Python console mac os

How to Run a Python Script on Mac

Python is a powerful tool that you can use to write and execute scripts to perform various tasks. Your Mac comes with Python, but you’ll want to upgrade to the latest version of Python to use its full capabilities.

Python is convenient to learn and use. One of the first things you will need to know is how to run a Python script on your Mac. Using Mac Terminal, you can use the python3 command followed by the name of your script, as shown below.

If you are uncomfortable with Mac Terminal, you can use IDLE to run Python scripts.

My name is Eric, and as a software engineer, I write and use command-line scripts regularly. Python is a quick and easy language to work with; therefore, I use it quite frequently. Running scripts on a Mac is fairly straightforward, and I can show you how.

If you want to see two methods of running Pythons scripts on Mac, keep reading below.

• 2 Ways to Run a Python Script on Mac
• Mac Terminal
  • Step 1: Start Mac Terminal.
  • Step 2: Navigate to the location of your Python script.
  • Step 3: Run the Python script with the python3 command
  • Step 1: Use Finder to locate your Python script.
  • Step 2: Right-click on the file name.
  • Step 3: Select Open With and then IDLE.app.
  • Step 4: Run the script.
  • Do Python scripts need to have a .py extension?
  • Do Python scripts work only on Mac?
  • Are there other tools I can use to create and run Python scripts on a Mac?

  2 Ways to Run a Python Script on Mac

  There are a couple of methods you can use to run Python scripts on your Mac. Using Mac Terminal is the first one I will cover, and IDLE (Integrated Development and Learning Environment) is the second. I prefer to use Mac Terminal, but you can look at each method and determine which is right for you.

  For each method described below, I will use a simple test Python script called HelloWorld.py which simply prints a message saying Hello World. The simplicity of the script does not matter since the goal here is just to learn how to run a script.

  

  Whichever method you use, you will want to ensure that your Python version is up to date. Also, if you wish to use IDLE, you will want to use the Python installer to install the latest version of IDLE along with Python. Take a look here to see how to install the latest.

  Mac Terminal

  Using Mac Terminal to run Python scripts is quick and straightforward, and as I mentioned above, my preferred method for running them. You merely start Mac Terminal, navigate to the directory that contains the script, and then run it using the python3 command. See the detailed steps below.

  Step 1: Start Mac Terminal.

  Use your preferred method to start up Mac Terminal.

  Step 2: Navigate to the location of your Python script.

  You can use the method you prefer to navigate to the folder containing your script. My example script is located in a directory called scripts under my home directory, so I will use the cd command to navigate there.

  

  Step 3: Run the Python script with the python3 command

  Now all I need to do is run the script as a parameter of the python3 command. See the example below.

  python3 HelloWorld.py

  

  The script will run, and as shown in our example, you will see a message printed on the terminal screen saying Hello World!

  IDLE

  To use IDLE, you should have installed it with the Python installer mentioned above. Once you install it, you can open and run Python scripts from Finder on your desktop using the context menu.

  Step 1: Use Finder to locate your Python script.

  You can navigate the folders in Finder or just use the search field to find it.

  Step 2: Right-click on the file name.

  Right-click on the file name to bring up the context menu.

  Step 3: Select Open With and then IDLE.app.

  Click on the Open With item to show the list of applications and then select IDLE.app.

  

  Step 4: Run the script.

  IDLE will show the contents of the script in a window. To run it, you can go to the menu at the top of the screen. Click on the Run menu and then select Run Module.

  

  You can also use the F5 key to run the module if you would like to do so. Once you run the module (your script), the output will show in the IDLE shell window.

  

  FAQs

  Python is a commonly used scripting language, so many questions are often surrounding its use and how to run the scripts on a Mac. Below are a few of the common ones that we often hear.

  Do Python scripts need to have a .py extension?

  No, technically, they do not need to have a .py extension. You could put the script in a file with any extension name or even no extension at all, and when you pass it to the python3 command, it will still run it. Using the .py extension is recommended to identify the files as Python script files when looking for them or at the contents of a directory.

  Do Python scripts work only on Mac?

  No, Python was developed to run on all different platforms, such as macOS, Windows, and Linux. Each operating system or platform has its own version of Python that needs to be installed, but overall, Python is a portable scripting language that you can use on almost any OS.

  Are there other tools I can use to create and run Python scripts on a Mac?

  Yes, there definitely are. There are many tools for Mac that you can use to develop and run Python scripts. Take a look in the App Store or just do a google search on Python tools for Mac, and you will see a variety of tools and editors you can use to work with Python.

  Conclusion

  Running a Python script on your Mac is relatively straightforward, and we have shown you above how to do it using Mac Terminal and the python3 command or IDLE. There are other tools you can download to edit and run, but I hope the information above has helped you get started.

  As usual, let me know if you have any questions or comments. I would love to hear from you!

  Leave a Reply Cancel Reply

  Hossein Mousavi

  Steve Miller

  Eric

  Hi Steve,
  Thank you for catching that! That is a very good point. I already had the tools installed on my system so, I did not think about that. It should be mentioned in the steps that they need to first be installed. We will make an update to include this in the steps when we get a chance. Reply

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  5. Using Python on a Mac¶

  Python on a Mac running macOS is in principle very similar to Python on any other Unix platform, but there are a number of additional features such as the IDE and the Package Manager that are worth pointing out.

  5.1. Getting and Installing MacPython¶

  macOS used to come with Python 2.7 pre-installed between versions 10.8 and 12.3. You are invited to install the most recent version of Python 3 from the Python website (https://www.python.org). A current “universal binary” build of Python, which runs natively on the Mac’s new Intel and legacy PPC CPU’s, is available there.

  What you get after installing is a number of things:

  • A Python 3.12 folder in your Applications folder. In here you find IDLE, the development environment that is a standard part of official Python distributions; and PythonLauncher, which handles double-clicking Python scripts from the Finder.
  • A framework /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework , which includes the Python executable and libraries. The installer adds this location to your shell path. To uninstall MacPython, you can simply remove these three things. A symlink to the Python executable is placed in /usr/local/bin/.

  The Apple-provided build of Python is installed in /System/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework and /usr/bin/python , respectively. You should never modify or delete these, as they are Apple-controlled and are used by Apple- or third-party software. Remember that if you choose to install a newer Python version from python.org, you will have two different but functional Python installations on your computer, so it will be important that your paths and usages are consistent with what you want to do.

  IDLE includes a help menu that allows you to access Python documentation. If you are completely new to Python you should start reading the tutorial introduction in that document.

  If you are familiar with Python on other Unix platforms you should read the section on running Python scripts from the Unix shell.

  5.1.1. How to run a Python script¶

  Your best way to get started with Python on macOS is through the IDLE integrated development environment, see section The IDE and use the Help menu when the IDE is running.

  If you want to run Python scripts from the Terminal window command line or from the Finder you first need an editor to create your script. macOS comes with a number of standard Unix command line editors, vim and emacs among them. If you want a more Mac-like editor, BBEdit or TextWrangler from Bare Bones Software (see http://www.barebones.com/products/bbedit/index.html) are good choices, as is TextMate (see https://macromates.com/). Other editors include Gvim (https://macvim.org/macvim/) and Aquamacs (http://aquamacs.org/).

  To run your script from the Terminal window you must make sure that /usr/local/bin is in your shell search path.

  To run your script from the Finder you have two options:

  • Drag it to PythonLauncher
  • Select PythonLauncher as the default application to open your script (or any .py script) through the finder Info window and double-click it. PythonLauncher has various preferences to control how your script is launched. Option-dragging allows you to change these for one invocation, or use its Preferences menu to change things globally.

  5.1.2. Running scripts with a GUI¶

  With older versions of Python, there is one macOS quirk that you need to be aware of: programs that talk to the Aqua window manager (in other words, anything that has a GUI) need to be run in a special way. Use pythonw instead of python to start such scripts.

  With Python 3.9, you can use either python or pythonw.

  5.1.3. Configuration¶

  Python on macOS honors all standard Unix environment variables such as PYTHONPATH , but setting these variables for programs started from the Finder is non-standard as the Finder does not read your .profile or .cshrc at startup. You need to create a file ~/.MacOSX/environment.plist . See Apple’s Technical Document QA1067 for details.

  For more information on installation Python packages in MacPython, see section Installing Additional Python Packages .

  5.2. The IDE¶

  MacPython ships with the standard IDLE development environment. A good introduction to using IDLE can be found at http://www.hashcollision.org/hkn/python/idle_intro/index.html.

  5.3. Installing Additional Python Packages¶

  There are several methods to install additional Python packages:

  • Packages can be installed via the standard Python distutils mode ( python setup.py install ).
  • Many packages can also be installed via the setuptools extension or pip wrapper, see https://pip.pypa.io/.

  5.4. GUI Programming on the Mac¶

  There are several options for building GUI applications on the Mac with Python.

  PyObjC is a Python binding to Apple’s Objective-C/Cocoa framework, which is the foundation of most modern Mac development. Information on PyObjC is available from https://pypi.org/project/pyobjc/.

  The standard Python GUI toolkit is tkinter , based on the cross-platform Tk toolkit (https://www.tcl.tk). An Aqua-native version of Tk is bundled with OS X by Apple, and the latest version can be downloaded and installed from https://www.activestate.com; it can also be built from source.

  wxPython is another popular cross-platform GUI toolkit that runs natively on macOS. Packages and documentation are available from https://www.wxpython.org.

  PyQt is another popular cross-platform GUI toolkit that runs natively on macOS. More information can be found at https://riverbankcomputing.com/software/pyqt/intro.

  5.5. Distributing Python Applications on the Mac¶

  The standard tool for deploying standalone Python applications on the Mac is py2app. More information on installing and using py2app can be found at https://pypi.org/project/py2app/.

  5.6. Other Resources¶

  The MacPython mailing list is an excellent support resource for Python users and developers on the Mac:

  Another useful resource is the MacPython wiki:

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