'How to set default PyCharm interpreter?

My PyCharm installation has two interpreters available:

  • Python 3.3.2 (/usr/bin/python3.3m)
  • Python 2.7.5 (/usr/bin/python2.7)

Whenever I open a new project it sets the interpreter to Python 3. Since I work mostly with 2.7, this means in most cases I have to reconfigure it. How do I change it to use 2.7 by default for new projects?

Update: After setting the default interpreter to Python 2.7.5 in File → Default Settings → Project Interpreter and removing the .idea/misc.xml file, the interpreter is now not set at all in misc.xml. Better than setting it to Python 3.3, but still...

configurationidepycharm


Solution 1:[1]

File | New Projects Setup | Settings for New Projects | Project Interpreter.

new projects

interpreter

This configuration sets the default interpreter for the new projects, note the Settings for New Projects menu, it's not the same as File | Settings which sets options for the current project.

If there is no open project, you can access this menu from the Welcome Screen (Customize | All settings):

all settings

Solution 2:[2]

This has now changed in the newer versions of PyCharm (I've got 2018.2). It's now called Preferences for New Projects:

enter image description here

Solution 3:[3]

enter image description here

New PyCharm versions in Windows have moved the New Project Settings to a new location. See image.
Full navigation: File > Other Settings > Settings for New Projects > Project Interpreter.

Solution 4:[4]

I am using a Mac and I found that on the splash screen there were messages saying that one of the xml files in

/Library/Preferences/PyCharm2017.3/options/

could not be loaded. As a result a new one was created. When I looked at the files in this directory I found a number of the files were corrupted in some way and could not be viewed. I renamed all these to .OLD, restarted PyCharm and reset the defaults to the system interpreter in my case. This fixed my problem and PyCharm now defaults to the system interpreter.

Solution 5:[5]

This has now changed again on the latest version of PyCharm. It is now File > New Project Settings > Settings for New Projects

Screenshot

Solution 6:[6]

if you want a default configuration, right click on the text and click run, this way it will automatically create a configuration for you.

Solution 7:[7]

In PyCharm Professional version 2022.1 in Linux the setting is now in
File -> New Projects Setup -> Settings for New Projects....

enter image description here

Then in appeared window you can select needed interpreter. enter image description here

However, when I create a new project, PyCharm still creates it with python 3.6 for some reason.

Sources

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Source: Stack Overflow

Solution Source
Solution 1
Solution 2 tsando
Solution 3
Solution 4 Andrew H
Solution 5 Breaker
Solution 6 Saadiq
Solution 7 Ashark

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