Python installed for all users or current user only?

Question

Using Python, How can I programmatically find whether the Python installed in my PC is installed for all users or for current user only?

Solution 1

If you have installed Python for all users, You should install python in this folder:

C:\Python27

Same as image

for more details check this tutorial

Solution 2

You could check if the Python executable is located in the user's home directory. The location of the home directory is retrieved by using the os.path.expanduser() method. The location of the Python interpreter is retrieved by using the sys.executable() method.

The following function returns True if the Python interpreter was installed within the user's home directory, and False otherwise. It works under Linux, and should work under macOS and Windows (but I didn't test those).

import sys
import os

def user_python():
    try:
        return sys.executable.startswith(os.path.expanduser("~"))
    except AttributeError:
        return False

The exception is needed because according to the documentation of sys.executable(), it may return None under some circumstances.

EDIT 2018-12-08: it works on Windows 10.