How to keep a Python script output Window open [7 Ways]

# Table of Contents

1. How to keep a Python script output Window open
2. Interactively running a Python script without closing the output window
3. Windows: Using drag and drop to run a Python script without closing it
4. Keeping the Python script output window open by asking for user input
5. Using a try/except statement to keep the Python output window open
6. Using the atexit.register() method to keep the output window open

# How to keep a Python script output Window open

You can keep the Python script output Window open by running the script from your terminal.

1. Open your terminal (e.g. Command Prompt (CMD) on Windows, or bash on macOS and Linux).
2. cd to the directory where your Python script is located (e.g. main.py).
3. Run the Python script from your terminal.

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python main.py

# Or python3
python3 main.py

# Or py alias (Windows)
py main.py

The code sample assumes that your Python script is named main.py. Make sure to update the name if necessary.

For example, suppose that you have the following main.py file.

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site = 'bobbyhadz.com'

print(site)


def greet(name):
    return f'Hello {name}'

print(greet('bobby hadz'))

Now open your terminal in the same directory as the main.py file and run the following command.

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python main.py

# Or python3
python3 main.py

# Or py alias (Windows)
py main.py

The output of the Python script will be shown in your terminal window and the Window will be kept open.

# Interactively running a Python script without closing the output window

You can also interactively run a Python script with the -i flag.

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python -i main.py

# Or python3
python3 -i main.py

# Or py alias (Windows)
py -i main.py

When you issue the command with the -i flag, the Python interpreter opens after your file is run.

You can directly run commands in the Python interpreter as shown in the screenshot.

Once you're done, call the exit() function.

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exit()

You can also start the interpreter without running a specific file by issuing the python command.

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python

# Or python3
python3

# Or py alias (Windows)
py

Once you're done issuing Python commands, call the exit() function.

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exit()

# Windows: Using drag and drop to run a Python script without closing it

If you are on Windows, you can also:

1. Press Win ⊞ + R and type cmd /k.

2. Click OK.

3. A new command prompt (CMD) window opens.

4. Drag and drop your Python script into the CMD window.

5. Press the Enter key.

Here is a short clip that demonstrates how this works.

Once you drag and drop the Python script into your CMD window, the path to the script will get pasted.

Press the Enter key to run the file.

# Keeping the Python script output window open by asking for user input

Alternatively, you can keep the Python script output window open by asking the user for input.

Suppose you have the following main.py file.

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name = input('What is your name: ')

print(f'Your name is {name}')

Open a terminal in the same directory as your main.py file and run it by issuing the following command.

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python main.py

# or python3
python3 main.py

# or py alias (Windows)
py main.py

You will get prompted to enter a name.

The input function can be used to ask the user for input.

The prompt waits for the user to enter a value and press Enter.

Note that the input() function converts the supplied value to a string and returns it.

The function is guaranteed to return a string even if the user enters an integer.

If you need to get an integer value, use the int class to convert the string to an integer.

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num1 = int(input('Enter a number: '))

num2 = int(input('Enter another number: '))

result = num1 * num2

print(f'Multiplying {num1} by {num2} equals {result}')

I've also written other detailed articles on how to take user input in Python:

• How to take Integer user input in Python
• How to take Float user input in Python
• Taking user input boolean (True/False) values in Python
• How to Create a Date from user Input in Python
• Multiple lines user Input in Python
• Only accept a single character from user Input in Python
• Creating a Tuple or a Set from user Input in Python
• How to Validate user input in Python
• Yes/No question with user input in Python
• How to save user input to a File in Python
• Using user input to Select an Option from a List in Python

# Using a try/except statement to keep the Python output window open

You can also use a try/except statement to keep the Python output window open.

Suppose you have the following main.py file.

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def main():
    # Your code here
    print('bobbyhadz.com')


if __name__ == '__main__':
    try:
        # your code here
        main()
    except BaseException:
        import sys
        print(sys.exc_info()[0])
        import traceback
        print(traceback.format_exc())
    finally:
        print("Press Enter to continue...")
        input()

The code that you want to run should be placed in the main() function.

We used an if statement to check if the user is running the Python script directly with python main.py.

The __name__ variable will only be equal to the string '__main__' if the user ran the script directly with python main.py.

We call the main() function in the try block.

If an error occurs in the try block, it gets caught in the except BaseException block and gets printed to the terminal.

The finally block runs regardless if there was an error or not and allows you to view the output of the Python script.

You can press Enter to exit.

Here is a more minimalistic version of the previous code sample.

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site = 'bobbyhadz.com'

print(site)


def greet(name):
    return f'Hello {name}'


print(greet('bobby hadz'))

print('Press Enter to continue...')

input()

You can press Enter once you're done.

# Using the atexit.register() method to keep the output window open

You can also use the atexit.register method to keep the output window open.

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import atexit


site = 'bobbyhadz.com'

print(site)


def greet(name):
    return f'Hello {name}'


print(greet('bobby hadz'))

atexit.register(input, 'Press Enter to continue...')

The atexit.register method registers the given function to be run at termination.

The second argument we passed to the method gets passed to the input function.

You can press Enter to exit.

# Additional Resources

You can learn more about the related topics by checking out the following tutorials:

• How to take a List from user input in Python
• How to Add user input to a Dictionary in Python
• How to check if User Input is Empty in Python
• Using a For or While Loop to take user input in Python
• Nodename nor servname provided, or not known error [Solved]