Mac Default Python Path Change

Question

Hi I have a Mac and happen to have many different flavors of Python installed everywhere.

right now when I opened up python in terminal, type in

which python

the return result is:

//anaconda/bin/python

I am wondering what should I do to change the default python to a python that I like, so next time when I do:

which python

the path should be:

/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/bin/python2.7

Thanks!

• Ashwini Chaudhary: Add an alias to .bash_profile file.

Answer 1

When you installed Anaconda it should have added a new item to your PATH variable, right at the front. You should see something like this in your *~/.bash_profile* file:

# added by Anaconda 1.8.0 installer
export PATH="//anaconda/bin:$PATH"

You can remove these lines, reopen any terminal window you have and your default Python should have been restored.

Answer 2

which command uses the directories listed in $PATH to search for the first occurrence of a command. If you want to list all instances of executables, use -a option.

which python2.7

Output:

/usr/bin/python2.7

This will display symbolic link to /System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/bin/python2.7

to resolve symbolic link use

readlink $(which python2.7) 

output:

../../System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/bin/python2.7

• B.Mr.W.: when I do which python2.7, I got: //anaconda/bin/python2.7 which is still not what I want.
• Shrikant Kakani: @ParagBafna when I do 'which python', it still shows the previous path but readlink $(which python2.7) shows the path that I want my python to link to. So does it mean that the path has been updated?

Answer 3

Try creating a symbolic link

ln -s /anaconda/bin/python /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/bin/python2.7