3. Making the Python Installation Convenient

Making the Python installation more convenient

  1. As installed, you will need to open a command line and type spyder every time you want to use Spyder. This can be annoying, so you can make a shortcut that you can open from your desktop or quick launch:

    • On Windows PCs:
      1. Right-click on your desktop background and click New->Shortcut in the menu that pops up.
      2. A dialog box will appear that asks you to type the location of the item (in this case, the executable file for spyder). You can find this by going to the command line and typing where spyder to reveal the location of the spyder executable. You should get a long line of text that starts with C:\ and ends with spyder.exe that you can highlight with your mouse and copy by pressing “Ctrl C” on your keyboard. Paste this line of text into the text entry box in the dialog for the shortcut and click “Next” to continue.
      3. The dialog will now prompt you to give the shortcut a name. You can choose whatever you want, but we recommned calling it Spyder! Type in Spyder and click “Finish” to make the shortcut.
      4. (optional) The shortcut should appear but it has a generic icon. You can add the proper icon by right clicking on the shortcut and clicking “Properties” in the menu that pops up. A dialog box should appear that has a button labeled “Change Icon…” that, when clicked, allows you to specify a file with the icon image to use. In this new dialog box, click “Browse…” to bring up a file explorer window that you can use to find the icon file. In this window, click This PC in the taskbar to the left and then in the search box in the top right, type “windows_app_icon” and press Enter. It may take a bit of time for Windows to find it, but you should eventually get a file that has the spyder logo (A black S and a red spider web). Click Open, then OK, then OK again to finish, and you should now see the shortcut on your desktop.
    • On a Mac:
      1. We are still working on this. . .

  2. You can also add a link to Spyder in your Start menu in Windows. This will have the secondary effect of making it possible to launch Spyder by pressing your Windows key and typing “spyder” as a quick method. Right click your Spyder shortcut that you just made and, in the popup menu that appears, click “Pin to Start” to make a Start menu shortcut. Now you can even delete your desktop shortcut if you want, and Spyder will remain in the Start menu!