Create and edit Jupyter notebooks

Set up your project

In IntelliJ IDEA, create a new Python project.
Install the jupyter package for the selected interpreter.
When all the indexing processes are finished, you are ready to start working with the notebook files.

Creating and opening Jupyter notebooks

To open an existing .ipynb file, follow the same steps as for the files of the other types. If needed, you can create a notebook file.

Create a notebook file

Do one of the following:
- Right-click the target directory in the Project tool window, and select New from the context menu.
- Press Alt+Insert
Select Jupyter Notebook.
In the dialog that opens, type a filename.

A notebook document has the *.ipynb extension and is marked with the corresponding icon.

Editing Jupyter notebooks

You can apply various editing actions to one cell or to the entire notebook. Press the Control+A once to select a cell at caret, and press Control+A twice to select all cells in the notebook.

When editing notebook files, mind that IntelliJ IDEA updates the source code and the preview of the notebook if it has been changed externally.

The editor for Jupyter notebooks has two modes: the edit mode and the command mode. Depending on the mode you can either edit code in notebook cells or use keyboard shortcuts to perform specific actions with cells.

Edit mode

To toggle the edit mode, press Enter or click any cell.
When a cell is in the edit mode, it has a green border on the left and a highlighted line with a caret.
When in the edit mode, you can navigate through all cells line by line using Up/Down keys.

Command mode

To toggle the command mode, press Esc or click the gutter.
When a cell is in the command mode, it has a blue border on the left.
When in the command mode, you can navigate the notebook cell by cell using Up/Down keys, as well as use keyboard shortcuts to select, copy, paste, and delete cells.

Edit cells

A newly created notebook contains one code cell. You can change its type with the cell type selector in the notebook toolbar:
To edit a code cell, just click it.
To edit a Markdown cell, double-click it and start typing. To preview the output, press Shift + Enter.

Working with notebook cells

Add cells

To add a code cell above the selected cell, do one of the following:
- In the edit mode, press Alt+Shift+A.
- In the command mode, press A.
- Select Cell | Add Code Cell Above in the main menu.
To add a code cell below the selected cell, do one of the following:
- In the edit mode, press Alt+Shift+B.
- In the command mode, press B.
- Select Cell | Add Code Cell Below in the main menu.
- Click in the notebook toolbar.
You can add code or Markdown cells by using the popup between cells:
To add a Markdown cell, go to Cell in the main menu, and then select either Add Markdown Cell Above or Add Markdown Cell Below.

Select cells

To select a cell, click the gutter next to the cell.
To select several cells:
- Click the gutter next to cells while holding Shift for a series of consecutive cells, or Control for non-consecutive cells.
- In command mode, press Shift and Up/Down keys.

You can execute, copy, merge, and delete the selected cells.

Copy and paste cells

To copy a cell in the command mode, press Control+C, C, or click on the notebook toolbar.
To paste the copied cell below, press Control+V, V, or click .
To paste it above the current cell, press Shift with Control+V/Shift+V.
You can also select the required action from the cell's context menu.

Split and merge cells

To merge a current cell with the cell below, right-click the cell and select Merge Cell Below command from the context menu.
Similarly, you can merge a cell above the selected cell with the corresponding command.
To merge several cells, select them, and then choose Cell | Merge Selected Cells from the main menu.
Alternatively, you can use Find action to run the Merge Selected Cells command.
To split a cell into two cells, place the caret in the line to break at, then right-click, and select the Split Cell from the context menu.

Delete cells

In the command mode, press D, D or Delete.
Click on the notebook editor toolbar.
Right-click the cell and select Delete Cell from the context menu.

Use coding assistance

You can edit code cells with the help of Python code insights, such as syntax highlighting, code completion, and so on.

IntelliJ IDEA enables code completion for the names of classes, functions, and variables. Start typing the name of the code construct, and the suggestion list appears.
The auto-completion of DataFrame columns names is available in runtime. IntelliJ IDEA will suggest the names for columns only if the cell where the DataFrame is created has already run in the current kernel session.
Intention actions and quick fixes. You can add the missing imports on-the-fly by using the intention actions.
Note that you can add an import statement to the current cell or to the first cell of the notebook.

Last modified: 26 October 2023