Installing Anaconda Distribution

Using Anaconda in a commercial setting?

• You might need to purchase a license to stay compliant with our Terms of Service.

• If your company security policies do not allow admin privileges for end users, you will be unable to install Anaconda Distribution manually. Consider requesting that your IT admin add Anaconda Distribution to a software delivery or fleet management system (such as Kanji, Jamf, etc.).

This page provides instructions for installing Anaconda Distribution on Windows, macOS, and Linux.

If you prefer an installation without the extensive collection of packages included in Anaconda Distribution, install Miniconda instead. Miniconda is a free, miniature installation of Anaconda Distribution that includes only conda, Python, the packages they both depend on, and a small number of other useful packages.

Basic install instructions

If you’ve installed multiple versions of Anaconda Distribution, the system defaults to using the most current version, as long as you haven’t altered the default install path.

Windows installation

1. Download the installer from the Anaconda website or by using your preferred command line interface:

   Anaconda website

   Navigate to anaconda.com/download, register with Anaconda (if desired), and click Download under Distribution Installers.

2. (Recommended) Verify the integrity of your installer to ensure that it was not corrupted or tampered with during download.

   How do I verify my installer's integrity?

   To ensure that your downloaded installer has not been tampered with or corrupted, generate its SHA-256 hash value and compare that hash to the official hash provided in the archive.

   1. Open PowerShell and run the following command:

      # Replace <INSTALLER_FILE> with the name of the downloaded installer file
      Get-FileHash .\Downloads\<INSTALLER_FILE> -Algorithm SHA256
      

      For example:

      Get-FileHash .\Downloads\Anaconda3-2025.06-0-Windows-x86_64.exe -Algorithm SHA256
      

   2. Note the generated SHA-256 hash value from the output.

   3. Visit repo.anaconda.com/archive to find the official SHA-256 hash for your installer.

   4. Compare the hash values. If they match, the installer is safe to use.

   For more information, see cryptographic hash verification in the official conda documentation.

3. Go to your Downloads folder (or Home folder if downloaded via CLI) and double-click the installer to launch.

   To prevent permission errors, do not launch the installer from the Favorites folder.

   If you encounter issues during installation, temporarily disable your anti-virus software during install, then re-enable it after the installation concludes. If you installed for All Users, uninstall Anaconda and re-install it for Just Me only.

4. Click Next and then I Agree to agree to Anaconda’s Terms of Service (TOS). You can read the full TOS at https://anaconda.com/legal.

5. Select an installation option:

   • Just Me (Recommended): Install Anaconda Distribution for the current user account.
   • All Users: Install Anaconda Distribution for all user accounts on the computer (requires Windows Administrator privileges).

6. Click Next.

7. Select a destination folder to install Anaconda, then click Next.

   • Anaconda recommends installing Anaconda Distribution in a directory with no spaces or special characters to avoid potential compatibility issues with open-source tools. For more information, see the FAQ.
   • Do not install as Administrator unless admin privileges are required.

8. Customize your installation options:

   • Create shortcuts - Selected by default. Creates Start Menu shortcuts for the Anaconda Navigator, Spyder, Jupyter Notebook, and Anaconda Prompt packages. Deselecting this option skips creating these shortcuts.

   • Add Anaconda3 to my PATH environment variable - Adds the path that contains the conda binaries to your PATH environment variable. Anaconda does not recommend selecting this option. The conda binaries path contains other package binaries, which are permanently added to your PATH environment variable, even if no conda environment is currently active. This makes it possible for other software to use these package files, which might lead to errors.

     Unless you plan on installing and running multiple versions of Anaconda Distribution or Python, open Anaconda Navigator or the Anaconda Prompt from the Start Menu to begin your environment management work.

     As of Anaconda Distribution 2022.05, the option to add Anaconda to the PATH environment variable during an All Users installation has been disabled. This was done to address a security exploit. You can still add Anaconda to the PATH environment variable during a Just Me installation.

   • Register Anaconda3 as my default Python 3.12 - Selected by default. Registers the Python package in this install as the default Python for programs like VSCode, PyCharm, and so on.

   • Clear the package cache upon completion - Runs conda clean --all --force-pkgs-dirs after the install finishes. For more information on these commands, see the conda command documentation.

9. Click Install. The installation might take a few minutes to complete. Click Show details to view the packages being installed.

10. Click Next twice, then click Finish to close the installer.

11. Open Anaconda Prompt to use Anaconda Distribution.

If you are behind a company proxy, you might need to do some additional setup. For more information, see Using Anaconda behind a company proxy.

macOS/Linux installation

As of August 15, 2025, Anaconda has stopped building packages for Intel Mac computers (osx-64). Existing Intel (MacOSX-x86_64) installers are still available at https://repo.anaconda.com/archive/, but new installers will no longer be created for Intel Macs. For more information, see our blog on the end of Intel mac support.

macOS Graphical installer

The graphical installer for macOS installs Anaconda into /opt/anaconda3 in your file system. If you want to install Anaconda into your Home directory or if you have multiple users on a system and want to manage your installation more carefully, Anaconda recommends following the instructions in the macOS Command Line installer tab.

1. Navigate to anaconda.com/download, register with Anaconda (if desired), and click Download for Mac under Distribution Installers.

2. (Recommended) Verify the integrity of your installer to ensure that it was not corrupted or tampered with during download.

   How do I verify my installer's integrity?

   To ensure that your downloaded installer has not been tampered with or corrupted, generate its SHA-256 hash value and compare that hash to the official hash provided in the archive.

   1. Open Terminal and run the following command:

      # Replace <INSTALLER-FILE> with the name of the downloaded installer file
      shasum -a 256 ~/Downloads/<INSTALLER-FILE>
      

      For example:

      shasum -a 256 ~/Downloads/Anaconda3-2025.06-0-MacOSX-x86_64.pkg
      

   2. Note the generated SHA-256 hash value from the output.

   3. Visit repo.anaconda.com/archive to find the official SHA-256 hash for your installer.

   4. Compare the hash values. If they match, the installer is safe to use.

      For more information, see cryptographic hash verification in the official conda documentation.

3. Double-click the downloaded file and click Continue to start the installation.

4. View the Read Me instructions and click Continue.

5. View Anaconda’s Terms of Service (TOS) at https://anaconda.com/legal. If you agree to the terms, click Continue, then click Agree.

   For installer versions 2023.09 or older, the installer might skip the Destination Select page during installation, which will cause the installation to fail. If the installer skips this page, click Change Install Location… on the Installation Type page to open the Destination Select step.

6. Choose an install location:

   • Install for all users of this computer (Recommended) - Installs Anaconda Distribution into /opt/anaconda3 for all users of the computer.
   • Install on a specific disk - Enables you to choose a different location to install Anaconda Distribution.
   If you get the error message “You cannot install Anaconda in this location,” reselect Install for all users of this computer and try again.

7. Click Install. The installation may take a few minutes to complete.

   If you get the error message “This package is incompatible with this version of macOS,” please see here for troubleshooting help.

8. Click Continue.

9. Click Close to exit the installer.

Verify your install

Anaconda Navigator, the Graphical User Interface (GUI) for conda, should automatically open after successful installation of Anaconda Distribution.

If Navigator does not automatically open, verify your installation by opening the application manually, or by using the CLI:

Opening Navigator manually

Windows

1. Search for “Anaconda Navigator” in the taskbar search.
2. Select Anaconda Navigator.

Advanced install options

For more advanced installation instructions, such as installing with silent mode, installing on older operating systems, or multi-user installs, see Advanced installation.

Other ways to get Anaconda or Miniconda

For instructions on using Anaconda Docker images or the Anaconda Cloudera Distributed Hadoop cluster, see Integrations.

Problems?

• Troubleshooting guide for general troubleshooting
• Help and support for resources such as community support and bug reports

What’s next?

Get started programming with Anaconda in the Getting started with Anaconda guide.

Visit Anaconda.com to start programming for FREE in a notebook. Learn how from Anaconda Learning, too!