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How to change the default working directory in python

I have a quick question about the default working directly on python.
I am currently using the python 2.7. In this case the default working directly is the C:/Python27.
I want to change this permanently to another directory.
Even if we write down following on shell, the default working directory will go back to the original C:/Python27 automatically.
import os
os.chdir('a path')
Does any one know how to set up default directory permanently to "the path" which keeps the directory after the closing the shell?
This is a different question from how to change working directory just by the function temporarily.
Thank you so much for your help!!

The working directory of the python directory is the directory from which it was started. If from a console (cmd.exe) I do cd /some/dir and then start python, its working directory will be /some/dir.
If you want an interactive console started at a given directory you have some options:
Using a shortcut, you can change its Start in field, in the properties tab, to point to your target directory.
Use IPython instead, and add a startup script to the default profile so it always start at the target directory. IPython is an enhanced interactive with lots of useful features.
If you are running from a script and want to switch to the folder where you script is stored, you could use os.cd(os.path.dirname(__file__)).

If you are launching Python from the start menu of Windows, right click on the icon and select more -> file location.
Once there you can right click on the shortcut and select properties. From there you should be able to define the 'Start in:' location.

Run a Python program at start-up on Windows

I am developing a key-logger on Python (only for curiosity sake). And the script will be an executable. The process will not need a UI or user interaction.
Is there any way, even in another executable to make the key-logger start at start-up?

I don't use Windows, but you can try making a batch script that runs your python file and make that script Run a program automatically when Windows starts:
Click the Start button Picture of the Start button , click All
Programs, right-click the Startup folder, and then click Open.
Open the location that contains the item you want to create a shortcut
to.
Right-click the item, and then click Create Shortcut. The new
shortcut appears in the same location as the original item.
Drag the shortcut into the Startup folder.
As I said, I don't use Windows, so it might be totally wrong.
You can refer here for making the BAT file, which basically says:
#echo off
python c:\somescript.py %*
pause

I think that the above answers are too complex. What I did was just drag and drop or copy and paste my file in the startup folder by clicking the quick access toolbar, typing "startup", and the job is done.
I am using Windows 10 operating system, so it might be different in your case.
I hope this is useful.
Edit: The key to this solution is to have the .py extension files open by default by the python console (not a text editor), otherwise it will just open the file instead of executing it. In order to select the default program a type of file is opened with, right click on the .py file -> Open with -> Choose default program. See this example:

Use VBScript:
1-> create anyname.vbs with this data:
Set wvbs=CreateObject("Wscript.Shell")
wvbs.run "full location of your File",0
2-> copy anyname.vbs file in C:\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup this folder
Now when windows start it will run your file in hidden mode

Open run with "Start + R", then open "shell:startup". it opens you a folder(the folder that was mentioned before at start menu), and every file that is on this folder, well run at startup.
The folder path is: "C:\Users\USERNAME\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup" (you can copy it on windows explorer, or copy this path and put your account name on USERNAME)
this is the trick i used in my script:
from os import getcwd
from shutil import copy
copy(getcwd()+'/FILE_NAME.exe','C:/Users/USERNAME/AppData/Roaming/Microsoft/Windows/Start Menu/Programs/Startup')
They are some ways for file name as well, but im not familiar with it. this code copies it self to startup folder and starts each time windows boots

Create a shortcut in the shell:startup folder with an absolute path to your pythonw.exe executable. The w version of Python is needed so that it starts up without a shell in the background.
Detailed instructions
Open the startup folder
Type the Windows and R keys at the same time. In the Run dialog, type shell:startup and it enter. This takes you to the Startup folder. Shorcuts in this folder are launched when the computer starts. (For me, the startup folder is at C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs\Startup.)
Create new shortcut
Right-click in this folder and say "New shortcut." Browse to "This PC," "Windows (C:)," "Program Files,", "Python39", and select pythonw.exe. Your Python install is likely in a different location. More recently, Python is found somewhere within %appdata%. (You can paste %appdata% into the run dialog to open this folder and look for Python. It opens in Roaming by default, but be sure to look in Local, too.)
As mentioned at the start of this answer, it is important that you select pythonw.exe rather than python.exe as pythonw.exe will run without opening a command prompt.
On the next "Create Shortcut" screen, titled, "What would you like to name the shortcut," you can name it whatever you want. For the OP, I recommend "Self penetration test."
Click "Finish."
Edit the shortcut to launch your script
In the Startup folder, right click on the app you just created and select "Properties."
In the Properties dialog's Shortcut tab, edit the "Target" to look something like "C:\Program Files\Python310\pythonw.exe" pentest_keylogger.py and the "Start in" to be the folder in which pentest_keylogger.py is found. (As above, you will need to use your Python distribution's path.)
Test your script
Hit OK. Then double-click on the icon to see if it works silently as you desire.
Finally, reboot your machine and use resmon (from the run dialog) or Ctl-Alt-Delete and the task manager to see if your app is running in the background.
Acknowledgements
Thanks to Eryk Sun and Behfar baghery for the core ideas presented here.

How do I change the default editor for a python file?

When I right-click on a .py file, I am given the option to "Edit with IDLE". How can I replace IDLE with another IDE, such as PyCharm? ie when I right-click on any .py file, I would like there to be the option to "Edit with PyCharm".
I am using Windows by the way.

Make a .reg file that looks like the following, then run it and re-login to Windows. Obviously make the path and filename match your desired editor. Note the escaped slash characters. Change how it appears in the menu by substituting your desired command name for "Edit."
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\SystemFileAssociations\.py\Shell\Edit\command]
#="E:\\Applications\\Dev\\VSCode\\Code.exe \"%1\""

The "Edit with IDLE" option is actually placed there by IDLE itself. The thing you could do is just change the default program you want python files to be opened with (by right clicking, choosing "Open with" and choose a default program).
The additional entries in the context menus are specified in the registry. So i think if you want to manually add a "Edit with PyCharm" option you would have to edit the registry yourself. But I wouldn't recommend to do that at all.

Assuming you have Windows 7/8 and have the program (in this case PyCharm) installed already, you would:
Right click any python file (typically ending with .py)
Click "Open With"
Either select PyCharm or the desired program from the list of programs OR
Click Choose Default Program and 'find more options' or 'choose program from list' and find PyCharm in the directory you installed it in and select program
Hope this helps! Be sure to specify if you meant a different OS than Widows.

.py files not opening in IDLE from OSX Finder?

I recently re-installed Python 2.7.3 from python.org on OSX 10.8.2, and now nothing (literally nothing I can see) happens when I double-click on .py files in Finder, or when I right-click/Open-With/IDLE(2.7.3). (Edit: IDLE is already set as the default program to open .py files; the "right-click" part was just to illustrate I couldn't open them either way.)
I have Tcl/Tk 8.5.13 installed (re-installed after I re-installed Python), and I can open IDLE itself just fine, so this isn't that issue where IDLE won't work without the right version of Tcl/Tk. I can also open .py files from the Terminal using idle -e file.py without a problem.
I did notice that the Python Launcher activates when I open files this way, and is absent when I double-click on .py files in Finder (although again, literally nothing happens when I do this--I have the IDLE icon in my dock and it doesn't start bouncing or anything). Could this be a Python Launcher problem? If not, does anyone know what's going on here?
Update: I tried opening IDLE first and then double-clicking on .py files, and that works. So it seems it's just an issue of IDLE not being opened when you try to open a .py file in the Finder.
I know that means I now have at least three other ways of opening my .py files in IDLE, but I really like just being able to navigate to a file in Finder and open it when IDLE itself is not yet open. So I'd still really like to solve this problem if possible (also I really hate when stuff that's just supposed to work doesn't).
Update: Per Ned Deily's suggestion I checked for errors using Console.app and found:
3/8/13 10:42:38.006 AM com.apple.launchd.peruser.501[276]: ([0x0-0x199199].org.python.IDLE[1975]) Exited with code: 1
pops up whenever I try to double-click a .py file in Finder.

Make sure you have set the intended instance of IDLE as the default application for all .py files. One way to do so is to select a .py file in a Finder window, then select the Finder -> File -> Get Info menu item (or Cmd-I). In the Open with: section, pull down the application menu item and select the desired IDLE; if you have multiple copies of IDLE installed, select the Other.. menu item at the bottom of the list and use the file chooser to select the right version of IDLE. Then, click the Change all... button to Use this application to open all documents like this one. You should now be able to launch a .py file in the desired IDLE by double-clicking. If this doesn't work, examine system.log to see if there are any error messages being logged. You can use the Console utility to examine logs (/Applications/Utilities/Console.app).

Default save path for Python IDLE?

Does anyone know where or how to set the default path/directory on saving python scripts prior to running?
On a Mac it wants to save them in the top level ~/Documents directory. I would like to specify a real location. Any ideas?

On OS X, if you launch IDLE.app (by double-clicking or using open(1), for example), the default directory is hardwired to ~/Documents. If you want to change the default permanently, you'll need to edit the file idlemain.py within the IDLE.app application bundle; depending on which Python(s) you have installed, it will likely be in one of:
/Applications/MacPython 2.x/IDLE.app/Contents/Resources
/Applications/MacPython 2.x/IDLE.app/Contents/Resources
/Applications/MacPorts/Python 2.x/IDLE.app/Contents/Resources
/Applications/Python 2.x/IDLE.app/Contents/Resources
/Applications/Python 3.x/IDLE.app/Contents/Resources
Edit the line:
os.chdir(os.path.expanduser('~/Documents'))
On the other hand, if you start IDLE from the command line, for example, with:
$ cd /some/directory
$ /usr/local/bin/idle
IDLE will use that current directory as the default.

I actually just discovered the easiest answer, if you use the shortcut link labeled "IDLE (Python GUI)". This is in Windows Vista, so I don't know if it'll work in other OS's.
1) Right-click "Properties".
2) Select "Shortcut" tab.
3) In "Start In", write file path (e.g. "C:\Users...").
Let me know if this works!

In Windows 10+, click the Windows Start button, then type idle, and then right-click on the IDLE desktop app and open the file location. This should bring you to the Start Menu shortcuts for Python, and you'll find a shortcut to IDLE there. Right-click on the IDLE shortcut and select properties. Set the "Start in" directory to be where you want default save path to be.

It seems like you can get idle into the directory you want if you run any module from that directory.
I had previously tried opening idlemain.py through the path browser. I was able to open and edit the file, but it seemed like I wasn't able to save my modifications.
I'm just glad to hear other people are having this problem. I just thought I was being stupid.

If you open a module, that sets the default working directory.
Start IDLE.
File -> Open to open your file. And set the current working directory.

In my case, the default directory is set to the directory from which I launched IDLE. For instance, if I launched IDLE from a directory called 'tmp' in my home directory, the default save path is set to ~/tmp. So start your IDLE like this:
~/tmp $ idle
[...]

On Windows (Vista at least, which is what I'm looking at here), shortcut icons on the desktop have a "Start in" field where you can set the directory used as the current working directory when the program starts. Changing that works for me. Anything like that on the Mac? (Starting in the desired directory from the command line works, too.)

For OS X:
Open a new finder window,then head over to applications.
Locate your Python application. (For my mac,it's Python 3.5)
Double click on it.
Right click on the IDLE icon,show package contents.
Then go into the contents folder,then resources.
Now,this is the important part:
(Note: You must be the administrator or have the administrator's password for the below to work)
Right click on the idlemain.py,Get Info.
Scroll all the way down. Make sure under the Sharing & Permissions tab,your "name"(Me) is on it with the privilege as Read & Write.
If not click on the lock symbol and unlock it.
Then add/edit yourself to have the Read & Write privilege.
Lastly,as per Ned Deily's instructions,edit the line:
os.chdir(os.path.expanduser('~/Documents'))
with your desired path and then save the changes.
Upon restarting the Python IDLE,you should find that your default Save as path to be the path you've indicated.

I am using windows 7 and by going to Start-> IDLE(Python 3.6 32-bit)
The click on properties and then in the shortcut tab go to
Start in and entering the desired path worked for me kindly note if IDLE is open and running while you do this you'll have to shut it down and restart it for this to work

If you locate the idlelib directory in your Python install, it will have a few files with the .def extension. config-main.def has instructions on where to put the custom config files. However, looking through these I did not find any configurable paths (your install may vary). Looks like you might need to crack open the editor code to alter it.

If you are using linux, you can create simple .sh file as presented below::
#!/bin/sh
cd /fullPath/PythonScripts/
idle
make the file executable by right click-> properties-> permissions-> check the execute as program checkbox-> done
Run the file :)