How to install Anaconda on Windows in 4 Simple Steps

This article will guide you on how to install anaconda on windows. Installing Anaconda may seem quite a complicated task at first if you are not familiar with adding Path to environment variables. But it is our job to make the steps as simple as possible so next time installing it on any system you don’t have to goof around. 

In simple terms, Anaconda is a package manager, an environment manager, and Python distribution that contains a collection of many open source packages (NumPy, scikit-learn, scipy, pandas to name a few). Having preinstalled packages like NumPy, scikit-learn, scipy, and pandas will have an advantage over working on a data science project. For installing additional packages, you can use Anaconda’s package manager, conda, or pip.

Anaconda is open-source software that contains Jupyter Notebook, spyder, etc that are used for large-scale data processing, data analytics, scientific computing, predictive analytics, etc. Anaconda is mainly used for R and python. If you have to work on the OpenCV project, you should install Anaconda and work with hundreds of scientific packages.

How to Install Anaconda on Windows Step-By-Step

Follow the given instruction to install Anaconda on your windows:

1. Download and install Anaconda:

Go to anaconda.com and download the latest version of anaconda for your windows.

Download the appropriate version that matches your system requirement.

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2. Locate your Download and Double click on it

Go to the folder where your downloaded Anaconda is located and double click on it. Or you can right-click on the Anaconda and select Run as administrator.

3. Begin with the installation process:

• Getting Started:

Just press the Next option.

• Getting through the License Agreement:

Click the I Agree option to continue.

• Select Installation Type:

You can select the Just Me option if you are using it on your PC. 

• Choose Installation Location:

You can select the default option or install it on any desired location of your windows. 

• Advanced Installation Option:

It is the most important part of the installation process. The recommended approach is not to check the box with Add Anaconda to your Path. We will come to this on a later part where we have to manually add Path to system environment variables.

• Getting through the Installation Process:

Wait until the whole installation process is completed.

• Finishing up the Installation:

If the installation process has completed, select the Finish option.

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4. Adding Anaconda to Path

This is the optional step in case if you didn’t check the box in Advanced Installation Option and now want to add Anaconda to your Path. The advantage of this is that you will be able to use Anaconda in your command prompt.

• Open a Command Prompt

You can open Command Prompt on your windows using run and type cmd. Or, you can simply search for Command Prompt on your search bar.

• Check if you have already installed Anaconda or not

To check whether Path has been already installed or not, type jupyter notebook on your command prompt. If you get something like the images shown below then you can skip this Adding Anaconda to Path steps. If your command prompt gets errors showing command not recognized then follow the further steps.

• Locate where your conda or python is

Open Anaconda Prompt and type the following commands. It gives the location of your conda and python on your computer.

where conda
where python

 

• Add conda and python to your Path

You can do this by going to your System or Environment Variables and adding the location you got from previous steps to the path.

• Open a new Command Prompt

To check everything went well, type conda –version and python –version on your Command Prompt.

Once you are done with installation then you are ready for the things that made you install Anaconda at the first place.   

Uninstalling Anaconda from Your PC

In case you want to uninstall Anaconda from Pc, it’s much easier. Just follow the step below:

• Go to Control Panel

Go to the search bar and search for Control Panel. Then click on it. 

• Select the Uninstall Program

Under Control Panel, click on Uninstall a program option.

• Click the right button of the mouse and click the uninstall option

Look for Anaconda and Uninstall it.

Just click on the Next option and wait till it gets uninstall completely.

Conclusion

This article shows how you can easily download and install Anaconda on your windows just following simple steps. The pictures shown provide even more clear vision on your installation journey just to make sure you don’t get lost or feel confused. 

If you have any questions or thought regarding this article, feel free to reach out in the comments below.