Why am I getting "An error ocurred while starting the kernel" in Spyder while running Python?

Question

I have installed Anaconda (python 3.7) in my Windows 8.1 system. However, while running my Python code from the Spyder console, I am getting the following error:

An error occurred while starting the kernel

I have checked the PATH environment variable and everything is correct.

Here is the detailed error received in the console while trying to execute the code:

Traceback (most recent call last):

File "C:\ProgramData\Anaconda3\lib\site‑packages\spyder\plugins\ipythonconsole.py", line 1572, in create_kernel_manager_and_kernel_client

kernel_manager.start_kernel(stderr=stderr_handle)

File "C:\ProgramData\Anaconda3\lib\site‑packages\jupyter_client\manager.py", line 240, in start_kernel

self.write_connection_file()

File "C:\ProgramData\Anaconda3\lib\site‑packages\jupyter_client\connect.py", line 547, in write_connection_file

kernel_name=self.kernel_name

File "C:\ProgramData\Anaconda3\lib\site‑packages\jupyter_client\connect.py", line 212, in write_connection_file

with secure_write(fname) as f:

File "C:\ProgramData\Anaconda3\lib\contextlib.py", line 112, in enter

return next(self.gen)

File "C:\ProgramData\Anaconda3\lib\site‑packages\jupyter_client\connect.py", line 102, in secure_write

with os.fdopen(os.open(fname, open_flag, 0o600), mode) as f:

PermissionError: [Errno 13] Permission denied: 'C:\Users\bharat\AppData\Roaming\jupyter\runtime\kernel󈚵bcba4480cd.json'

Solution

(Spyder maintainer here) To solve this problem please open the Anaconda Prompt and run there

conda update anaconda
conda install jupyter_client=5.3.4