PyCharm not recognizing Python files

Question

PyCharm is no longer recognizing Python files. The interpreter path is correctly set.

Answer 1

Please check File | Settings (Preferences on macOS) | Editor | File Types, ensure that file name or extension is not listed in Text files.

To fix the problem remove it from the Text files and double check that .py extension is associated with Python files.

Answer 2

I had a similar problem where certain .py files were showing up as regular text files after completion, thus rendering the code without syntax coloring, tab completion features, etc. Through using this post as a starting point for debugging the issue, I found the following:

1. (from OSX): PyCharm → Preferences → IDE Settings → File Types
2. Select the affected File Type from the list on the top half of this dialog box, Recognized File Types (in my case, Text Files)
3. Listed in the second half of the dialog box, Registered Patterns were the names of the files that I was having naming/syntax issues with. I clicked on each of those and then clicked on the - for each in turn to remove them from the Registered Patterns list.
4. Click Apply
5. Sigh of relief when the syntax highlighting returns and the icon changes back to that of a python file.

Answer 3

I accidently made a text file myfilename, renamed it to the myfilename.py version but it stayed with text file formatting even after the extension change.

Here's how I fixed it for For PyCharm 2017.2 for Windows.

1. Go to File > Settings > Editor > File Types > Text
2. Under Registered Patterns, I found the new myfilename.py in the list.
3. Remove it from the list with the - button
4. Click Ok

Answer 4

I had a similar problem and none of the answers already submitted helped to resolve it.

I eventually discovered that my affected filename was listed in the Auto-detect file type by content section in Preferences->Editor->File Types. Removing the filename from there and apply the changes resolved my issue immediately.

Answer 5

Got it to work finally!

I had this same problem. I tried removing the pycharm caches in the ~/Library folders to no avail. Kept saying in the log that "Some skeletons failed to generate..."

So, here is what worked.

1. Go into preferences
2. In the project settings click project interpreters and then Configure Interpreters
3. Delete the existing Interpreters (using '-' and bottom) and then click OK at the bottom
4. If you have a project loaded it will say "You have no interpreter, configure one now. You can click that or go back into preferences->Project Interpreter->Configure interpreters
5. Click the + to add a new interpreter. If you are using the os x built-in python, you can select the version you want from the list.
6. Click Ok again, wait a minute or two for rebuilding indexes and viola it works (for me at least)

Answer 6

The most common issue is that you have .py in your txt file types

The other one that happens every now and again, is that you have associated the actual file name to the txt file type

Solution remains the same

navigate to file->settings->file types->text files and look for .py or the "file name" that is being formatted as text

Answer 7

I faced a similar issue on PyCharm 2021.1. As mentioned in the other solutions, the .py file that was being rendered as a text file was not present in the following menu:

File | Settings | Editor | File Types | Recognized File Types | Text | File name patterns

The following worked for me instead:

Select the file in the editor | File | File properties | Associate with File Type...

Answer 8

To revive an old conversation here, none of the above answers worked for the newer version of PyCharm due to updates. Upon creating new .py files they were being detected as .txt files and thus not able to run the files, as many others experienced above. I did not get any errors, there was just not any ability to run the file even though it had a .py extension because it was not being detected as a Python file.

PyCharm Version: 2020.1.4 Build: 201.8743.11

Here's what works instead now:

File > Manage IDE Settings > Restore Default Settings

The only problem with this is if you've added a lot of custom settings you'll have to go back in and add them again.

Answer 9

Had a similar issue after changing the project name and the above didn't help (it kept using an old interpreter). What did help was the following:

1. In the project folder go to the .idea folder
2. In the workspace.xml find the interpreter that appears in the error message. Can be found by looking for: option name="SDK_HOME" value="C:\Users\yourInterpreterFolder\python.exe"
3. Replace the value with the path to your interpreter.

Keep coding happily :)

p.s. my error message was of the following form:

Error running ...: Cannot run program "...\python.exe" (in directory "C:\Users\pathToProject"): CreateProcess error=2, The system cannot find the file specified

Answer 10

I had a similar problem, when I upgraded from using the old version of Pycharm to the latest version. My *.ipynb files were treated as *.py files.