Python not working in command prompt

Question

I type python into the command line  but the command prompt says that python is not recognized as an internal or external command  operable program  or batch file  What should I do   Note  I have installed Python 2 7 and Python 3 2 onto my computer

User · Answer

In Windows 7 python start command in command prompt is

c:\>python3

but in Windows 10 python start command in command prompt is

  C:\>py
Python 3.6.3 (v3.6.3:2c5fed8, Oct  3 2017, 17:26:49) [MSC v.1900 32 bit (Intel)] on win32
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
>>>


C:\>py --version
Python 3.6.3

C:\>

But in Windows 10 python3 syntax not work also not given any error.

Django start command also uses py instead of python3.

d:\>py manage.py runserver

User · Answer

You have to add the python executable in your SYSTEM PATH  do the following  My Computer  gt  Properties  gt  Advanced System Settings  gt  Environment Variables   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-foolder-on-the-path

User · Answer

Even after following the instructions from the valuable answers above  calling python from the command line would open the Microsoft Store and redirect me to a page to download the software    I discovered this was caused by a 0 Ko python exe file in AppData Local Microsoft WindowsApps which was taking precedence over my python executable in my PATH    Removing this folder from my PATH solved it

User · Answer

Kalle posted a link to a page that has this video on it  but it s done on XP  If you use Windows 7    Press the windows key  Type  system env   Press enter  Press alt   n Press alt   e Press right  and then    that s a semicolon  Without adding a space  type this at the end  C  Python27 Hit enter twice  Hit esc  Use windows key   r to bring up the run dialog  Type in python and press enter

User · Answer

This working for me   PS C  Users MyUsername gt  py -V  Python 3 9 0

User · Answer

Seems like the python executable is not found in your PATH  which defines where it is looking for executables  See the official instructions for instructions on how to get the python executables in your PATH

User · Answer

I am probably the most novice user here  I have spent six hours just to run python in the command line in Windows 8  Once I installed the 64-bit version  then I uninstalled it and replaced it with 32-bit version  Then  I tried most suggestions here  especially by defining path in the system variables  but still it didn t work    Then I realised when I typed in the command line  echo  path   The path still was not directed to C  python27  So I simply restarted the computer  and now it works

User · Answer

None of these actually worked for me  What you needed to do to really have Python recognized within it s path  is to download the latest version of it only from this website and not other website  https   www python org downloads   But be careful while installing  the default installation is set not to add Python s path to the Environmental Variables in the Control Panel if you have a Windows computer  but you should change the setting so that the installation does it  and it will all be done by itself

User · Answer

They gave us a script to do this for us already C  Users hUTBER AppData Local Programs Python tools scripts win add2path py  You ll need to make sure that you close and open the cmd otherwise it won t have the new path there  If you can t find this script these are the paths that it will add and I had to add manually in the end  C  Users hUTBER AppData Local Programs Python Python35 C  Users hUTBER AppData Local Programs Python Python35 Scripts  Where mine and now python works in the cmd

User · Answer

Just a few comments    Don t set PYTHONPATH if all you want is to get Python on the PATH  The PYTHONPATH environment variable tells Python where to look for modules to import  Setting it to C  Python27  will not accomplish anything useful  although it s probably harmless  Modifying environment variables  including PATH  from the  Edit System Variables  has no effect on already running processes  This means you have to re-launch cmd exe for the changes to work  A reboot  however  is not required  When modifying the PATH  also add the Scripts subdirectory  Or  to put it in other words  and using the previous example   add  C  Python27 C  Python27 Scripts  This will allow you to run scripts like easy install  pip  virtualenv or sphinx from the command line - once you install those  that is  This is about as UNIX-y as it gets for Windows   N B  The Scripts subdirectory is not present after a clean install of Python  but will be created when needed   Don t put any additional Lib or DLL directory on the PATH  There s no need  and it might do harm  If you have installed multiple versions of Python  which isn t all that uncommon  you might be better off not putting any of them on the PATH but instead create different shortcuts to cmd exe for the different versions which set the PATH for each version  You might also be interested in PEP-397

User · Answer

If you are working with command prompt and if you are facing the issue even after adding python path to system variable PATH   Remember to restart the command prompt  cmde exe

User · Answer

When you add the python directory to the path  Computer   Properties   Advanced System Settings   Advanced   Environmental Variables   System Variables   Path   Edit   remember to add a semicolon  then make sure that you are adding the precise directory where the file  python exe  is stored  e g  C  Python Python27 if that is where  python exe  is stored    Then restart the command prompt

User · Answer

I have installed the latest Python for Win10 from Releases for Windows   Just typing py  in the Command Prompt Window starts Python    Microsoft Windows  Version 10 0 15048   c  2017 Microsoft Corporation  All rights reserved   C  Users sg7 gt py Python 3 6 3  v3 6 3 2c5fed8  Oct  3 2017  18 11 49   MSC v 1900 64 bit  AMD64   on win32 Type  help    copyright    credits  or  license  for more information   gt  gt  gt  enter code here    Testing    gt  gt  gt  print  hello    hello   gt  gt  gt    Please be aware that in my case Python was installed in C  Users sg7 AppData Local Programs Python Python36 gt  directory  C  Users sg7 AppData Local Programs Python Python36 gt dir  Volume in drive C is Windows7 OS  Volume Serial Number is 1226-12D1   Directory of C  Users sg7 AppData Local Programs Python Python36  08 05 2018  07 38 AM     lt DIR gt             08 05 2018  07 38 AM     lt DIR gt              12 18 2017  09 12 AM     lt DIR gt           DLLs 12 18 2017  09 12 AM     lt DIR gt           Doc 12 18 2017  09 12 AM     lt DIR gt           include 12 18 2017  09 12 AM     lt DIR gt           Lib 12 18 2017  09 12 AM     lt DIR gt           libs 10 03 2017  07 17 PM            30 334 LICENSE txt 10 03 2017  07 17 PM           362 094 NEWS txt 10 03 2017  07 15 PM           100 504 python exe 10 03 2017  07 12 PM            58 520 python3 dll 10 03 2017  07 12 PM         3 610 776 python36 dll 10 03 2017  07 15 PM            98 968 pythonw exe 08 05 2018  07 38 AM           196 096 Removescons exe 08 05 2018  07 38 AM            26 563 scons-wininst log 08 05 2018  07 38 AM     lt DIR gt           Scripts 12 18 2017  09 12 AM     lt DIR gt           tcl 12 18 2017  09 12 AM     lt DIR gt           Tools 06 09 2016  11 53 PM            87 888 vcruntime140 dll                9 File s       4 571 743 bytes               10 Dir s   20 228 898 816 bytes free   When I am at C  Users sg7 gt  directory level python can be invoked by typing AppData Local Programs Python Python36 python  C  Users samg gt AppData Local Programs Python Python36 python Python 3 6 3  v3 6 3 2c5fed8  Oct  3 2017  18 11 49   MSC v 1900 64 bit  AMD64   on win32 Type  help    copyright    credits  or  license  for more information   gt  gt  gt    Newer Python 3 7 will be installed at   C  Users YourUserNameHere AppData Local Programs Python Python37  If you wish you can add to your path environment variable   USERPROFILE  AppData Local Programs Python Python36

User · Answer

It finally worked     I needed to do things to get it to work   Add C  Python27  to the end of the PATH system variable Add C  Python27  to the end of the PYTHONPATH system variable   I had to add these to both for it to work   If I added any subdirectories  it did not work for some reason   Thank you all for your responses

User · Answer

Here s one for for office workers using a computer shared by others   I did put my user path in path and created the PYTHONPATH variables in my computer s PATH variable  Its listed under Environment Variables in Computer Properties -  Advanced Settings in Windows 7    Example   C  Users randuser AppData Local Programs Python Python37  This made it so I could use the command prompt   Hope this helped

User · Answer

Just go with the command py  I m running python 3 6 2 on windows 7 and it works just fine   I removed all the python paths from the system directory and the paths don t show up when I run the command echo  path  in cmd  Python is still working fine   I ran into this by accidentally pressing enter while typing python     EDIT  I didn t mention that I installed python to a custom folder C  Python

User · Answer

The video was very useful    Go to system properties -  Advance   or type  system env  in start menu    Click environment variables Edit the  PATH  variable Add 2 new paths  C  Python27  and  C  Python27 scripts  Run cmd again and type python    it worked for me

User · Answer

Add the python bin directory to your computer s PATH variable  Its listed under Environment Variables in Computer Properties -  Advanced Settings in Windows 7  It should be the same for Windows 8

User · Answer

Rather than the command  python   consider launching Python via the py launcher  as described in sg7 s answer  which by runs your latest version of Python  or lets you select a specific version   The py launcher is enabled via a check box during installation  default   on     Nevertheless  you can still put the  python  command in your PATH  either at  first installation  or by  modifying  an existing installation     First Installation   Checking the   x  Add Python x y to PATH  box on the very first dialog  Here s how it looks in version 3 8    This has the effect of adding the following to the PATH variable   C  Users     AppData Local Programs Python Python38-32 Scripts  C  Users     AppData Local Programs Python Python38-32      Modifying an Existing Installation   Re-run your installer  e g  in Downloads  python-3 8 4 exe  and Select  Modify   Check all the optional features you want  likely no changes   then click  Next   Check  x   Add Python to environment variables   and  Install

User · Answer

You need to add python to your PATH  I could be wrong  but Windows 7 should have the same cmd as Windows 8  Try this in the command line  Using setx permanently makes changes to you PATH  Note there are no equal signs  and quotes are used   setx PATH   PYTHONPATH  C  python27    Set the c  python27 to the directory of the python version you d like to run from the typing python into the command prompt

User · Answer

I wanted to add a common problem that happens on installation  It is possible that the path installation length is too long  To avoid this change the standard path so that it is shorter than 250 characters    I realized this when I installed the software and did a custom installation  on a WIN10 operation system  In the custom install  it should be possible to have Python added as PATH variable by the software

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