Harrix Installing Python
This article explains how to install Python on Windows.
Downloading
Go to https://www.python.org/ and download the Windows version:
Figure 1: Choosing the latest Python version for Windows
But usually several months or a year pass after a new Python version is released before well-known and needed libraries adapt to it. So it makes sense to install the previous Python version. For example, in the screenshot above the latest version is 12 (yours may already be different). So it is worth choosing Python 11. To do this, on the page https://www.python.org/downloads/windows/ find the latest such Python release that has the line Download Windows installer (64-bit) and download that file:
Figure 2: Choosing the previous Python version for Windows
Installation
On the first step, be sure to check the Add Python to PATH option:
Figure 3: Choosing the default installation
Figure 4: Choosing the default installation
There may also be an option to remove the Windows path length limit:
Figure 5: Removing the path length limit
Figure 6: End of installation
Checking Python
This part is optional, but it is a good idea to check how you installed Python.
Launch the cmd command prompt or any other terminal (for example, Windows Terminal). There are many ways to do this. For example, through search:
Figure 7: Launching the command prompt in Windows 10
Figure 8: Launching the command prompt in Windows 11
Enter the python command and press Enter to start the Python interpreter:
Figure 9: Launching the Python interpreter
Enter some code, for example 1+1, and press Enter. If 2 is printed, everything is fine and Python was installed correctly:
Figure 10: Example of an arithmetic operation
After that, you can close the command prompt.
By the way, if you want to exit the Python interpreter to continue working in the command prompt, press Ctrl + Z, then Enter.
Sometimes you may have problems because of an outdated pip, which you can update in the console with:
python -m pip install --upgrade pip