Creation of :ref:`virtual environments ` is done by executing the command ``venv``:: python3 -m venv /path/to/new/virtual/environment Running this command creates the target directory (creating any parent directories that don't exist already) and places a ``pyvenv.cfg`` file in it with a ``home`` key pointing to the Python installation from which the command was run (a common name for the target directory is ``.venv``). It also creates a ``bin`` (or ``Scripts`` on Windows) subdirectory containing a copy/symlink of the Python binary/binaries (as appropriate for the platform or arguments used at environment creation time). It also creates an (initially empty) ``lib/pythonX.Y/site-packages`` subdirectory (on Windows, this is ``Lib\site-packages``). If an existing directory is specified, it will be re-used. .. deprecated:: 3.6 ``pyvenv`` was the recommended tool for creating virtual environments for Python 3.3 and 3.4, and is `deprecated in Python 3.6 `_. .. versionchanged:: 3.5 The use of ``venv`` is now recommended for creating virtual environments. .. highlight:: none On Windows, invoke the ``venv`` command as follows:: c:\>c:\Python35\python -m venv c:\path\to\myenv Alternatively, if you configured the ``PATH`` and ``PATHEXT`` variables for your :ref:`Python installation `:: c:\>python -m venv c:\path\to\myenv The command, if run with ``-h``, will show the available options:: usage: venv [-h] [--system-site-packages] [--symlinks | --copies] [--clear] [--upgrade] [--without-pip] [--prompt PROMPT] [--upgrade-deps] ENV_DIR [ENV_DIR ...] Creates virtual Python environments in one or more target directories. positional arguments: ENV_DIR A directory to create the environment in. optional arguments: -h, --help show this help message and exit --system-site-packages Give the virtual environment access to the system site-packages dir. --symlinks Try to use symlinks rather than copies, when symlinks are not the default for the platform. --copies Try to use copies rather than symlinks, even when symlinks are the default for the platform. --clear Delete the contents of the environment directory if it already exists, before environment creation. --upgrade Upgrade the environment directory to use this version of Python, assuming Python has been upgraded in-place. --without-pip Skips installing or upgrading pip in the virtual environment (pip is bootstrapped by default) --prompt PROMPT Provides an alternative prompt prefix for this environment. --upgrade-deps Upgrade core dependencies: pip setuptools to the latest version in PyPI Once an environment has been created, you may wish to activate it, e.g. by sourcing an activate script in its bin directory. .. versionchanged:: 3.9 Add ``--upgrade-deps`` option to upgrade pip + setuptools to the latest on PyPI .. versionchanged:: 3.4 Installs pip by default, added the ``--without-pip`` and ``--copies`` options .. versionchanged:: 3.4 In earlier versions, if the target directory already existed, an error was raised, unless the ``--clear`` or ``--upgrade`` option was provided. .. note:: While symlinks are supported on Windows, they are not recommended. Of particular note is that double-clicking ``python.exe`` in File Explorer will resolve the symlink eagerly and ignore the virtual environment. .. note:: On Microsoft Windows, it may be required to enable the ``Activate.ps1`` script by setting the execution policy for the user. You can do this by issuing the following PowerShell command: PS C:\> Set-ExecutionPolicy -ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser See `About Execution Policies `_ for more information. The created ``pyvenv.cfg`` file also includes the ``include-system-site-packages`` key, set to ``true`` if ``venv`` is run with the ``--system-site-packages`` option, ``false`` otherwise. Unless the ``--without-pip`` option is given, :mod:`ensurepip` will be invoked to bootstrap ``pip`` into the virtual environment. Multiple paths can be given to ``venv``, in which case an identical virtual environment will be created, according to the given options, at each provided path. Once a virtual environment has been created, it can be "activated" using a script in the virtual environment's binary directory. The invocation of the script is platform-specific (`` must be replaced by the path of the directory containing the virtual environment): +-------------+-----------------+-----------------------------------------+ | Platform | Shell | Command to activate virtual environment | +=============+=================+=========================================+ | POSIX | bash/zsh | $ source /bin/activate | +-------------+-----------------+-----------------------------------------+ | | fish | $ source /bin/activate.fish | +-------------+-----------------+-----------------------------------------+ | | csh/tcsh | $ source /bin/activate.csh | +-------------+-----------------+-----------------------------------------+ | | PowerShell Core | $ /bin/Activate.ps1 | +-------------+-----------------+-----------------------------------------+ | Windows | cmd.exe | C:\\> \\Scripts\\activate.bat | +-------------+-----------------+-----------------------------------------+ | | PowerShell | PS C:\\> \\Scripts\\Activate.ps1 | +-------------+-----------------+-----------------------------------------+ When a virtual environment is active, the :envvar:`VIRTUAL_ENV` environment variable is set to the path of the virtual environment. This can be used to check if one is running inside a virtual environment. You don't specifically *need* to activate an environment; activation just prepends the virtual environment's binary directory to your path, so that "python" invokes the virtual environment's Python interpreter and you can run installed scripts without having to use their full path. However, all scripts installed in a virtual environment should be runnable without activating it, and run with the virtual environment's Python automatically. You can deactivate a virtual environment by typing "deactivate" in your shell. The exact mechanism is platform-specific and is an internal implementation detail (typically a script or shell function will be used). .. versionadded:: 3.4 ``fish`` and ``csh`` activation scripts. .. versionadded:: 3.8 PowerShell activation scripts installed under POSIX for PowerShell Core support.