Reference
Troubleshooting
If you encounter an issue that is not listed here, you can obtain support for Anaconda through the Anaconda community forums. For Anaconda installation or technical support options, visit our support offerings page.
The Navigator and Anaconda.org troubleshooting pages have been consolidated into this page. Click to view their sections:
Most common issues
Conda: Channel is unavailable/missing or package itself is missing
After you have configured your .condarc
on either the Pro (legacy) or Business tier, in some cases you may be unable to install packages. You may receive an error message that the channel or package is unavailable or missing.
One potential fix for all of these is to run the following command:
conda clean --index-cache
This will clear the “index cache” and force conda to sync metadata from the repo server.
Receiving a 403 error from an Anaconda channel
A 403 errors is a generic Forbidden error issued by a web server in the event the client is forbidden from accessing a resource.
The 403 error you are receiving may look like the following:
Collecting package metadata (current_repodata.json): failed
UnavailableInvalidChannel: The channel is not accessible or is invalid.
channel name: pkgs/main
channel url: https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/main
error code: 403
You will need to adjust your conda configuration to proceed.
Use `conda config --show channels` to view your configuration's current state,
and use `conda config --show-sources` to view config file locations.
There are several reasons a 403 error could be received:
There are a few possible reasons for receiving this error:
- The user has misconfigured their channels in their configuration. For example, the secure location where the token is stored was accidentally deleted (most common).
- A firewall or other security device or system is preventing user access (second most common)
- We are blocking their access because of a potential terms of service violation (third most common)
-
First, run the following to undo your configuration:
conda config --remove-key default_channels
When conda is first installed, the default channels it uses to install packages are
https://repo.anaconda.com/main
andhttps://repo.anaconda.com/r
(as well ashttps://repo.anaconda.com/msys2
for Windows operating systems). -
If your other channels require a token, install or upgrade the
conda-token
tool by running the following command:conda install --freeze-installed conda-token
-
Lastly, re-apply the token and configuration settings:
# Replace <TOKEN> with your token conda token set <TOKEN>
If this doesn’t resolve the issue, Anaconda recommends consulting our Terms of Service error page.
HTTP 000 CONNECTION FAILED
This is generally caused by a proxy misconfiguration, which can be corrected by setting your proxy servers correctly. However, because some businesses do not have an easy method of providing their SSL cert, Anaconda recommends bypassing the SSL verification step if you encounter this error.
If you receive this error message, first run the following command:
conda config --set ssl_verify false
(Package Security Manager users) If necessary, install conda-token
by running the following command:
conda install conda-token --name base
(Package Security Manager users) Ensure the token verification step ignores SSL errors by running the following command:
# Replace <TOKEN> with your token
conda token set --no-ssl-verify <TOKEN>
You may see the following warning, though you can safely ignore it:
/Users/<USERNAME>/Applications/miniconda3/lib/python3.7/site-packages/urllib3/connectionpool.py:1020: InsecureRequestWarning: Unverified HTTPS request is being made to host 'repo.anaconda.cloud'. Adding certificate verification is strongly advised. See: https://urllib3.readthedocs.io/en/latest/advanced-usage#ssl-warnings
InsecureRequestWarning,
Conda: command not found on macOS/Linux
The conda shell function is not available or is not working properly. Some causes may include:
- You didn’t restart your shell after installing Anaconda or Miniconda.
- You didn’t allow the installer to modify your startup script.
- Conda has been corrupted, usually by a change in the Python package (for example, 3.9->3.7).
- You have set
auto_activate_base
tofalse
.
If your install is new, close and reopen your terminal application. If you want your terminal to remain open, you can source your ~/.zshrc
file (in macOS) or ~/.bashrc
file (in Linux). When you “source” a script, your terminal re-reads it and applies the changes, which usually only happens when the terminal is first opened.
source ~/.zshrc
To initialize conda in your current terminal, run the following command, depending on your operating system:
# Replace <PATH-TO-CONDA> with the file path to your conda installation
<PATH-TO-CONDA>/bin/conda init zsh
For example, if you installed Anaconda Distribution to the default location with the .sh
installer (~/anaconda3/
), your command would look like the following:
~/anaconda3/bin/conda init zsh
# Replace <PATH-TO-CONDA> with the file path to your conda installation
<PATH-TO-CONDA>/bin/conda init zsh
For example, if you installed Anaconda Distribution to the default location with the .sh
installer (~/anaconda3/
), your command would look like the following:
~/anaconda3/bin/conda init zsh
# Replace <PATH-TO-CONDA> with the file path to your conda installation
<PATH-TO-CONDA>/bin/conda init bash
For example, if you installed Anaconda Distribution to the default location, your command would look like the following:
~/anaconda3/bin/conda init bash
To see the value for auto_activate_base
, run the following command:
conda config --describe auto_activate_base
If your terminal returns false
, this means that conda is not automatically activating your base environment when you start a new shell. This behavior emulates your system Python, and some users prefer to have their conda environment be inactive until they need it. However, this is not conda’s default behavior after installation.
To change the value of auto_activate_base
, run the following command:
# Replace <TRUE_OR_FALSE> with true or false
conda config --set auto_activate_base <TRUE_OR_FALSE>
If you have auto_activate_base
set as false
, the conda command will still be available as a shell function, but your base environment will not be active when a new shell is started. To activate your base environment, run conda activate
.
conda update anaconda
command does not install the latest version of the anaconda
metapackage
The anaconda
metapackage was removed from Anaconda Distribution installers in February of 2023 and no longer appears in your base
environment by default. This troubleshooting topic assumes you are working with package incompatibilities in an environment containing the anaconda
metapackage.
If you have installed packages that are incompatible with the latest version of the Anaconda metapackage, running conda update anaconda
updates the Anaconda metapackage to the latest compatible version. Keep in mind this might not be the latest version.
-
Obtain a list of the conflicting packages by running
conda update anaconda
orconda install anaconda=2023.07
.Replace
2023.07
with the latest version number. -
Enter
n
to cancel the installation or update. -
Once you know which packages are conflicting, you can:
- update all current packages without upgrading to the latest version of the
anaconda
metapackage, or - remove the conflicting packages and then upgrade to the latest version of the
anaconda
metapackage.
- update all current packages without upgrading to the latest version of the
To update all current packages without upgrading to the latest version of the anaconda
metapackage:
-
Remove the
anaconda
metapackage itself by running the following command:conda remove anaconda
-
Update all currently installed packages by running the following command:
conda update --all
To remove the conflicting packages and upgrade to the latest version of the anaconda
metapackage:
-
Remove the conflicting packages by running the following command for each one:
conda remove <PACKAGE>
-
Update to the latest version of the
anaconda
metapackage:conda update anaconda
Recovering your Anaconda installation
If your Anaconda installation has become corrupted and is in a state where normal conda commands are not functioning, use the following steps to repair Anaconda and preserve your installed packages and environments.
- Download a new installer, then follow the instructions for your operating system.
Use the actual path, filename, and directory name for your installation.
-
Open a terminal application, such as Command Prompt.
-
Change your original installer’s name so you do not overwrite it:
move anaconda3 anaconda_old
-
Run the Anaconda.exe installer as usual and use robocopy to sync the directories:
robocopy anaconda_old anaconda3 /S
-
Delete your old Anaconda installation directory:
rd /s anaconda_old
-
Open a terminal application, such as Command Prompt.
-
Change your original installer’s name so you do not overwrite it:
move anaconda3 anaconda_old
-
Run the Anaconda.exe installer as usual and use robocopy to sync the directories:
robocopy anaconda_old anaconda3 /S
-
Delete your old Anaconda installation directory:
rd /s anaconda_old
-
Open a terminal application.
-
Change your original installer’s name so you do not overwrite it:
mv anaconda3 anaconda_old
-
Install to same directory as your original installer:
# Replace <INSTALLER> the name of your installer file bash ~/Downloads/<INSTALLER> rsync -a anaconda_old/ anaconda3/
-
Delete your old Anaconda installation directory:
rm -rf anaconda_old
-
Open a terminal application.
-
Change your original installer’s name so you do not overwrite it:
mv anaconda3 anaconda_old
-
Install to same directory as your original installer:
# Replace <INSTALLER> the name of your installer file bash ~/Downloads/<INSTALLER> rsync -a anaconda_old/ anaconda3/
-
Delete your old Anaconda installation directory:
rm -rf anaconda_old
- Run
conda list
to view the packages from the previous installation. - Run
conda info -e
to list the environments created in the previous installation, which are now available in the new installation.
Channels list adding extra channels
A .condarc
file has been added to the root folder of your Anaconda Distribution and Miniconda installations. This file has a channels:
list that contains either:
- a list of hard-coded URLs
- the
defaults
channel
When using channels, conda merges all of your computer’s .condarc
files together in specific ways. For more information on how conda uses your .condarc
files, see the Searching for .condarc section of the official conda documentation.
All channels:
lists in your .condarc
files are merged together when conda searches for packages. This causes the Anaconda default URLs to be appended to (added to the end of) your channels:
list.
Checking your current configuration
To see all the .condarc
files influencing your currently active conda environment, run the following command:
conda config --show-sources
This returns a list of .condarc
file locations and their contents.
Your installation directory .condarc
file should be in the folder where you installed Anaconda Distribution or Miniconda, most likely similar to one of the following:
C:\Users\<USERNAME>\anaconda3
C:\Users\<USERNAME>\miniconda3
/Users/<USERNAME>/anaconda3
/Users/<USERNAME>/miniconda3
/opt/anaconda3
/opt/miniconda
Solving your issue
There are a few ways you can solve this issue, depending on how you use your .condarc
file:
If you use defaults
to configure your channels, you should edit the installer root .condarc
file to use defaults
as well.
-
Locate the installer root
.condarc
file usingconda config --show-sources
. -
Add defaults to the installation directory
.condarc
file’schannels:
list, then remove the hardcoded URLs.You can edit the files manually using your preferred text editor, or by using the following conda CLI command:
Use the
--file
flag to specify the path to the root.condarc
file.conda config --file <PATH/TO/YOUR/ROOT>/.condarc --add channels defaults conda config --file <PATH/TO/YOUR/ROOT>/.condarc --remove channels <CHANNEL1> <CHANNEL2>
conda config --file C:\Miniconda3\.condarc --add channels defaults conda config --file C:\Miniconda3\.condarc --remove channels https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/main https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/r https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/msys2
conda config --file C:\Miniconda3\.condarc --add channels defaults conda config --file C:\Miniconda3\.condarc --remove channels https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/main https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/r https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/msys2
conda config --file /opt/miniconda3/.condarc --add channels defaults conda config --file /opt/miniconda3/.condarc --remove channels https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/main https://repo.anaconda.com/pkgs/r
If you are using
defaults
and want to change the URLs it points to, usedefault_channels
in your.condarc
file. For more information on this setting, see default_channels: Default channels in the official conda documentation.You can edit your
.condarc
manually using your preferred text editor, or by using the following conda CLI command:# This command can add one channel at a time # Replace <CHANNEL> with the URL to your channel conda config --add default_channels <CHANNEL>
To remove a channel instead, replace
--add
with--remove
.
If you have your channels configured in a different .condarc
file (whether you use defaults
or not), you can also delete the installation directory .condarc
file.
Make sure that you always have at least one .condarc
file with a channels:
list defined. Conda requires this to function.
-
Locate the installation directory
.condarc
file usingconda config --show-sources
. -
Delete the installation directory
.condarc
file. This is a hidden file on macOS and Linux and is not visible in file browsers under normal circumstances.You can view hidden files and folders using the following guidance for your operating system:
To view hidden files on macOS, use Shift+Cmd+. in your Finder.
To view hidden files on macOS, use Shift+Cmd+. in your Finder.
To view hidden files on Linux, use Alt+. or Ctrl+H (depending on your file manager).
If you do not want to use the defaults
channels and cannot edit or remove the installation directory .condarc
file (for example, you installed on macOS using the graphical installer without sudo
access):
- You must use the
--override-channels
flag with every conda command that installs or updates packages. - You must also specify at least one channel using the
--channel
(or-c
) flag.
Example:
conda install --override-channels --channel conda-forge numpy
This tells conda to ignore all channels in your .condarc
files and only use the channels you explicitly specify to install or update packages and their dependencies.
If you continue to experience issues, please open a support ticket.
Anaconda Distribution issues
Using Anaconda behind a firewall or proxy
Corporate security policies may prevent a new Anaconda installation from downloading packages and other functionality that requires connecting to an external server. To make external connections, you may need to connect to a firewall/proxy. Additionally, your IT team may need to allow connections to https://anaconda.org and https://repo.anaconda.com, as these are the main package repositories.
To add the proxy information, you will need to add two entries to your .condarc
file, located in the user’s home directory. This information should be made available by your IT team and may contain a username and password that is included in the URL. For more information, see configure conda for use behind a proxy server.
Example .condarc
file configuration:
channels:
- defaults
proxy_servers:
http: http://username:[[email protected]](/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection):8080
https: https://username:[[email protected]](/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection):8443
In some situations, it may be necessary to export the HTTP_PROXY
and HTTPS_PROXY
environment variables.
set HTTP_PROXY=http://username:[[email protected]](/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection):8080
set HTTPS_PROXY=https://username:[[email protected]](/cdn-cgi/l/email-protection):8443
If these steps have not allowed connections, you should speak to your IT team to verify that security policies are not blocking connections to https://anaconda.com or https://repo.continuum.io.
InsecurePlatformWarning error
InsecurePlatformWarning
appears only when the installed version of Python is older than version 2.7.9. This message warns only that the validity of the SSL connection is not being verified. It should not affect your package downloads.
To resolve this, install the updated package ndg-httpsclient
:
conda install ndg-httpsclient
When initially installing this package, you receive the SSL warning again. Once it is installed, the package will prevent the warnings.
Anaconda search error: not recognized as an internal or external command/unrecognized arguments
If anaconda-client
is not installed and you search for a package on anaconda.org using the Anaconda search command…
# Replace <PACKAGE> with the name of a package you want to search for
anaconda search --package-type conda <PACKAGE>
…You will receive the following error message:
'anaconda' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
operable program or batch file.
To resolve the error:
-
Install
anaconda-client
by running the following command:conda install anaconda-client
-
Search for a package:
# Replace <PACKAGE> with the name of the package you are looking for anaconda search --package-type conda <PACKAGE>
Collecting package metadata (repodata.json): - Killed
When installing or searching for a package, you may see the process end abruptly with a “Killed” message:
$ conda install numpy
Collecting package metadata (current_repodata.json): done
Solving environment: failed with initial frozen solve. Retrying with flexible solve.
Collecting package metadata (repodata.json): - Killed
This may be because your system lacks the sufficient disk space or memory to complete the process.
Verify that you have enough disk space and memory on your system to install and use Anaconda packages. The minimum system requirements for Miniconda and Anaconda installers can be found in the conda
user guide.
Linking problems when Python extensions are compiled with gcc
When compiling Python extensions with gcc on Windows, linking problems may result.
To resolve these linking problems, use the conda package libpython
, a mingw import library that Anaconda builds and includes with the Anaconda Distribution.
Error message: Unable to remove files
When trying to update or install packages with conda, you may see an error message such as:
Error: Unable to remove files for package: <PACKAGE>
Please close all processes running code from conda and try again.
Generally, this is caused by a file lock issue.
Before updating or installing any packages with conda, be sure to terminate any running Anaconda processes, such as Navigator, Spyder, or IPython.
You can also force the installation of the package:
# Replace <PACKAGE> with the name of the package you want to install
conda install --force-reinstall <PACKAGE>
Using 32- and 64-bit libraries and CONDA_FORCE_32BIT
To work with both 32- and 64-bit libraries, Anaconda recommends that you have two separate installs: Anaconda32 and Anaconda64 or Miniconda32 and Miniconda64.
When working with both versions, add the path to your installer files to the PATH.
To get the information about conda, including your PATH, run the following command:
conda info -a
- Always specify which version you want to work with because mixing 32- and 64-bit packages can cause problems in your environment.
- Using
force_32bit
is not recommended because it forces 32-bit packages to be installed in the environment, but does not force 32-bit libraries to load at runtime. force_32bit
should be used only when runningconda-build
to build 32-bit packages on a 64-bit system.
Anaconda Distribution installation issues
Cannot get conda to run after installing
In macOS or Linux, you may get “conda not found” or “conda is not recognized as an internal or external command” or a similar message, and you cannot execute conda in a terminal window regardless of what path you are on. This will not happen in Windows if you use the Anaconda Prompt terminal dialog.
When you were installing Anaconda or Miniconda, you most likely answered “No” to the question about prepending the conda prompt to your PATH.
Uninstall and then reinstall Anaconda or Miniconda, answering “Yes” to the question about prepending the conda prompt.
Uninstall and then reinstall Anaconda or Miniconda, answering “Yes” to the question about prepending the conda prompt.
Manually edit your .bash_profile
file to prepend the Anaconda or Miniconda install location.
-
Open your
.bash_profile
file in a text editor with the following command:open ~/.bash_profile
-
Add this line to the
.bash_profile
file and save:# Replace <USERNAME> with your username export PATH=/Users/<USERNAME>/anaconda3/bin:$PATH
-
Close and re-open your terminal window before running a conda command again.
Manually edit your .bash_profile
file to prepend the Anaconda or Miniconda install location.
-
Open your
.bash_profile
file in a text editor with the following command:open ~/.bash_profile
-
Add this line to the
.bash_profile
file and save:# Replace <USERNAME> with your username export PATH=/Users/<USERNAME>/anaconda3/bin:$PATH
-
Close and re-open your terminal window before running a conda command again.
Manually edit your .bashrc
file to prepend the Anaconda or Miniconda install location.
-
Open your
.bashrc
file in a text editor with the following command:open ~/.bashrc
2=1. Add this line to the .bashrc
file and save:
# Replace <USERNAME> with your username
export PATH=/Users/<USERNAME>/anaconda3/bin:$PATH
- Close and re-open your terminal window before running a conda command again.
”This package is incompatible with this version of macOS” error when running a .pkg installer on OSX
When running the .pkg
installer, you may encounter this error during the “Installation” step:
This error occurs when the installation attempts to write to a directory for which it does not have write permissions.
Manually select an appropriate install location. The following example shows how to select your user’s home directory.
-
Re-run the installer and click through until you reach either the Installation Type or Destination Select page.
-
If you reach the Installation Type page first, click Change Install Location…. This will take you to the Destination Select page.
-
Click Install on a specific disk….
-
Select the appropriate destination drive. Then click Choose Folder….
-
Select your user’s home directory (for example, /Users/john.doe/). Then click Choose.
-
In the message box, confirm the name of the install folder you chose in the previous step. Then click Continue.
-
Click Install, and then proceed with the rest of the installation.
If you continue to receive the same error message, please open an issue here, and be sure to include the installation log output from your install.log
file, which can be found at /var/log/install.log
.
Anaconda installer download problems
The Anaconda installer files are large (over 600 MB), and some users have problems with errors and interrupted downloads when downloading large files.
-
Download and install the smaller Miniconda (between 70 and 100 MB).
-
Download and install the remaining packages in Anaconda by using the following command:
conda install anaconda
If the package downloads are interrupted, just run conda install anaconda
again. Conda only downloads the packages that were not finished in any previous attempts.
-
Download and install the smaller Miniconda (between 70 and 100 MB).
-
Download and install the remaining packages in Anaconda by using the following command:
conda install anaconda
If the package downloads are interrupted, just run conda install anaconda
again. Conda only downloads the packages that were not finished in any previous attempts.
Download the large Anaconda installer file, and restart it if the download is interrupted or you need to pause it.
- Find the latest installer at anaconda.com, or an older installer at repo.anaconda.com/archive.
- In Chrome, use Ctrl+J to open the Chrome download manager.
- Click Resume to continue the interrupted download.
The Chrome download manager also enables you to pause and resume or cancel and retry downloads in progress.
- Find the latest installer at anaconda.com, or an older installer at repo.anaconda.com/archive.
- In Chrome, use Ctrl+J to open the Chrome download manager.
- Click Resume to continue the interrupted download.
The Chrome download manager also enables you to pause and resume or cancel and retry downloads in progress.
- Find the latest installer at anaconda.com, or an older installer at repo.anaconda.com/archive.
- In Edge, click Settings and more.
- Click Downloads to open the Downloads dialog.
- From here, you can use the play, pause, and cancel buttons to control downloads in progress.
Go to edge://downloads/all
to open the full page of recent downloads. From here, you can retry cancelled downloads.
- Find the latest installer at anaconda.com, or an older installer at repo.anaconda.com/archive.
- Click Tools.
- Click View Downloads to open the Download Manager.
- Click Resume beside the stopped download to restart downloading. The download resumes at the point where it stopped.
- Find the latest installer at anaconda.com, or an older installer at repo.anaconda.com/archive.
- In Chrome, use Ctrl+J to open the Chrome download manager.
- Click Resume to continue the interrupted download.
The Chrome download manager also enables you to pause and resume or cancel and retry downloads in progress.
- Find the latest installer at anaconda.com, or an older installer at repo.anaconda.com/archive.
- In Chrome, use Ctrl+J to open the Chrome download manager.
- Click Resume to continue the interrupted download.
The Chrome download manager also enables you to pause and resume or cancel and retry downloads in progress.
- Find the latest installer at anaconda.com, or an older installer at repo.anaconda.com/archive.
- In Edge, click Settings and more.
- Click Downloads to open the Downloads dialog.
- From here, you can use the play, pause, and cancel buttons to control downloads in progress.
Go to edge://downloads/all
to open the full page of recent downloads. From here, you can retry cancelled downloads.
- Find the latest installer at anaconda.com, or an older installer at repo.anaconda.com/archive.
- Click Tools.
- Click View Downloads to open the Download Manager.
- Click Resume beside the stopped download to restart downloading. The download resumes at the point where it stopped.
-
Open a terminal window.
-
To download the file, use the following command:
# Replace <INSTALLER> with the the installer file you want to install # See all available installers on https:://repo.anaconda.com/archive/ curl -O https://repo.anaconda.com/archive/<INSTALLER>
-
To pause the download, use Ctrl+C.
While a download is paused, you can shut down or restart your computer.
-
When you are ready to resume your download, use the following command:
#Replace <INSTALLER> with the same file you used above curl -O -C https://repo.anaconda.com/archive/<INSTALLER>
The -C
flag is the option for “continue”. You can pause and restart a download as many times as you wish.
Error message on Miniconda install: Already installed
This situation can occur if you are getting a conda error and you want to reinstall Miniconda to fix it.
For macOS and Linux, download and install the appropriate Miniconda for your operating system from the Miniconda download page using the --force
or -f
option by running the following command:
# Replace the name of the installer if you need a different version or operating system
bash ~/Downloads/Miniconda3-latest-MacOSX-x86_64.sh -f
Make sure to install to the same location as your existing install so it overwrites the core conda files and does not install duplicates in a new folder.
”The installation failed” message when running a .pkg installer on OSX
When running the .pkg
installer, you may see this message at the end of the installation:
If so, check for the following:
-
Open your
/var/log/install.log
file and check whether the most recent lines show errors following a call toconda init --all
.open /var/log/install.log
-
In your
$HOME
directory, check whether the owner of your shell config files isroot
:ls -la ~/.bash_profile ~/.config/fish/config.fish ~/.tcshrc ~/.xonshrc ~/.zshrc
If both of the above are true, do the following:
-
Change the owner of your shell config files to your current user:
sudo chown -R $USER ~/.bash_profile ~/.config/fish/config.fish ~/.tcshrc ~/.xonshrc ~/.zshrc
-
Uninstall the previous installation. Then re-run the installer, making sure to select the Install for me only option.
Windows-specific Anaconda Distribution issues
Cannot see Anaconda menu shortcuts after installation on Windows
After installing on Windows, the Anaconda Prompt and Anaconda Navigator shortcuts do not appear in the Windows Start menu.
This may be caused by the way Windows updates the Start menu, or by having multiple versions of Python installed that are interfering with one another. Existing Python installations, installations of Python modules in global locations, or libraries that have the same names as Anaconda libraries can all prevent Anaconda from working properly.
If Start menu shortcuts are missing, Microsoft recommends rebooting your computer or restarting Windows Explorer.
If that doesn’t work, clear your $PYTHONPATH
environment variable, if applicable, and re-install Anaconda.
Other potential solutions are covered in the “Conflicts with system state” section of the following blog post.
Windows error: Failed to create Anaconda menus or Failed to add Anaconda to the system PATH
During installation on a Windows system, a dialog box appears that says “Failed to create Anaconda menus, Abort Retry Ignore” or “Failed to add Anaconda to the system PATH.” There are many possible Windows causes for this.
Try these solutions, in order:
- Do not install on a PATH longer than 1024 characters.
- Turn off anti-virus programs before installing, then turn the anti-virus programs back on.
- Uninstall all previous Python installations.
- Clear all PATHs related to Python in sysdm.cpl file.
- Delete any previously set up Java PATHs.
- If JDK is installed, uninstall it.
To find your path variable:
- Search for “environment variables” in the search in your taskbar.
- Select Edit the System Environment Variables in the sidebar.
- Click Environment Variables in the System Properties dialog.
- Highlight the path variable for your user.
- Click Edit.
Anaconda interfering with other software on Windows
If a user chooses to add Anaconda to the Windows PATH, this can cause programs to use the new Anaconda versions of software (like Python) and not the versions that were already in place. In some cases, this can cause incompatibility and errors.
Anaconda recommends against adding Anaconda to the Windows PATH manually. Instead, use Anaconda software by opening Anaconda Navigator or Anaconda Prompt from the Start Menu.
Files left behind after uninstalling Anaconda on Windows
Some users may need to keep settings files and other users may need to delete them, so Anaconda leaves some settings files in place when it is uninstalled. Specifically, the directories .spyder2
, .ipython
, .matplotlib
, and .astropy
remain. Depending on your version of Windows, these may be in C:\Documents and Settings\<USERNAME>
or in C:\Users\<USERNAME>
.
Replace <USERNAME>
with your Windows username as it appears in the Documents and Settings
or Users
folder.
Manually delete any unneeded settings files.
Spyder errors or failure to launch on Windows
This may be caused by errors in the Spyder setting and configuration files.
-
Close and relaunch Spyder and see if the problem remains.
-
Open the Start Menu and then click Reset Spyder Settings and see if the problem remains.
-
Close Spyder and relaunch it from Anaconda Prompt with the following command:
spyder
-
Delete the directory
.spyder2
and then repeat the first item in this list. Depending on your version of Windows,.spyder2
may be inC:\Documents and Settings\<USERNAME>
or inC:\Users\<USERNAME>
.
Replace <USERNAME>
with your Windows username as it appears in the Documents and Settings
or Users
folder.
Uninstaller requests admin privileges on Windows
After installing Anaconda or Miniconda as a non-administrative user on Windows, uninstalling may prompt for administrative privileges.
This occurs when running the uninstaller by choosing Control Panel > Uninstall a program, selecting Anaconda or Miniconda from the list of programs, and clicking Uninstall.
Open the anaconda3
or miniconda3
installation folders and run the .exe
file uninstaller from that location. Uninstallation will complete without prompting for administrative privileges.
EXAMPLE: If you installed Miniconda3, the uninstall file will be Uninstall-Miniconda3.exe
. Users who installed Miniconda2 or Anaconda will find a similar file with the appropriate name.
Windows permission errors when installing from Favorites folder
The Windows Favorites folder has unusual permissions and may cause permission errors with installers of any software. If you try launching the installer from the Favorites folder, you may see errors such as “Setup was unable to create the directory”, “Access is denied”, or “Error opening file for writing”.
Move the installer to a different folder and run the installer from the new folder.
Trouble with activation on PowerShell on Windows
Some users might run into the following backtrace on Windows:
File "C:\Users\damia\Miniconda3\lib\site-packages\conda\activate.py", line 550, in _replace_prefix_in_path
assert last_idx is not None
AssertionError
-
Open a Command Prompt window.
-
Navigate to where you installed conda. The following command shows the default:
cd C:\Users\<USERNAME>
-
Run the following command:
python -m conda init
-
Close the Command Prompt window.
If the above method didn’t work, try running:
conda update conda
macOS-specific Anaconda Distribution issues
”Conda: command not found” in zsh shell
If you did not initialize conda when you installed it on your macOS computer, or if you uninstalled and reinstalled zsh (or deleted your .zshrc
file), your zsh shell will be unable to use conda commands properly.
To initialize conda for zsh:
-
Open a terminal application and run the following command:
# Replace <PATH-TO-CONDA> with the file path to your conda installation <PATH-TO-CONDA>/bin/conda init zsh
For example, if you installed Miniconda to the default location with the
.sh
installer (~/miniconda3/
), the command would be:~/miniconda3/bin/conda init zsh
-
Close and reopen your terminal application.
Segmentation fault on package import with macOS Python 3.7 interpreter
In CPython < 3.8, using python3-config
to determine a linking command line to compile an extension module will cause that extension module to segfault upon import. python3-config
does provide command-line flags, but for the different purpose of embedding a Python interpreter.
This is because of the command-line flags returned by python3-config
. Before Python 3.8, those are needed to embed the core Python interpreter into a different project altogether and not those that should be used when linking a Python extension module.
Python modules should never link to the core Python interpreter library directly, either statically at build time or dynamically at runtime. This is because the Python executable itself provides all the necessary functions and symbols.
You should only use python*-config --ldflags
when linking to an interpreter library (either static or shared).
Action | Python < 3.8 | Python >= 3.8 |
---|---|---|
Get command line to link to extension module | python -c "import sysconfig; print(sysconfig.get_config_var('LDSHARED'))" | python3-config --ldflags |
Get command line to embed Python interpreter | python3-config --ldflags | python3-config --ldflags --embed |
python3-config
doesn’t include the command/compiler name, whereas the sysconfig way does. This works provided none of your arguments have spaces:
python -c "import sysconfig; print(' '.join(sysconfig.get_config_var('LDSHARED').split(' ')[1:]))"
Linux-specific Anaconda Distribution issues
Missing libgomp on Power8
If the Python command import numpy
fails, the system is likely missing the libgomp
system library.
Most Power8 Linux distributions include libgomp
, but some may not.
Check whether the system is missing libgomp
by running the following command:
conda inspect linkages --name root numpy
If libgomp.so.1
is listed in the not found:
section, it must be installed.
Install libgomp
on Ubuntu by running the following command:
apt install libgomp1
Install libgomp
on Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) or CentOS by running the following command:
yum install libgomp
Anaconda on Power8 reports “can not execute binary file”
Anaconda on Power8 only supports little endian mode. The little endian Python binary will not execute on a big endian operating system.
Install Anaconda on Power8 on a little endian Linux installation or VM.
Anaconda Distribution installation failed with “‘ascii’ codec can’t encode character ‘xe4’ in position 96” error
The package conda-package-streaming
requires certain encoding variables that fresh installations of Linux may not have properly set, causing an ASCII error and a failed installation of Anaconda Distribution.
-
Add the following to your current shell config file (for example,
.bashrc
or.zshrc
):export LANGUAGE="en_US.utf8" export LC_ALL="en_US.utf8" export LC_CTYPE="en_US.utf8" export LANG="en_US.utf8"
-
If your installer partially ran before failing, your installation directory may not be empty. If so, delete your installation directory.
-
Rerun your installer.
Navigator issues
Navigator fails to update to version 2.6.4
If you are using Navigator version 2.6.3 and are unable to update to version 2.6.4, it might be because of a dependency conflict between the anaconda-navigator
package and the anaconda-toolbox
package. (Each package lists incompatible versions of anaconda-cloud-auth
as a dependency.)
To check if you have the anaconda-toolbox
package, open Anaconda Prompt (Terminal on macOS/Linux) and run the following command:
conda list anaconda-toolbox
To solve the dependency conflict between anaconda-navigator
and anaconda-toolbox
:
-
Navigator, if open.
-
Open Anaconda Prompt (Terminal on macOS/Linux).
-
Run the following command:
conda install --name base anaconda-navigator=2.6.4 anaconda-toolbox=4.1.0
-
Enter
y
to approve the package changes.Once your base environment is updated, it is safe to close Anaconda Prompt/Terminal.
-
Reopen Navigator.
Once this dependency conflict is resolved, any future updates to Navigator can be accomplished as usual. See Updating Navigator.
Navigator error on start up
This is often the result of a corrupted .condarc
file.
To resolve, delete the .condarc
file and restart Navigator.
-
Find the
.condarc
file.Open Anaconda Prompt (Terminal on macOS/Linux) and enter the command
conda info
. The output will tell you the location of your.condarc
file(s). You can also search for “.condarc” on your computer.The
.condarc
file is frequently found in:- macOS:
/Users/<USERNAME>
- Linux:
~/.condarc
- Windows:
C:\\Users\\<USERNAME>
- macOS:
-
Optional: Save custom configurations.
If you had custom configuration in your
.condarc
file before it was corrupted, save the information to add that configuration back to the new file. -
Delete the
.condarc
file. -
Restart Navigator.
Issues launching or initializing
Issues launching or initializing Anaconda Navigator may be caused by permission or licensing problems.
-
If you cannot launch the Anaconda Navigator desktop app via its desktop or application shortcut, you might still be able to launch it via Anaconda Prompt (Terminal on macOS/Linux). Enter the following command:
anaconda-navigator
-
If you have permissions issues, there may be a problem with the hidden licenses directory,
.continuum
. To delete the.continuum
directory, open Anaconda Prompt (Terminal on macOS/Linux) and run the following command, depending on your operating system:rd /s .continuum
Then, relaunch Navigator from the desktop app or Anaconda Prompt (Terminal on macOS/Linux).
-
If removing the licenses directory does not resolve the issue, manually update Navigator by opening Anaconda Prompt (Terminal on macOS/Linux) and running the following command:
conda update --name base anaconda-navigator
-
If you have updated Navigator and still have problems, remove and reinstall Anaconda Navigator by opening Anaconda Prompt (Terminal on macOS/Linux) and running the following command:
conda remove --name base anaconda-navigator conda install --name base anaconda-navigator
-
If none of the above work, reset the Anaconda Navigator configuration back to default values by opening Anaconda Prompt (Terminal on macOS/Linux) and running the following command:
anaconda-navigator --reset
PermissionError on macOS Catalina
macOS Catalina users may experience permission errors where the system does not prompt you for permission to folders requiring access.
-
Update Navigator by opening Anaconda Prompt (Terminal on macOS/Linux) and running the following command:
conda update --name base anaconda-navigator
-
Once updated, have Navigator generate the permissions prompt by launching Spyder and running the following in the console:
# Replace <DIRECTORY> with the folder you need access to import os os.listdir('<DIRECTORY>')
Access denied error
This is caused by a lock file that sometimes gets stuck and isn’t removed when it should be.
Open Anaconda Prompt (Terminal on macOS/Linux) and remove the lock file by running the following commands:
conda update --name base conda anaconda-navigator navigator-updater
anaconda-navigator --reset
Navigator buttons are missing
The disappearance of Navigator buttons may be caused by an out of sync repodata, a corrupt .condarc
file, or an unknown issue.
- Run Update Index from the Environments page of Navigator.
- Quit and restart Navigator.
If that solution doesn’t work, try one of the following:
-
Confirm that your
.condarc
file is not corrupt. Specifically confirm that your channel settings containdefaults
. -
Open Anaconda Prompt (Terminal on macOS/Linux) and run the following command:
conda search python
This downloads a fresh copy of the repodata, which should resolve the problem.
-
If none of the above options work, open an issue detailing the error.
Trouble logging in to the Anaconda Server connection in Navigator
If you are having issues logging in or know you’re logged in but cannot interact with Anaconda Server, try the following solution:
-
Set
logged_api_url
,anaconda_server_token
, andanaconda_server_token_id
in the Navigator config file (anaconda-navigator.ini
) to None.The token and token ID config variable names have been updated from
team_edition_token
toanaconda_server_token
andteam _edition_token_id
toanaconda_server_token_id
as of Version 2.4.0. If you downgrade your Navigator application to a version older than 2.3.0, you will need to manually change these variable names back to their older versions within youranaconda-navigator.ini
file. -
Remove channel_alias from the conda configuration file (
.condarc
). -
Try signing in again.
VS Code is not appearing on the Navigator Home tab
Anaconda Navigator displays and launches VS Code, and many other applications, through that application’s executable file. VS Code’s installation should have placed the executable in a specific directory where Navigator is programmed to look. For example:
- Windows User-Only Installation:
C:\\Users\\User\\AppData\\Local\\Programs\\Microsoft VS Code
- Windows System-Wide Installation:
C:\\Program Files\\Microsoft VS Code
- Linux-64:
/usr/share/code
- macOS:
/Applications
There are two options for solving this issue:
-
Reinstall VS Code to ensure that executable is installed in the default location.
-
Close Navigator.
-
Uninstall (if necessary) and reinstall VS Code.
On macOS, make sure the VS Code application is moved from your Downloads folder to your Applications folder.
-
Re-open Navigator.
-
-
If you have installed VS Code to a different location than the default, edit VS Code’s path in your Navigator user preferences.
-
Open the Anaconda Navigator Preferences dialog from the top menu bar (such as File > Preferences or Anaconda Navigator > Preferences).
-
Scroll down to the VS Code path setting.
-
Enter the path to the installation of VS Code you would like Anaconda Navigator to use. This may be similar to the examples above, especially if you have a user-specific installation you would rather use over your system-wide installation.
You do not need to enter the name of the executable file itself. Just the path to the folder that contains that file.
-
Close and reopen Navigator.
-
Anaconda Navigator fails to start and gives Permission denied error
After installation, Anaconda Navigator may fail to start and give you a “Permission denied” error on the anaconda-client configuration file (/.continuum/anaconda-client/config.yaml
).
This error is likely due to anaconda-client
being installed with admin rights. This will lead to incorrect user permissions for the anaconda-client
config file.
You can do a few things to solve this. They are listed from most straightforward to most complex.
Delete your .continuum folder
- Back up your
.config.yaml
file to a different location. - Delete your
.continuum
folder. - Start Navigator again.
- Copy your saved
.config.yaml
file back into/.continuum/anaconda-client
.
Uninstall and reinstall without admin privileges
Uninstall Anaconda and then reinstall Anaconda without admin privileges.
Manually change the .continuum folder’s user permissions
You will need administrator privileges to do this.
-
Search for “powershell”.
-
Right-click the Windows PowerShell app and select Run as administrator.
-
Run the following command:
#Replace <USERNAME> with your username icacls C:\Users\<USERNAME>\.continuum /grant:r <USERNAME>:(i,f) /t
-
Search for “powershell”.
-
Right-click the Windows PowerShell app and select Run as administrator.
-
Run the following command:
#Replace <USERNAME> with your username icacls C:\Users\<USERNAME>\.continuum /grant:r <USERNAME>:(i,f) /t
-
Open your terminal application.
-
Run the following command:
sudo chmod 766 /.continuum
Navigator gives ‘Email verification failed’ error 403
Users with unverified Anaconda.org email addresses can no longer access the API that Navigator and Anaconda Client use to communicate with Anaconda.org. Navigator 2.5.0+ now catches this error and logs you out of your Anaconda.org connection.
To connect to Anaconda.org again through Navigator, update your Navigator version or verify your Anaconda.org account.
Verify your anaconda.org account
To fully resolve the issue, we recommend verifying your account on Anaconda.org:
- Log in to your Anaconda.org account.
- If your email is unverified, you will be prompted to verify it.
- Click Resend Confirmation Email.
- Follow the instructions in the email you receive to complete the verification process.
Navigator fails to start due to “Could not load the Qt platform plugin “xcb” in "" even though it was found” error
In the CentOS 7 Linux operating system, Orange3 is missing some graphics libraries required by Qt, a framework that Orange Canvas requires to work.
These missing dependencies cause an error when starting Navigator: “Could not load the Qt platform plugin “xcb” in "" even though it was found. This application failed to start because no Qt platform plugin could be initialized.
- Open a terminal application.
- Install the missing system libraries and run updates by running the following commands:
sudo yum install xcb-util-wm xcb-util-image xcb-util-keysyms xcb-util-renderutil
sudo yum update
Once these libraries are installed and updated, Orange3 should launch correctly on CentOS 7 and the above error should no longer appear when opening Navigator with Orange3 installed.
Disable Anaconda.com login reminder
In Navigator versions 2.5.0 and later, a dialog appears every hour (or every 24 hours as of version 2.6.2) to remind users to log in to Anaconda.com, if they are not already logged in. This can be disruptive to users who do not want to log in to Anaconda.com.
There are a few ways to disable the Anaconda.com login reminder, depending on your version of Navigator:
Work in offline mode or log into another repository.
Work in offline mode or log into another repository.
-
Edit the
cloud_login_popup_state
to be0
in the[internal]
section of the configuration file.[internal] anaconda_toolbox_installed = True cloud_login_popup_state = 0
-
Edit the
welcome_state
to be0
in the[internal]
section of the configuration file.[internal] welcome_state = 0
Update popup not automatically appearing
If you are not automatically prompted to update Navigator upon sign in, there can be several reasons why.
- The dialog has been hidden
- Your package index is out of sync
defaults
is missing from your channels list
The dialog has been hidden
You might have clicked Do not show again in the Update popup. If this is the only reason your update popup is failing to appear, you should still see the Update now option beside Connect. To update, click Update now.
To have the Update popup appear automatically again:
- Open Preferences from the File or Anaconda Navigator menu.
- Deselect Hide update dialog on startup.
Your package index is out of sync
Navigator fails to recognize an update is available if your package table is not properly updated. To update your package table, click Environments, then Update index….
defaults
is missing from your channels list
Not having defaults
added to your channels list can also cause Navigator’s Update popup to fail to appear.
This issue specifically impacts users without a subscription to our premium repository.
To add defaults
to your channels list:
- Click Channels on the Home or Environments page.
- Click Add.
- Enter
defaults
, then press Enter (Windows)/Return (Mac) on your keyboard. - Click Update channels.
- Close and reopen Navigator.
Anaconda.org issues
Captcha not appearing when trying to create an Anaconda.org account on Firefox
The captcha at the bottom of the Sign In panel on Anaconda.org sometimes fails to appear on Firefox browsers.
The captcha may be blocked by an ad blocker extension, tracking blocker extension, or Firefox’s privacy settings.
- Refresh your browser and try again. If refreshing multiple times, wait a few seconds between each refresh.
- Check your extensions. Extensions that block tracking or ads may also block the captcha.
- Check your browser settings. Privacy settings may block the captcha.
- Open the sign in page in a private browsing window.
”URI no longer exists and has been permanently removed” 410 error when attempting to upload notebooks or environments to Anaconda.org
The Notebooks and Environments features have been removed from Anaconda.org as part of an initiative to streamline and improve Anaconda.org and enable the site to focus on package hosting and management. Because of this, notebook and environment files can no longer be uploaded to Anaconda.org using the anaconda upload
command.
Although you can no longer upload notebooks to Anaconda.org, you can share your notebooks with others using Anaconda Notebooks instead. Anaconda Notebooks come with their own preloaded Environments and allow you to create your own custom environments as well. For more information on sharing notebooks with Anaconda Notebooks, see Sharing notebooks.
Was this page helpful?
- Most common issues
- Conda: Channel is unavailable/missing or package itself is missing
- Receiving a 403 error from an Anaconda channel
- HTTP 000 CONNECTION FAILED
- Conda: command not found on macOS/Linux
- conda update anaconda command does not install the latest version of the anaconda metapackage
- Recovering your Anaconda installation
- Channels list adding extra channels
- Anaconda Distribution issues
- Using Anaconda behind a firewall or proxy
- InsecurePlatformWarning error
- Anaconda search error: not recognized as an internal or external command/unrecognized arguments
- Collecting package metadata (repodata.json): - Killed
- Linking problems when Python extensions are compiled with gcc
- Error message: Unable to remove files
- Using 32- and 64-bit libraries and CONDA_FORCE_32BIT
- Anaconda Distribution installation issues
- Cannot get conda to run after installing
- ”This package is incompatible with this version of macOS” error when running a .pkg installer on OSX
- Anaconda installer download problems
- Error message on Miniconda install: Already installed
- ”The installation failed” message when running a .pkg installer on OSX
- Windows-specific Anaconda Distribution issues
- Cannot see Anaconda menu shortcuts after installation on Windows
- Windows error: Failed to create Anaconda menus or Failed to add Anaconda to the system PATH
- Anaconda interfering with other software on Windows
- Files left behind after uninstalling Anaconda on Windows
- Spyder errors or failure to launch on Windows
- Uninstaller requests admin privileges on Windows
- Windows permission errors when installing from Favorites folder
- Trouble with activation on PowerShell on Windows
- macOS-specific Anaconda Distribution issues
- ”Conda: command not found” in zsh shell
- Segmentation fault on package import with macOS Python 3.7 interpreter
- Linux-specific Anaconda Distribution issues
- Missing libgomp on Power8
- Anaconda on Power8 reports “can not execute binary file”
- Anaconda Distribution installation failed with “‘ascii’ codec can’t encode character ‘xe4’ in position 96” error
- Navigator issues
- Navigator fails to update to version 2.6.4
- Navigator error on start up
- Issues launching or initializing
- PermissionError on macOS Catalina
- Access denied error
- Navigator buttons are missing
- Trouble logging in to the Anaconda Server connection in Navigator
- VS Code is not appearing on the Navigator Home tab
- Anaconda Navigator fails to start and gives Permission denied error
- Navigator gives ‘Email verification failed’ error 403
- Navigator fails to start due to “Could not load the Qt platform plugin “xcb” in "" even though it was found” error
- Disable Anaconda.com login reminder
- Update popup not automatically appearing
- Anaconda.org issues
- Captcha not appearing when trying to create an Anaconda.org account on Firefox
- ”URI no longer exists and has been permanently removed” 410 error when attempting to upload notebooks or environments to Anaconda.org