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.

Tip

If you are just starting out, we recommend installing conda via the Miniconda installer.

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.