Multiple Versions on Windows

How to manage multiple Python versions on a Windows system.

Using Pyenv for Windows

We can manage multiple Python versions on a system using pyenv for Windows , which brings the same capabilities than on an Unix system. See Multiple versions on macOS .

List the available Python installations

pyenv install --list

Install a Python version

pyenv install 3.9.13

Set the global Python version

pyenv global 3.9.13

Set the Python version only for the current shell

pyenv shell 3.9.13

How-to

We can define some batch scripts in a given directory. In the case we're using Cloud VFX Server , we can rely on $ENVIRONMENT_ROOT (which expand to C:\Users\valen\OneDrive\.config\environment in my case).

In $ENVIRONMENT_ROOT , create a python folder: C:\Users\valen\OneDrive\.config\environment\python .

You can now create a batch script for each version of python you want to use in this folder:

python39.bat

@ECHO OFF
setlocal
set "PYTHONHOME=%LOCALAPPDATA%\programs\python\python39"
set "PYTHONPATH=%PYTHONHOME%\lib;%PYTHONPATH%"
"%PYTHONHOME%\python.exe" %*
endlocal

Finally, edit your $PATH environment variable, adding as a first entry the %ENVIRONMENT_ROOT%\python folder, so the batch files are accessible inside a terminal.

Pip

You can now use pip using this method, by typing:

python39 -m pip <command>

python39 -m pip install PySide2