How do I run two separate instances of Spyder
Question:
I want to be able to have two instances which are completely independent in the sense that I can be working on two separate unrelated projects in different folders without any interference.
Answers:
Although clicking on the Spyder icon will not allow you to open two instances, you can open a second instance by simply going to the folder where spyder.py is and running spyder.py from the command line.
Further, you could make an icon for your desktop that simply runs spyder.py from its location. However, I don’t know how multiple instances will affect user preferences if Spyder has those.
(Spyder maintainer here) This is easy. You need to go to:
Tools > Preferences > Application
in Spyder 5, or
Tools > Preferences > General
in Spyder 4, click the "Advanced Settings" tab, and deactivate the option called
[ ] Use a single instance
Then every time you start Spyder a new window will be opened. If you want the old behavior back, just activate that option again.
You can use the –new-instance option as well.
Just run
spyder --new-instance
Update for Spyder 5.0.3+ (07/2021 onwards)
First, same as Carlos’s answer:
Tools > Preferences
But then:
Application > Advanced settings
Then deselect [✔] Use a single instance, so it becomes [] Use a single instance, which will result in a new window opening each time Spyder is launched.
Still working for me in Spyder 5.1.5.
I want to be able to have two instances which are completely independent in the sense that I can be working on two separate unrelated projects in different folders without any interference.
Although clicking on the Spyder icon will not allow you to open two instances, you can open a second instance by simply going to the folder where spyder.py is and running spyder.py from the command line.
Further, you could make an icon for your desktop that simply runs spyder.py from its location. However, I don’t know how multiple instances will affect user preferences if Spyder has those.
(Spyder maintainer here) This is easy. You need to go to:
Tools > Preferences > Application
in Spyder 5, or
Tools > Preferences > General
in Spyder 4, click the "Advanced Settings" tab, and deactivate the option called
[ ] Use a single instance
Then every time you start Spyder a new window will be opened. If you want the old behavior back, just activate that option again.
You can use the –new-instance option as well.
Just run
spyder --new-instance
Update for Spyder 5.0.3+ (07/2021 onwards)
First, same as Carlos’s answer:
Tools > Preferences
But then:
Application > Advanced settings
Then deselect [✔] Use a single instance, so it becomes [] Use a single instance, which will result in a new window opening each time Spyder is launched.
Still working for me in Spyder 5.1.5.