Most Commonly Used Conda Commands

Conda is a popular package and environment management system for Python. It is widely used for creating, managing, and distributing software packages, as well as setting up and managing virtual environments.

This blog post provides a concise overview of the most commonly used conda commands, along with their usage and examples.

1. conda create

conda create creates a new conda environment. It takes a list of packages or specifications as arguments and installs them into the new environment.

conda create --name myenv python=3.8 pandas matplotlib

2. conda install

conda install installs one or more packages into the active environment. It supports installing packages from various channels and repositories.

conda install numpy scipy

3. conda update

conda update updates all the packages in the active environment to their latest versions.

conda update

4. conda remove

conda remove removes one or more packages from the active environment.

conda remove numpy

5. conda clean

conda clean removes unnecessary packages and files from the conda package cache.

conda clean --packages

6. conda list

conda list lists all the installed packages and their versions in the active environment.

conda list

7. conda info

conda info provides detailed information about the active environment, including the installed packages, dependencies, and settings.

conda info

8.conda env list

conda env list lists all the conda environments that have been created on your system. It provides information about the environment name, the Python version, and the packages installed in each environment.

conda env list

Output:

# conda environments:
#
base                  *  /Users/username/anaconda3
myenv                   /Users/username/anaconda3/envs/myenv

In this output, base is the default conda environment that is created when you install conda. myenv is a custom environment that has been created by the user. 

9. conda activate

conda activate activates a specific conda environment, making it the active environment.

conda activate myenv

10. conda deactivate

conda deactivate deactivates the active conda environment, returning to the default environment.

conda deactivate

11. conda search

conda search searches for packages in the conda channels and repositories. It can be used to find packages, check their versions, and display their descriptions.

conda search pandas

12. conda export

conda export exports the list of installed packages and their dependencies in the active environment to a text file.

conda export > environment.txt

13. conda env create --file

conda env create --file creates a new conda environment from a specified environment definition file. This file can contain the list of packages, dependencies, and settings for the environment.

conda env create --file environment.txt

14. conda config

conda config allows you to modify conda configuration settings. It can be used to set defaults, add channels, and configure settings for package installation and updates.

conda config --set always_copy yes

15. conda update --all

conda update --all updates all the packages in the active environment to their latest available versions.

conda update --all

These are just some of the most commonly used conda commands. For a complete list and detailed documentation, refer to the official conda documentation.