Cannot change environments in VS Code with conda

[jennirinker]

Type: Bug

I open a python file, try to select the environment by clicking a different environment in the bottom bar. Nothing happens, I'm stuck in conda base. This bug only happens sometimes. If I select the correct environment when first opening a file, it seems to be ok.

Environment Information

Extension Version: 1.2.0
Python Extension Version: 2025.12.0

Registered Environment Managers (3):
  - ms-python.python:system (Global)
  - ms-python.python:venv (venv)
  - ms-python.python:conda (Conda)

Total Available Environments: 18
Environment Details:
  1. Python 3.12 (3.12.10.final.0) - C:\Users\rink\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps\python3.12.exe
  2. mylac (3.13.5) (3.13.5) - C:\Users\rink\AppData\Local\miniconda3\envs\mylac
  3. cryptomania (3.11.13) (3.11.13) - C:\Users\rink\AppData\Local\miniconda3\envs\cryptomania
  4. tfe (3.11.13) (3.11.13) - C:\Users\rink\AppData\Local\miniconda3\envs\tfe
  5. h2lib (3.11.11) (3.11.11) - C:\Users\rink\AppData\Local\miniconda3\envs\h2lib
  6. piwe (3.11.11) (3.11.11) - C:\Users\rink\AppData\Local\miniconda3\envs\piwe
  7. sphinxrtd (3.11.11) (3.11.11) - C:\Users\rink\AppData\Local\miniconda3\envs\sphinxrtd
  8. pelita (3.11.9) (3.11.9) - C:\Users\rink\AppData\Local\miniconda3\envs\pelita
  9. base (3.11.4) (3.11.4) - C:\Users\rink\AppData\Local\miniconda3
  10. continue (3.10.14) (3.10.14) - C:\Users\rink\AppData\Local\miniconda3\envs\continue
  ... and 8 more environments

Python Projects (0):

Extension Settings:
  Default Environment Manager: ms-python.python:conda
  Default Package Manager: ms-python.python:conda
  Terminal Auto Activation: command

Extension version: 1.2.0
VS Code version: Code 1.103.0 (e3550cfac4b63ca4eafca7b601f0d2885817fd1f, 2025-08-06T21:40:10.271Z)
OS version: Windows_NT x64 10.0.26100
Modes:

System Info

Item	Value
CPUs	13th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-1345U (12 x 2496)
GPU Status	2d_canvas: enabled direct_rendering_display_compositor: disabled_off_ok gpu_compositing: enabled multiple_raster_threads: enabled_on opengl: enabled_on rasterization: enabled raw_draw: disabled_off_ok skia_graphite: disabled_off trees_in_viz: disabled_off video_decode: enabled video_encode: enabled vulkan: disabled_off webgl: enabled webgl2: enabled webgpu: enabled webnn: disabled_off
Load (avg)	undefined
Memory (System)	15.64GB (2.36GB free)
Process Argv	C:\Users\rink\OneDrive - Danmarks Tekniske Universitet\Dokumenter\teaching\46320_lac_rink\videos\rainflow_counting\calculations.py --crash-reporter-id d19dc6ac-2a8d-4bdd-b3b9-78f82fc93d76
Screen Reader	no
VM	0%

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0aa6g176:31307128
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controlchatstate:31363048

[eleanorjboyd]

hm this is very interesting, I have not see this bug before. Next time you are unable to click a new one in the bottom bar can you try opening the command palette and see if "python: select interpreter" will work? The logs will also be useful if you see anything come up in the python extension (or python environments extension if you have it) output logs as you attempt to click the environments bar

[jennirinker]

Okay, that's a good tip. Now I can isolate the weird behavior. If I:

1. Click the environment in a bottom bar.
2. Click a new environment in the new drop-down bar that appears.
3. The environment does NOT change. If run a test file, a new terminal is opened but the old environment is still active.
4. If I then open Select Python interpreter but do NOT select a new environment in the drop-down menu (just hit ESC).
5. The environment changes to what I selected in Step 2. If I re-run the test file, now a new terminal opens up with the correct environment.

It seems like the bottom menu bar does not properly change the environment, but something happens when I go through "Select Python interpreter" that activates the environment correctly.

I'm happy to go through this process and send you the logs, but I'm not sure how to log it. Is there an article or some guidance somewhere to walk me through the process?

[eleanorjboyd]

Great info and thanks for tracking down all these details! Let me see if I can reproduce it on my end and if not then we can talk through logs but this should be enough info

[eleanorjboyd]

when you say "Click a new environment" is that an item in the dropdown or the "create environment" flow?

[eleanorjboyd]

realized I have an outstanding issue which I think is the same! Lets move the conversation here as the other user may have thoughts as well: #711

[jennirinker]

Yes, we can continue in the other thread. Thanks for being so responsive on this!

@eleanorjboyd To answer your question, "Click a new environment" I meant select an existing environment in the dropdown using the mouse. Maybe I should have called it "target environment" instead of "new environment". Sorry!