Free Online Python and JupyterLab
Jul 19, 2023
DataSciencePursuit
There are two options to run Python in JupyterLab or Jupyter Notebook online for free:
- JupyterLite (try jupyter)
- Anaconda Cloud
JupyterLite
What is JupyterLite?
As of this page’s update date, JupyerLite is an experimental interface that runs entirely online, for free. It was built using JupyterLab components by Project Jupyter (the same organization that created JupyterLab and Jupyter Notebooks), so it looks very similar to the version you can install on your computer.
It is the top choice because it makes it as easy as possible to start coding. No login or setup is required, which is perfect for beginners.
Now having to create an account also means that it can only store your notebooks for an unknown limited amount of time. It could be as soon as you close the browser or however long your browser caches or stores pages. As a workaround, you can easily download notebooks to your computer and upload them again the next time you need ot use them. However, you do not need to save your notebooks until we start coding the rock-paper-scissors game.
Access JupyterLite
For video instructions please check the Getting Python page.
- Navigate to the Try Jupyter Home Page
-
Scroll down to the Applications section as in the image below:
- Click JupyterLab (the first box). This will open the page below with a left navigation section containing notebooks and folders and an introductory Notebook sample (intro.ipynb) already open. You can ignore the files and folders for now. We will just work on our own JupyterLite Notebook. You could use one of the samples, but I find it easier to start on a fresh page.

Create a new notebook
There are a couple of ways to create a notebook. The first option is:
Option 1
-
Close the strong Intro.ipynb notebook by clicking the x next to the notebook
name at the top
-
A Launcher will appear in place of the introductory notebook. Go to the Notebook section of
the Launcher and click the Python (Pyodide) option
-
This will open a blank notebook titled Untitled1.ipynb (you can find the name at the
top of the notebook and in the left navigation section)
Option 2
Another way to create a new notebook is:
- Right click on any empty space in the left navigation bar
-
A pop-up will appear; click New Notebook
-
Another pop-up will appear; check that Python (Pyodide) is selected as the Kernel and
click Select
Rename the notebook
- Right click on the name of your notebook ‘Untitled1.ipynb’ in the top tab (you can also right click it from the left navigation and a few more options will appear in the next step)
-
Click Rename Notebook…in the options that pop up. (Note that there are
other options like deleting a notebook etc.)
-
Replace Untitled1 with a name of your choice. We chose “DSP Lesson 1” (deleting the “.ipynb”
extension does not seem to matter).
- Click Rename
You are ready to start coding now!
Download and upload notebooks
This can be a workaround for saving your notebooks since you cant do it in the browser.
To download the notebook, click File in the top navigation bar, then click Download

To upload the notebook, click the upload file icon in the top section of the left navigation bar.

Anaconda Cloud
What is Anaconda Cloud?
Anaconda, the desktop app, is an easy way to install python, jupyter, other IDE's and packages needed for data science on your computer, all at once. Anaconda Cloud is a platform to code in Jupyter Notebook (JupyterLab) online. It has free and paid versions, the free version is enough for this course. It also looks similar to the Project Jupyter version you can install on your computer.
No setup needed, but you do need to create an account to access Anaconda Cloud. Good thing is you can save your files. Anaconda Cloud also has courses available with the paid version (this is not an endorsement, we have not taken any of the courses, just letting you know that they exist).
Create a free Anaconda account
- Navigate to the Anaconda Home Page
-
Click on the button that says Start Coding Now (bottom left) as in the image below:
- This will take you to the 'code in the cloud' page to create a new anaconda account. Enter the information required and click Get Started.
- If you did not get an error from creating an account, you are likely now in your Anaconda Cloud home page as in the image below. You may be prompted to enter some more information, after that you can skip to step 4 in the next section.


Open Anaconda Cloud Notebooks
- Click Notebooks in the top navigation bar.
-
This will open JupyterLab in a new tab as below.

Create a new notebook
There are multiple ways to create a notebook. The easiest at this point is option 1.
Option 1
-
Go to the Notebook section of the Launcher and click the
anaconda-panel-YYYY.MM-py###. In my case its "anaconda-panel-2023.05-py310", but it
may be different for you. The numbers represent the version date, where YYYY.MM is the year
month and ### is the python version. You can select the one with the most recent data and
the most recent (highest) python version number.
-
This will open a blank notebook titled Untitled.ipynb (you can find the name at the
top of the notebook and in the left navigation section)
Option 2
Another way to create a new notebook is:
- Right click on any empty space in the left navigation bar
-
A pop-up will appear; click New Notebook
-
Your new notebook will appear along with another pop-up for kernel selection. Check that
anaconda-panel-YYYY.MM-py### is selected as the kernel, where YYYY.MM is the most
recent year month and ### is the highest number available.
Rename the notebook
- Right click on the name of your notebook ‘Untitled1.ipynb’ in the top tab (you can also right click it from the left navigation and a few more options will appear in the next step)
-
Click Rename Notebook…in the options that pop up. (Note that there are
other options like deleting a notebook etc.)
-
Replace Untitled1.ipynb with a name of your choice. We chose “DSP Lesson 1.ipynb”
- Click Rename
You are ready to start coding now!
Sign in to Anaconda Cloud
This is for the next time you need to access Anaconda Cloud Notebooks.
- Navigate to the Anaconda Cloud home page.
-
Click Sign In, top right section of the top navigation bar and it will take you to a
login page.
- Sign in with your credentials. This will take you to your Anaconda Cloud home page.
Next step
Learn how to run Python in JupyterLab by using Python as a calculator.