Configure a Python interpreter
To work with your Python code in PyCharm, you need to configure at least one Python interpreter. You can use a system interpreter that is available with your Python installation. You can also create a Virtualenv, pipenv, Poetry, or conda virtual environment . A virtual environment consists of a base interpreter and the installed packages.
With PyCharm Professional , you can also configure interpreters to execute your Python code on remote environments by using SSH, Vagrant, Docker, Docker Compose, or WSL (only for Windows).
When you configure a Python interpreter , you need to specify the path to the Python executable in your system. So, before configuring a Python interpreter, you need to ensure that you’ve downloaded Python and installed it in your system and you’re aware of a path to it.
You can create several Python interpreters based on the same Python executable. This is helpful when you need to create different virtual environments for developing different types of applications. For example, you can create one virtual environment based on Python 3.6 to develop Django applications and another virtual environment based on the same Python 3.6 to work with scientific libraries.
Python interpreters can be configured for a new project or for the current project (you can create a new interpreter or use one of the existing interpreters).
Configuring an existing Python interpreter
At any time, you can switch the Python interpreter either by using the Python Interpreter selector or in Settings .
Switch the Python interpreter using the Python Interpreter selector
The Python Interpreter selector is located on the status bar. It is the most convenient and quickest way to switch the Python interpreter. Just click it and select the target interpreter:
Switch the Python interpreter in the IDE settings
Press Control+Alt+S to open the IDE settings and then select Project <project name> | Python Interpreter .
Click the drop-down and select the desired Python interpreter:
If it’s not on the list, click Show All . Then select the desired interpreter in the left pane and click OK .
When PyCharm stops supporting any of the outdated Python versions, the corresponding Python interpreter is marked as unsupported.
When you change the project interpreter and select an SSH interpreter, you might need to synchronize the local content with the target server. Mind a notification balloon in the lower-right corner:
You can choose to enable the automatic uploading of files to the server:
Click Auto-upload files to start uploading on the next save.
Click Sync and auto-upload files to immediately sync the files and upload them on every save in future.
Modify a Python interpreter
Press Control+Alt+S to open the IDE settings and then select Project <project name> | Python Interpreter .
Expand the list of the available interpreters and click Show All .
You can modify the path to the Python executable in the Interpreter path field.
When the Associate this virtual environment with the current project checkbox is enabled, the interpeter is available only in the current PyCharm project.
To change the interpreter name, select the target interpreter and click .
The Python interpreter name specified in the Name field, becomes visible in the list of available interpreters. Click OK to apply the changes.
Remove a Python interpreter
If you no longer need a Python interpreter for a project, you can remove it from the project settings.
Do one of the following:
Press Control+Alt+S to open the IDE settings and then select Project <project name> | Python Interpreter .
Click the Python Interpreter selector and choose Interpreter Settings .
Expand the list of the available interpreters and click Show All .
Choose the interpreter that you want to remove and click .
Creating a new Python interpreter
Configuring local Python interpreters
To configure a local Python interpreter for the current project, follow one of the procedures below:
Configure a system interpreter
Ensure that you have downloaded and installed Python on your computer.
Installing Python on Windows from Microsoft Store
If you are on Windows, you can download Python from the Microsoft Store and install it as a Python interpreter. Once the Python application is downloaded from the Microsoft Store, it becomes available in the list of the Python executables.
Note that interpreters added from the Microsoft Store installations come with some limitations. Because of restrictions on Microsoft Store apps, Python scripts may not have full write access to shared locations such as TEMP and the registry.
Do one of the following:
Click the Python Interpreter selector and choose Add New Interpreter .
Press Control+Alt+S to open Settings and go to Project: <project name> | Python Interpreter . Click the Add Interpreter link next to the list of the available interpreters.
Click the Python Interpreter selector and choose Interpreter Settings . Click the Add Interpreter link next to the list of the available interpreters.
Select Add Local Interpreter .
In the left-hand pane of the Add Python Interpreter dialog, select System Interpreter .
In the Interpreter drop-down, select one of the Python interpreters that have been installed in your system, or click and in the Select Python Interpreter dialog that opens, choose the desired Python executable.
You will need admin privileges to install, remove, and upgrade packages for the system interpreter. When attempting to install an interpreter package through an intention action, you might receive the following error message: As prompted, consider using a virtual environment for your project.
Click OK to complete the task.
Create a virtualenv environment
Do one of the following:
Click the Python Interpreter selector and choose Add New Interpreter .
Press Control+Alt+S to open Settings and go to Project: <project name> | Python Interpreter . Click the Add Interpreter link next to the list of the available interpreters.
Click the Python Interpreter selector and choose Interpreter Settings . Click the Add Interpreter link next to the list of the available interpreters.
Select Add Local Interpreter .
In the left-hand pane of the Add Python Interpreter dialog, select Virtualenv Environment .
The following actions depend on whether you want to create a new virtual environment or to use an existing one.
Specify the location of the new virtual environment in the Location field, or click and browse for the desired location in your file system. The directory for the new virtual environment should be empty.
Choose the base interpreter from the list, or click and find the desired Python executable in your file system.
Select the Inherit global site-packages checkbox if you want all packages installed in the global Python on your machine to be added to the virtual environment you’re going to create. This checkbox corresponds to the —system-site-packages option of the virtualenv tool.
Choose the desired interpreter from the list.
If the desired interpreter is not on the list, click , and then browse for the desired Python executable (for example, venv/bin/python on macOS or venv\Scripts\python.exe on Windows).
The selected virtual environment will be reused for the current project.
Click OK to complete the task.
If PyCharm displays the Invalid environment warning, it means that the specified Python binary cannot be found in the file system, or the Python version is not supported. Check the Python path and install a new version, if needed.
Create a conda environment
Ensure that Anaconda or Miniconda is downloaded and installed on your computer, and you’re aware of a path to its executable file.
Refer to the installation instructions for more details.
Do one of the following:
Click the Python Interpreter selector and choose Add New Interpreter .
Press Control+Alt+S to open Settings and go to Project: <project name> | Python Interpreter . Click the Add Interpreter link next to the list of the available interpreters.
Click the Python Interpreter selector and choose Interpreter Settings . Click the Add Interpreter link next to the list of the available interpreters.
Select Add Local Interpreter .
In the left-hand pane of the Add Python Interpreter dialog, select Conda Environment .
The following actions depend on whether you want to create a new conda environment or to use an existing one.
Select the Python version from the list.
Normally, PyCharm will detect conda installation.
Otherwise, specify the location of the conda executable, or click to browse for it.
Specify the environment name.
Choose the desired environment from the list.
The selected conda environment will be reused for the current project.
Click OK to complete the task.
Create a pipenv environment
Do one of the following:
Click the Python Interpreter selector and choose Add New Interpreter .
Press Control+Alt+S to open Settings and go to Project: <project name> | Python Interpreter . Click the Add Interpreter link next to the list of the available interpreters.
Click the Python Interpreter selector and choose Interpreter Settings . Click the Add Interpreter link next to the list of the available interpreters.
Select Add Local Interpreter .
In the left-hand pane of the Add Python Interpreter dialog, select Pipenv Environment .
Choose the base interpreter from the list, or click and find the desired Python executable in your file system.
If you have added the base binary directory to your PATH environmental variable, you don’t need to set any additional options: the path to the pipenv executable will be autodetected.
If the pipenv executable is not found, follow the pipenv installation procedure to discover the executable path, and then paste it in the Pipenv executable field.
Click OK to complete the task.
Once all the steps are done, the new pipenv environment is set for your project and the packages listed in the Pipfile are installed.
When you have set the pipenv virtual environment as a Python interpreter, all available packages are added from the source defined in Pipfile . The packages are installed, removed, and updated in the list of the packages through pipenv rather than through pip.
Create a Poetry environment
Do one of the following:
Click the Python Interpreter selector and choose Add New Interpreter .
Press Control+Alt+S to open Settings and go to Project: <project name> | Python Interpreter . Click the Add Interpreter link next to the list of the available interpreters.
Click the Python Interpreter selector and choose Interpreter Settings . Click the Add Interpreter link next to the list of the available interpreters.
Select Add Local Interpreter .
In the left-hand pane of the Add Python Interpreter dialog, select Poetry Environment .
The following actions depend on whether you want to create a new Poetry environment or to use an existing one.
Select Poetry Environment .
Choose the base interpreter from the list, or click and find the desired Python executable in your file system.
If PyCharm doesn’t detect the poetry executable, specify the following path in the Poetry executable field, replacing jetbrains with your username:
Make sure that the project directory contains a pyproject.toml file.
Select Existing environment . Then expand the Interpreter list and choose the desired interpreter.
If the desired interpreter is not on the list, click, and then browse for the Python executable within the previously configured Poetry environment.
The selected Poetry environment will be reused for the current project.
Click OK to complete the task.
Configuring remote Python interpreters
When a remote Python interpreter is added, at first the PyCharm helpers are copied to the remote host. PyCharm helpers are needed to run remotely the packaging tasks, debugger, tests and other PyCharm features.
Next, the skeletons for binary libraries are generated and copied locally. Also, all the Python library sources are collected from the Python paths on a remote host and copied locally along with the generated skeletons. Storing skeletons and all Python library sources locally is required for resolve and completion to work correctly.
PyCharm checks the remote helpers version on every remote run, so if you update your PyCharm version, the new helpers will be uploaded automatically, and you don’t need to recreate remote interpreter.
Configure a WSL interpreter
Do one of the following:
Click the Python Interpreter selector and choose Add New Interpreter .
Press Control+Alt+S to open Settings and go to Project: <project name> | Python Interpreter . Click the Add Interpreter link next to the list of the available interpreters.
Click the Python Interpreter selector and choose Interpreter Settings . Click the Add Interpreter link next to the list of the available interpreters.
Wait until PyCharm detects Linux on your machine and completes introspection. Press Next to proceed:
In the left-hand pane of the dialog, select the type of the WSL interpreter you want to create: Virtual Environment , Conda Environment , or System Interpreter .
For a system interpreter, just provide the path to the Python executable in the selected Linux distribution.
For virtual and conda environments, you can provide a path to a Python executable of an existing environment in the selected Linux distribution or create a new environment based on the specified Python.
Once done, the new interpreter will be added to your project, and the default mnt mappings will be set.
Configure an interpreter using Vagrant
Ensure that the following prerequisites are met (outside of PyCharm):
One of supported Vagrant providers is installed on your computer.
Vagrant is installed on your computer, and all the necessary infrastructure is created.
The parent folders of the following executable files have been added to the system PATH variable:
vagrant.bat or vagrant from your Vagrant installation. This should be done automatically by the installer.
VBoxManage.exe or VBoxManage from your Oracle’s VirtualBox installation.
The required virtual boxes are created.
Make sure that the Vagrant plugin is enabled.
Ensure that you have properly initiated and started Vagrant. Basically, you need to open the Terminal window and execute the following commands:
See Vagrant documentation for more information.
Do one of the following:
Click the Python Interpreter selector and choose Add New Interpreter .
Press Control+Alt+S to open Settings and go to Project: <project name> | Python Interpreter . Click the Add Interpreter link next to the list of the available interpreters.
Click the Python Interpreter selector and choose Interpreter Settings . Click the Add Interpreter link next to the list of the available interpreters.
Select On Vagrant .
Specify the path to the Vagrant instance folder in Vagrant Instance Folder .
Wait until you see a link in Vagrant Host URL .
In the New Target: Vagrant dialog, click the browse icon next to the Vagrant Instance Folder field, and specify the desired Vagrant instance folder.
This results in showing the link to Vagrant Host URL .
In the next field, PyCharm will display the path to the Python executable. Press "Next" to proceed.
You can create a virtual environment (venv or conda) or use a system Python interpreter for the target Vagrant instance. Note that virtual environment must be configured and available in the specified Vagrant instance folder. Otherwise, the corresponding lists will be empty.
Clik Create to complete the task.
Configure an interpreter using SSH
Ensure that there is an SSH server running on a remote host, since PyCharm runs remote interpreters via ssh-sessions.
Do one of the following:
Click the Python Interpreter selector and choose Add New Interpreter .
Press Control+Alt+S to open Settings and go to Project: <project name> | Python Interpreter . Click the Add Interpreter link next to the list of the available interpreters.
Click the Python Interpreter selector and choose Interpreter Settings . Click the Add Interpreter link next to the list of the available interpreters.
Select an option to create a new SSH connection, then specify server information (host, port, and username).
Alternatively, you can select Existing and choose any available SSH configuration from the list. To create a new SSH configuration, follow the steps below:
Click next to the list of configurations:
Click, disable the Visible only for this project checkbox, and fill in the required fields:
Once done, the newly created SSH configuration will appear in the list of available configurations. It will also become available in the SSH Deployment Configurations settings. Click Next to proceed:
In the next dialog window, provide the authentication details to connect to the target server.
Select Password or Key pair (OpenSSH or PuTTY) and enter your password or passphrase. If Key pair (OpenSSH or PuTTY) is selected, specify:
Private key : location of the file with a private key
Passphrase : similar to a password, it serves to encrypt the private key.
Click Next to proceed.
Wait until PyCharm completes the introspection of the SSH server.
In the next dialog, select a type of Python environment to configure on the SSH server.
You can create a new virtual environment, select an existing one, or use a system interpreter.
Select the Inherit global site-packages checkbox if you want all packages installed in the global Python on your machine to be added to the virtual environment you’re going to create. This checkbox corresponds to the —system-site-packages option of the virtualenv tool.
You can configure the path mappings between your local project and the server. To do that, click the Browse icon in the Sync folders field and enter the path to the local project folder and the path to the folder on the remote server.
Click Create to complete adding the interpreter.
Configure an interpreter using Docker
Do one of the following:
Click the Python Interpreter selector and choose Add New Interpreter .
Press Control+Alt+S to open Settings and go to Project: <project name> | Python Interpreter . Click the Add Interpreter link next to the list of the available interpreters.
Click the Python Interpreter selector and choose Interpreter Settings . Click the Add Interpreter link next to the list of the available interpreters.
Select On Docker .
Select an existing Docker configuration in the Docker server dropdown.
Alternatively, click and perform the following steps to create a new Docker configuration:
Create a Docker configuration
Click to add a Docker configuration and specify how to connect to the Docker daemon.
The connection settings depend on your Docker version and operating system. For more information, see Docker connection settings.
The Connection successful message should appear at the bottom of the dialog.
For more information about mapping local paths to the virtual machine running the Docker daemon when using Docker on Windows or macOS, see Virtual machine path mappings for Windows and macOS hosts. You will not be able to use volumes and bind mounts for directories outside of the mapped local path.
This table is not available on a Linux host, where Docker runs natively and you can mount any directory to the container.
The following actions depend on whether you want to pull a pre-built image from a Docker registry or to build an image locally from a Dockerfile.
Pull a Docker image
Select Pull or use existing and specify the tag of the desired image in the Image tag field.
Build a Docker image
Select Build and change the default values in the Dockerfile and Context folder fields if necessary.
If required, expand the Optional section and specify the following:
Specify an optional name and tag for the built image.
This can be helpful for referring to the image in the future. If you leave the field blank, the image will have only a random unique identifier.
For example, you can specify metadata for the built image with the —label option.
Specify the values for build-time variables that can be accessed like regular environment variables during the build process but do not persist in the intermediate or final images.
This is similar to using the —build-args option with the docker build command.
These variables must be defined in the Dockerfile with the ARG instruction. For example, you can define a variable for the version of the base image that you are going to use:
The PY_VERSION variable in this case will default to latest and the Dockerfile will produce an image with the latest available version of Python, unless you redefine it as a build-time argument. If you set, PY_VERSION=3.10 , Docker will pull python:3.10 instead, which will run a container with Python version 3.10.
Redefining the PY_VERSION argument is similar to setting the following command-line option:
You can provide several arguments separated by spaces.
Wait for PyCharm to connect to the Docker daemon and complete the container introspection.
Next, select an interpreter to use in the Docker container. You can choose any virtualenv or conda environment that is already configured in the container or select a system interpreter.
The configured remote interpreter is added to the list.
Configure an interpreter using Docker Compose
Do one of the following:
Click the Python Interpreter selector and choose Add New Interpreter .
Press Control+Alt+S to open Settings and go to Project: <project name> | Python Interpreter . Click the Add Interpreter link next to the list of the available interpreters.
Click the Python Interpreter selector and choose Interpreter Settings . Click the Add Interpreter link next to the list of the available interpreters.
Select On Docker Compose .
Select an existing Docker configuration in the Server dropdown.
Alternatively, select Create new and perform the following steps to create a new Docker configuration:
Create a Docker configuration
Click to add a Docker configuration and specify how to connect to the Docker daemon.
The connection settings depend on your Docker version and operating system. For more information, see Docker connection settings.
The Connection successful message should appear at the bottom of the dialog.
For more information about mapping local paths to the virtual machine running the Docker daemon when using Docker on Windows or macOS, see Virtual machine path mappings for Windows and macOS hosts. You will not be able to use volumes and bind mounts for directories outside of the mapped local path.
This table is not available on a Linux host, where Docker runs natively and you can mount any directory to the container.
In Configuration files , specify the docker-compose.yml file. Also select the service.
Optionally, specify environment variables and edit the Compose project name in Project name .
Wait until PyCharm creates and configures a new target:
Next, select an interpreter to use in the container. You can choose any virtualenv or conda environment that is already configured in the container, or select a system interpreter.
The configured remote interpreter is added to the list.
Setting the default interpreter
In PyCharm, you can specify an interpreter that will be automatically set for all newly created projects.
From the main menu, select File | New Projects Setup | Settings for New Projects (on Window and Linux) or File | New Projects Setup | Preferences for New Projects (on macOS).
Select Python Interpreter settings. Then either choose an existing interpreter from the Python interpreter list of click to add a new interpreter. Click OK to save the changes.
The change will become effective for all newly created projects in PyCharm.
Managing interpreter packages
For each interpreter, you can install, upgrade, and delete Python packages. By default, PyCharm uses pip to manage project packages. For conda environments you can use the conda package manager.
PyCharm smartly tracks the status of packages and recognizes outdated versions by showing the number of the currently installed package version (column Version ), and the latest available version (column Latest version ). When a newer version of a package is detected, PyCharm marks it with the arrow sign and suggests to upgrade it.
By default, the Latest version column shows only stable versions of the packages. If you want to extend the scope of the latest available versions to any pre-release versions (such as beta or release candidate ), click Show early releases .
You can upgrade several packages at once. Hold Cmd (macOS) or Ctrl on (Unix or Windows), left-click to select several items in the list of packages, and then click Upgrade .
See the detailed instructions:
If you are looking for a more convenient way to search for Python packages, preview the documentation, and manage Python package repositories, try the Python Packages tool window. For more information, see Manage packages in the Python Packages tool window.
Using Anaconda and Pycharm to choose a Python version
Stop wasting time trying to manually install those difficult modules.
Python is great, made better by the extensive infrastructure provided by open-source modules.
What isn’t always so great is installing all the modules you need, and making sure they are all mutually compatible with your version of Python and with each other.
With many modules, you might need a different version depending on the version of Python you are using, and maybe also on your operating system (Windows, Mac, and different flavours of Linux might each require a different version of some modules). This is made worse by the fact that some modules might not be available yet for the latest version of Python.
Added to that, certain modules are difficult to install even when you do have the right versions. Modules that include C++ code need to either be compiled, which can be hit and miss, or you have to find precompiled versions which are often located on obscure websites. I have had particular problems installing NumPy on Windows (I ended up with a wheel file I found on a well known but worringly obscure personal website), and wxPython seems to be difficult on most systems. Both are fine and useful modules, just a PITA to install.
The solution
The solution is obvious, of course — a package manager. But it is easy to get into the habit of sticking with what works, for as long as possible. In my case, I have stuck with Python 3.6 for quite a while. I have all the modules I need, but some of them involved a lot of messing around to get working. All working up till now…
Currently I am working on a GUI project using wxPython. It is a graphical front end for CSound, but partly just an excuse to try developing a GUI app in Python. All was going great using my trusty Python 3.6, until one particular call gave an assertion error from the guts of the wxwidget’s native code. A bit of googling indicated that Python 3.6 wasn’t entirely compatible with the current wxPython, and downgrading to an earlier wxPython seemed like retrograde step. I tried it anyway, like you do, but my heart wasn’t in it so I soon gave up when it didn’t seem to be working.
How to select Python version in PyCharm?
I have PyCharm 1.5.4 and have used the «Open Directory» option to open the contents of a folder in the IDE.
I have Python version 3.2 selected (it shows up under the «External Libraries» node).
How can I select another version of Python (that I already have installed on my machine) so that PyCharm uses that version instead?
6 Answers 6
Preferences->Project Interpreter->Python Interpreters
If it’s not listed add it.
I think you are saying that you have python2 and python3 installed and have added a reference to each version under Pycharm > Settings > Project Interpreter
What I think you are asking is how do you have some projects run with Python 2 and some projects running with Python 3.
If so, you can look under Run > Edit Configurations
PyCharm 2019.1+
There is a new feature called Interpreter in status bar (scroll down a little bit). This makes switching between python interpreters and seeing which version you’re using easier.
Enable status bar
In case you cannot see the status bar, you can easily activate it by running the Find Action command ( Ctrl + Shift + A or ⌘ + ⇧ + A on mac). Then type status bar and choose View: Status Bar to see it.
This can also happen in Intellij Ultimate, which has PyCharm integrated. The issue is as diagnosed above, you have the wrong interpreter selected.
The exact method to fix this for any given project is to go to Project Settings. Project and adjust the Project SDK. You can add a New Project SDK if you don’t have Python 3 added by navigating to the python3 binary. This will fix the errors listed above. A shortcut to Project Settings is the blue checkerboard-type icon.
You can also add Python 3 as the default interpreter for Python projects. On OSX this is in File..Other Settings. Default Project Structure. There you can set the Project SDK which will now apply on each new project. It can be different on other platforms, but still similar.
How to Change Python Version in Pycharm? : Only 4 Steps
I guess most of us are aware of the fact that syntax in Python 2.x series are a little different than the Python 3.x series. Obviously, there can be a situation where you have to change the interpreter version for the program run. Especially when your IDE is Pycharm everything is quite easy. If you are looking for how to change the python version in PyCharm? I think this article is just for you.
Steps to change python version in pycharm-
Step 1 :
- Check if you already have that version interpreter of Python pre-installed. Suppose if you have Python 3.7 but you need a virtual env in pycharm for 2.7 base interpreter. In order to check it, Go to –
File -> Settings -> Project ->Project Interpreter
how to change python version in pycharm step 1
Refer to the above diagram, Here click on the drop-down of the Project Interpreter row ( Where the No Interpreter is mention). It will show you the name and path of the Interpreter which are already configured. All you need to select one of them if they are available at Run time Configuration in Pycharm ( Hint Run -> Edit Configurations).
Step 2:
In case the desire interpreter is not available. Go and install the required from https://www.python.org/downloads/
There is a dedicated tutorial on how to install python in you Opearting System. Follow the steps to install it.
Step 3 :
Set the path in the system variable. Especially while installing from Python.org window installer, It will show you the option to set the path automatically with the installation. In case you do not opt for it. Go and manually add it.
Step 4 :
Now once you have done to step 3, Restart the Pycharm and select the desired interpreter in Run -> Edit Configurations inside Pycharm IDE. Now you may use this global python interpreter for the project. But in case you want to create the virtual env based on this interpreter. You may go to File -> Settings -> Project ->Project Interpreter and click on the setting icon and choose to add. How to change python version in pycharm step 4.
Refer to the above image and change the base Interpreter here. Here you may choose the one which is the newest you installed. Here you may choose the conda env as the Interpreter also. It is just to make sure that pycharm is fully configurable with a variety of Interpreters.
How to downgrade python version in pycharm
In the above steps you have understood how to the edit configuration for the python interpreter. You can easily select the version of the python you want to to use or downgrade using it. This way you can easily downgrade python version in pycharm.
You can download the pycharm IDE from here. 
pycharm
Conclusion –
This is a generic way to deal with python versioning with pycharm. It will remain same in most of the platform or operating system like mac, Linux or Windows etc. Now next to it is pycharm exploration. Just like, there are some other important configurations with pycharm like increasing memory in Pycharm and Installing packages in pycharm which we understand as next step.
Thanks
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