How to run Spyder in virtual environment

Question

I have been using Spyder installed with with Anaconda distribution which uses Python 2 7 as default  Currently I need to set up a development virtual environment with Python 3 4    Top two suggestions after research online are    to set up virtual environment first and to point change the preferences of Spyder   e g here   to install all Spyder dependencies  like PyQt4  in the virtual environment itself  e  g  here     Both recommendations are cumbersome and do not look like smart options for development   Is there a solution that would allow to run Spyder with required Python version automatically after activating the required virtual environment

User · Answer

To do without reinstalling spyder in all environments follow official reference here.

In summary (tested with conda):

Spyder should be installed in the base environment

From the system prompt:

Create an new environment. Note that depending on how you create it (conda, virtualenv) the environment folder will be located at different place on your system)
Activate the environment (e.g., conda activate [yourEnvName])
Install spyder-kernels inside the environment (e.g., conda install spyder-kernels)
Find and copy the path for the python executable inside the environment. Finding this path can be done using from the prompt this command python -c "import sys; print(sys.executable)"
Deactivate the environment (i.e., return to base conda deactivate)
run spyder (spyder3)
Finally in spyder Tool menu go to Preferences > Python Interpreter > Use the following interpreter and paste the environment python executable path
Restart the ipython console

PS: in spyder you should see at the bottom something like this

Voila

User · Answer

There is an option to create virtual environments in Anaconda with required Python version  conda create -n myenv python 3 4  To activate it   source activate myenv      in linux  you can use   as a shortcut for  quot source quot   activate myenv             in windows - note that you should be in your c  anaconda2 directory   UPDATE  I have tested it with Ubuntu 18 04  Now you have to install spyder additionally for the new environment with this command  after the activation of the environment with the command above   conda install spyder   I have also tested the installation with pip  but for Python 3 4 or older versions  it breaks with the library dependencies error that requires manual installation   And now to run Spyder with Python 3 4 just type  spyder   EDIT from a reader  For a normal opening  use  quot Anaconda Prompt quot   gt  activate myenv  gt  spyder  then the  quot Anaconda Prompt quot  must stay open  you cannot use it for other commands  and a force-close will shut down Spyder   This is of course faster than the long load of  quot Anaconda Navigator quot   gt  switch environment  gt  launch Spyder   adelriosantiago s answer

User · Answer

Additional to tomaskazemekas s answer  you should install spyder in that virtual environment by   conda install -n myenv spyder    on Windows  for Linux or MacOS  you can search for similar commands

User · Answer

On Windows  You can create a shortcut executing Anaconda3 pythonw exe Anaconda3 cwp py Anaconda3 envs  lt your env gt  Anaconda3 envs  lt your env gt  pythonw exe Anaconda3 envs  lt your env gt  Scripts spyder-script py  However  if you started spyder from your venv inside Anaconda shell  it creates this shortcut for you automatically in the Windows menu  The steps   install spyder in your venv using the methods mentioned in the other answers here    in anaconda   activate testenv  Look up the windows menu  quot recently added quot  or just search for  quot spyder quot  in the windows menu  find spyder  testenv  and     add that to taskbar  and   or   look up the file source location  and copy that to your desktop  e g  from C  Users USER AppData Roaming Microsoft Windows Start Menu Programs Anaconda3  64-bit   where the spyder links for any of my environments can be found    Now you can directly start spyder from a shortcut without the need to open anaconda prompt

User · Answer

The above answers are correct but I calling spyder within my virtualenv would still use my PATH to look up the version of spyder in my default anaconda env   I found this answer which gave the following workaround   source activate my env              activate your target env with spyder installed conda info -e                       look up the directory of your conda env find  path to my env -name spyder   search for the spyder executable in your env  path to my env then to spyder      run that executable directly   I chose this over modifying PATH or adding a link to the executable at a higher priority in PATH since I felt this was less likely to break other programs   However  I did add an alias to the executable in    bash aliases

User · Answer

I just had the same problem trying to get Spyder to run in Virtual Environment   The solution is simple   Activate your virtual environment   Then pip install Spyder and its dependencies  PyQt5  in your virtual environment   Then launch Spyder3 from your virtual environment CLI   It works fine for me now

User · Answer

I follow one of the advice above and indeed it works  In summary while you download Anaconda on Ubuntu using the advice given above can help you to  create  environments  The default when you download Spyder in my case is   base  smith ubuntu     After you create the environment  i e  fenics and activate it with   conda activate fenics the prompt change to  fenics  smith ubuntu     Then you launch Spyder from this prompt  i e   spyder and your system open the Spyder IDE  and you can write fenics code on it  Remember every time you open a terminal your system open the default prompt  You have to activate your environment where your package is and the prompt change to it i e   fenics

User · Answer

What worked for me     run spyder from the environment  after source activate  go to Tools --  preferences --  python Interpreter and select the python file from the env you want to link to spyder  ex    home you anaconda3 envs your env bin python   Worked on ubuntu 16  spyder3  python3 6

User · Answer

Here is a quick way to do it in 2021 using the Anaconda Navigator  This is the most reliable way to do it  unless you want to create environments programmatically which I don t think is the case for most users   Open Anaconda Navigator  Click on Environments  gt  Create and give a name to your environment  Be sure to change Python R Kernel version if needed     Go  quot Home quot  and click on  quot Install quot  under the Spyder box     Click  quot Launch Run quot    There are still a few minor bugs when setting up your environment  most of them should be solved by restarting the Navigator  If you find a bug  please help us posting it in the Anaconda Issues bug-tracker too  If you run into trouble creating the environment or if the environment was not correctly created you can double check what got installed  Clicking the  quot Environments quot  opens a management window showing installed packages  Search and select Spyder-related packages and then click on  quot Apply quot  to install them

[python] How to run Spyder in virtual environment?

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