How To Get Spyder To Open Python Scripts (.py Files) Directly From Windows Explorer

I have recently installed the Anaconda distribution on Windows 7 (Anaconda 3-2.4.0-Windows-x86_64). Unlike IDLE, I can't right-click and open a py file in the Spyder IDE. I will ha

Solution 1:

With the current version of Anaconda (4.1.0) you can simply right-click on a python script in Windows File Explorer and choose "Open with". The first time you do this you need to select "Choose default program" and then browse to spyder.exe in the Script directory in your Anaconda installation. Also make sure that the "Always use the selected program to open this kind of file" is unchecked and then click OK. From now on spyder.exe will always be listed as one of the options when you select "Open with" from the right-click menu in Windows File Explorer.

Solution 2:

I have had a similar problem with another piece of software that I use.

My work around for this problem is to set the file association for .py files to C:\Anaconda\Scripts\spider-script.py via the Open with dialog. If you now try to open your File.py by double clicking you'll receive an error like

~\file.py is not a valid Win32 application.

This can be resolved by editing the spyder-script.py registry key:

HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-21-3559708500-1520960832-86631148-1002\Software\Classes\Applications\spyder-script.py\shell\open\command

and replacing the default value "C:\Anaconda\Scripts\spyder-script.py" %1 with "C:\Anaconda\python.exe" "C:\Anaconda\Scripts\spyder-script.py" %1. Use the search function for this key if the path isn't the same for your machine, and of course use the appropriate path for your python installation. spyder-script.py should now execute in a python shell.

From the docstring of ftype,

...Within an open command string, %0 or %1 are substituted with the file name being launched through the association.

Solution 3:

Right now there is no way to open a file in Spyder from the Windows File Explorer when using Anaconda. But we are working to have this functionality in a future version.

It will work by adding an entry to the Open with menu you can see when doing a mouse right-click over a file on the Explorer.

Solution 4:

What is working very well for me in Windows (10), is associating the *.py files with a batch file (let's say "SpyderBATCH.bat") containing this line :

[ANACONDA_FOLDER_PATH]\pythonw.exe" "[ANACONDA_FOLDER_PATH]\cwp.py" "[ANACONDA_FOLDER_PATH]" "[ANACONDA_FOLDER_PATH]/pythonw.exe" "[ANACONDA_FOLDER_PATH]/Scripts/spyder-script.py" %1  

Where [ANACONDA_FOLDER_PATH] has to be replaced with the full path to the Anaconda folder (usually under "Program Files").

What Windows does, when double-clicking on a python script (let's say "file.py"), is pass to SpyderBATCH, as parameter number %1, the full path to "file.py".

Then Spyder is launched and displays the script "file.py" in the editor view.

Solution 5:

I figured I would post my solution for this as well.

I have Spyder installed in multiple different environments. You can't simply call the spyder-script.py script without errors, because the environment must be activated.

@echo off
call [YOUR_CONDA_PATH]\Scripts\activate.bat [YOUR_CONDA_PATH]
call conda activate [YOUR ENVIRONMENT]
callstart [YOUR_CONDA_PATH]\envs\[YOUR ENVIRONMENT]\pythonw.exe "[YOUR_CONDA_PATH]\envs\[YOUR ENVIRONMENT]\Scripts\spyder-script.py" %1

You can remove the second line and remove the environment extension from the third line if you have Spyder installed in your base environment.

Hopefully for anyone experiencing any weirdness with the other solution, this one will do the trick by activating the environment correctly.