. How can I download Anaconda?

If your corporate security settings do not allow you to download a Windows .exe executable file, download our zipped file.

Installing Anaconda#

How can I install Anaconda on an air-gapped computer?

After you have the file, it’s the same as any other install. Save a local copy of the appropriate Anaconda installer for the non-networked computer. You can copy the Anaconda installer using many different methods including a portable hard drive, USB drive, or CD.

After copying the installer to the air-gapped machine, follow the installation instructions for your operating system.

In what folder should I install Anaconda on Windows?

Anaconda recommends installing Anaconda or Miniconda into a directory that contains only 7-bit ASCII characters and no spaces, such as C:\anaconda. Do not install into paths that contain spaces such as C:\Program Files or that include Unicode characters outside the 7-bit ASCII character set. This helps ensure correct operation and no errors when using any open-source tools in either Python 3 or Python 2 conda environments.

Should I add Anaconda to the Windows PATH?

When installing Anaconda, Anaconda recommends that you do not add Anaconda to the Windows PATH because this can interfere with other software. Instead, open Anaconda with the Start Menu and select Anaconda Prompt, or use Anaconda Navigator (Start Menu - Anaconda Navigator).

Should I add Anaconda to the macOS or Linux PATH?

Anaconda recommends against adding Anaconda to the PATH manually. During installation, you will be asked “Do you wish the installer to initialize Anaconda3 by running conda init?” Anaconda recommends entering yes to allow the installer to initialize Anaconda3. If you enter no, then conda will not modify your shell scripts at all. In order to initialize after the installation process is done, first run source <path to conda>/bin/activate and then run conda init.

Note

Replace <path-to-anaconda> with the actual path of your installed Anaconda file.

What is the default path for installing Anaconda?

If you accept the default option to install Anaconda on the “default path”, as of version 2024.02-1:

  • For pkg installers (such as osx-64 and osx-arm64), Anaconda is installed in /opt/anaconda3.

  • For sh installers, Anaconda is installed in the home directory.

Examples:

  • Windows 10: C:\Users\<your-username>\Anaconda3\

  • macOS: /Users/<your-username>/anaconda3 for the shell install, /opt/anaconda3 for the graphical install. See the MacOS install instructions.

  • Linux: /home/<your-username>/anaconda3

Caution

If your username includes spaces, as is common on Windows systems, you should not use the default path. See In what folder should I install Anaconda on Windows?

I already have Python installed. Can I install Anaconda?

You do not need to uninstall other Python installations or packages before installing Anaconda. Even if you already have a system Python, another Python installation from a source such as the macOS Homebrew package manager and globally installed packages from pip such as pandas and NumPy, you do not need to uninstall, remove, or change any of them.

Install Anaconda or Miniconda normally. There is no need to set the PYTHONPATH environment variable.

To see if the conda installation of Python is in your PATH variable:

  • On macOS and Linux, open the terminal and run echo $PATH.

  • On Windows, open Anaconda Prompt and run echo %PATH%.

To see which Python installation is currently set as the default:

  • On macOS and Linux, open the terminal and run which python.

  • On Windows, open Anaconda Prompt and run where python.

To see which packages are installed in your current conda environment and their version numbers, in your terminal window or Anaconda Prompt, run conda list.

How can I use Anaconda on older systems?

See Using Anaconda on older operating systems.

Using conda packages#

How can I use TKinter?

Make sure the conda package tk is installed:

conda list tk

If it is not installed, run:

conda install tk

Python programs can use TKinter with import Tkinter on Python 2 or import tkinter on Python 3.

How can I use Cython on macOS?

Cython needs a C compiler, so you need to install Xcode.

How can I use Theano?

Theano requires gcc for acceleration.

To install Theano with acceleration:

  • On Windows, run conda install theano.

  • On Linux and macOS run conda install gcc theano.

Note

Theano is available from the default Anaconda channels for Windows, macOS, and Linux with the command conda install theano.

How can I use GPUs with Anaconda?

See Working with GPU packages.

General#

How is CPython compiled?

For information on building CPython, see the Python Developer’s Guide.

How do I cite Anaconda in an academic paper?

To cite Anaconda in an academic paper, use the recommended format. Example:

Anaconda Software Distribution. Computer software. Vers. 2-2.4.0. Anaconda, Nov. 2016. Web. <https://anaconda.com>.

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