Installing conda#

To install conda, you must first pick the right installer for you. The following are the most popular installers currently available:

Miniconda#

Miniconda is a minimal installer provided by Anaconda. Use this installer if you want to install most packages yourself.

Anaconda Distribution#

Anaconda Distribution is a full featured installer that comes with a suite of packages for data science, as well as Anaconda Navigator, a GUI application for working with conda environments.

Miniforge#

Miniforge is an installer maintained by the conda-forge community that comes preconfigured for use with the conda-forge channel. To learn more about conda-forge, visit their website.

Note

Miniconda and Anaconda Distribution come preconfigured to use the Anaconda Repository and installing/using packages from that repository is governed by the Anaconda Terms of Service, which means that it might require a commercial fee license. There are exceptions for individuals, universities, and companies with fewer than 200 employees (as of September 2024).

Please review the terms of service, Anaconda's most recent Update on Anaconda’s Terms of Service for Academia and Research, and the Anaconda Terms of Service FAQ to answer your questions.

System requirements#

  • A supported operating systems: Windows, macOS, or Linux

  • For Miniconda or Miniforge: 400 MB disk space

  • For Anaconda: Minimum 3 GB disk space to download and install

  • For Windows: Windows 8.1 or newer for Python 3.9, or Windows Vista or newer for Python 3.8

Tip

You do not need administrative or root permissions to install conda if you select a user-writable install location (e.g. /Users/my-username/conda or C:\Users\my-username\conda).

Regular installation#

Follow the instructions for your operating system:

Installing in silent mode#

You can use silent installation of Miniconda, Anaconda, or Miniforge for deployment or testing or building services, such as GitHub Actions.

Follow the silent-mode instructions for your operating system:

Cryptographic hash verification#

SHA-256 checksums are available for Miniconda and Anaconda Distribution. We do not recommend using MD5 verification as SHA-256 is more secure.

Download the installer file and, before installing, verify it as follows:

  • Windows:

    • If you have PowerShell V4 or later:

      Open a PowerShell console and verify the file as follows:

      Get-FileHash filename -Algorithm SHA256

    • If you don't have PowerShell V4 or later:

      Use the free online verifier tool on the Microsoft website.

      1. Download the file and extract it.

      2. Open a Command Prompt window.

      3. Navigate to the file.

      4. Run the following command:

        Start-PsFCIV -Path C:\path\to\file.ext -HashAlgorithm SHA256 -Online

  • macOS: In iTerm or a terminal window enter shasum -a 256 filename.

  • Linux: In a terminal window enter sha256sum filename.