Python interpreter is not getting selected

[shrey27tri01]

Environment data

• VS Code version: 1.45.1
• OS and version: Windows 10 Home version 1909
• Python version (& distribution if applicable, e.g. Anaconda): Python 3.8.3
• Type of virtual environment used (N/A | venv | virtualenv | conda | ...): N/A
• Jedi or Language Server? (i.e. what is "python.jediEnabled" set to; more info How to update the language server to the latest stable version #3977): true
• Value of the python.languageServer setting: Microsoft

Expected behaviour

Normal running of Python programs in VSCode, i.e, compilation and running without any interferences.

Actual behaviour

I have been having this problem for many weeks now. Whenever I open a python file in VSCode, an alert comes, saying : "Python is not installed. Please download and install Python before using the extension". So I tried uninstalling and then reinstalling python on my Windows system. But the problem still persists. Also, whenever I open a python file in VSCode, the status bar shows "Select Python Interpreter", and even after I select a particular interpreter, it still shows the alert.

This is now becoming irritating, since everytime I open a python file, this problem occurs, although the code compiles and runs perfectly.

[karrtikr]

Please upload the Python output channel as mentioned in the issue template. Also can you please try the following user setting and see if you still see this issue,

"python.experiments.optOutFrom": ["DeprecatePythonPath - experiment"]

[shrey27tri01]

@karrtikr, I am not exactly sure what do you mean by 'upload the Python output channel'. Can you please elaborate a bit more, please?
Also, I tried the user setting you recommended, but still having the same problem.

[karrtikr]

The issue template is displayed to you when you open a new issue https://github.com/microsoft/vscode-python/blob/master/.github/ISSUE_TEMPLATE/2_bug_report.md
You can follow the instructions here to get the Python output channel.

[shrey27tri01]

@karrtikr, the python output channel is:

User belongs to experiment group 'AlwaysDisplayTestExplorer - experiment'
User belongs to experiment group 'ShowPlayIcon - start'
User belongs to experiment group 'ShowExtensionSurveyPrompt - enabled'
User belongs to experiment group 'DebugAdapterFactory - experiment'
User belongs to experiment group 'PtvsdWheels37 - experiment'
User belongs to experiment group 'UseTerminalToGetActivatedEnvVars - control'
User belongs to experiment group 'WebHostNotebook - control'
User belongs to experiment group 'LocalZMQKernel - control'
User belongs to experiment group 'NativeNotebook - control'
User belongs to experiment group 'CollectLSRequestTiming - control'
User belongs to experiment group 'CollectNodeLSRequestTiming - experiment'
User belongs to experiment group 'EnableIPyWidgets - experiment'
User belongs to experiment group 'RunByLine - control'
> conda --version
> pyenv root
> conda info --json
> python3.7 c:\Users\me\.vscode\extensions\ms-python.python-2020.5.80290\pythonFiles\pyvsc-run-isolated.py -c "import sys;print(sys.executable)"
> python3.6 c:\Users\me\.vscode\extensions\ms-python.python-2020.5.80290\pythonFiles\pyvsc-run-isolated.py -c "import sys;print(sys.executable)"
> python3 c:\Users\me\.vscode\extensions\ms-python.python-2020.5.80290\pythonFiles\pyvsc-run-isolated.py -c "import sys;print(sys.executable)"
> python2 c:\Users\me\.vscode\extensions\ms-python.python-2020.5.80290\pythonFiles\pyvsc-run-isolated.py -c "import sys;print(sys.executable)"
> python c:\Users\me\.vscode\extensions\ms-python.python-2020.5.80290\pythonFiles\pyvsc-run-isolated.py -c "import sys;print(sys.executable)"
> py -3.7 c:\Users\me\.vscode\extensions\ms-python.python-2020.5.80290\pythonFiles\pyvsc-run-isolated.py -c "import sys;print(sys.executable)"
> py -3.6 c:\Users\me\.vscode\extensions\ms-python.python-2020.5.80290\pythonFiles\pyvsc-run-isolated.py -c "import sys;print(sys.executable)"
> py -3 c:\Users\me\.vscode\extensions\ms-python.python-2020.5.80290\pythonFiles\pyvsc-run-isolated.py -c "import sys;print(sys.executable)"
> py -2 c:\Users\me\.vscode\extensions\ms-python.python-2020.5.80290\pythonFiles\pyvsc-run-isolated.py -c "import sys;print(sys.executable)"
> c:\Users\me\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38-32\python.exe c:\Users\me\.vscode\extensions\ms-python.python-2020.5.80290\pythonFiles\pyvsc-run-isolated.py -c "import sys;print(sys.executable)"
Python interpreter path: ~\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38-32\python.exe
Starting Microsoft Python language server.
> conda env list
> ~\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38-32\python.exe c:\Users\me\.vscode\extensions\ms-python.python-2020.5.80290\pythonFiles\pyvsc-run-isolated.py -c "import jupyter"
> ~\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38-32\python.exe c:\Users\me\.vscode\extensions\ms-python.python-2020.5.80290\pythonFiles\pyvsc-run-isolated.py -c "import jupyter"
> ~\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38-32\python.exe c:\Users\me\.vscode\extensions\ms-python.python-2020.5.80290\pythonFiles\pyvsc-run-isolated.py -c "import notebook"
> ~\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38-32\python.exe c:\Users\me\.vscode\extensions\ms-python.python-2020.5.80290\pythonFiles\pyvsc-run-isolated.py -c "import notebook"
Diagnostic Code: InvalidEnvironmentPathVariableDiagnostic, Message: The environment variable 'Path' seems to have some paths containing the '"' character. The existence of such a character is known to have caused the Python extension to not load. If the extension fails to load please modify your paths to remove this '"' character.
> conda --version

[shrey27tri01]

Okay, so I found what the problem was. According to my python output channel,

The environment variable 'Path' seems to have some paths containing the '"' character. The existence of such a character is known to have caused the Python extension to not load. If the extension fails to load please modify your paths to remove this '"' character.

I modified and corrected my 'Path' to remove some stray semicolons, then after reopening VSCode, the python extension loaded perfectly.
Thanks to @karrtikr for the help.

[karthiknadig]

The extensions should not fail to load if there is an issue with the PATH env variable. This should be handled when we address discovery via path when doing #12020