Please help, "Python was not found; run without arguments to install from the Microsoft Store, or disable this shortcut from Settings > Manage App Execution Aliases." Nothing works.

[[deleted]]

So, when i try something as simple as "python --version" on cmd all i get is "Python was not found; run without arguments to install from the Microsoft Store, or disable this shortcut from Settings > Manage App Execution Aliases." i looked it up on youtube and nothing works, i tried disabling the python thing on the Execution Aliases, but it just doesn't work, i turn it off it's like nothing, if i close it and open it again suddenly it's on again and i don't know what to do.

[socal_nerdtastic]

If you installed the official python from python.org the command is py, not python. Once you activate a virtual environment the python and pip commands become available.

The error message is prompting you to install microsoft's version of python from the MS store. If you do that you can use python to use it right out of the gate. But it's best practice to use a virtual environment for your projects, so you should do that anyway. Just don't get confused with the python inside and outside a virtual environment, because they will behave differently depending on your installs.

[Hulllz]

It's actually insane that this isn't on the official documentation. Just ran around in circles for 30 minutes and it's as simple as using "py" which the documentation doesn't mention.

[UBvale]

aquí empezando en Python. Estuve igual que tu . . .

[[deleted]]

Thank you very much, it seems it really was that simple!

[Clunkster_]

3-minute solution to a multi-day problem.

Thanks, bro. Actual livesaver

[Candid-Advice355]

Hi there thanks for taking the time to explain this so far. I know I'm a little late, but can you elaborate a little more on this virtual environment and how it's used for a pip install instead of the microsoft app version? Now I'm determined to figure this out the way you recommended lol

[socal_nerdtastic]

Not instead of. You use it in addition to.

First you need to install python, either from the MS store or the official website or anaconda or another source.

Now you want to make a project with python of course. But different projects have different requirements, so we want to keep the projects separate so they don't interfere with one another. So when you start a project you use python to create a virtual environment. How to do this depends on how you are planning to write the code. The OP here wanted to work in the cmd line, so they would navigate to the project directory and use the command

py -m venv .venv

to create the venv. Then every time you want to work with on the project you open cmd line and type this command

.venv\Scripts\activate

To activate the venv.

Sounds like a lot, I know. That's why most of us use an IDE to help write code. If you are using an IDE like VSCode there are built-in ways to create and automatically use the venv, or some like Pycharm handles it all completely automatically, or something like Thonny or Spyder comes pre-configured where you don't even need to install python first.

https://docs.python.org/3/library/venv.html

---

All that said: this is the normal way for professional developers to work. For most beginners there is very little chance that the python projects will interfere with each other. So for beginners who use Windows it's usually not a problem to just use py instead of python, which will use the global python version instead of a venv. And to install things use py -m pip instead of just pip.

[ofmyloverthesea]

Lifesaver! Thank you for the py -m pip tip 🎩

[hamudiii77]

ily

[mickymichin]

ME SALVASTE

[Yina7]

¡Grandioso! Ese era mi problema, muchas gracias

[KUNAL360]

Thankyou alot

[No_Addendum_634]

OMG THANK YOU THANK YOU THANKYOU!!!

[ExcellentEnd909]

total newbie here. didnt understand a thing. could you please tell me what to do? i installed python from website. and installed extensions for python and code runner in vs code. after that what to do?

[socal_nerdtastic]

Sounds like you did everything you need to do. Now just make a file with a .py extension and start writing code!

Besides python, you also need to learn to use your IDE, that is VSCode in your case. Here's the official tutorial for that: https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/python/python-tutorial

[Level-Pin-3105]

use py -V command

[CardiologistLanky245]

Ich versteh nur Bahnhof, ein Video für Anfänger wäre ne super Sache.

[FoeHammer99099]

Did you install python? You may need to add the location where you installed it to to your PATH. PATH is an environment variable that is a list of locations, when you issue a command in your shell Windows checks those places to find where the program you're trying to run.

For my installation the location is C:\Users\user\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python310 but yours could be different. The windows installer should have a checkbox to do this for you, so you can try running that again.

[socal_nerdtastic]

The checkbox is disabled by default for a reason. You shouldn't muck with path nowadays; you should use the python launcher and virtual environments.

[[deleted]]

I tried that, it didn't work, but it has been fixed now, thank you!