[Simple Steps] How to Clear Python Interpreter Console Screen?

Aniruddha Chaudhari/98049/11
CodePython

Do you use the Python interpreter console for practicing Python code?

You might have seen, there is no direct way or command to clear Python interpreter console.

So you need a system call to clear the Python interpreter console screen.

For window system, ‘cls’ clear the console. For Linux system, ‘clear’ command works.

We can use these system calls t0 clear screen in Python. It’s simple.

To call system call on the Python console, it requires the OS library to be imported. This os library comes inbuilt with python installation. There is no need to explicitly install.

Command to clear Python Interpreter Console on Window:

import os
clear = lambda: os.system('cls') #on Windows System
clear()

Command to clear Python Interpreter Console on Linux:

import os
clear = lambda: os.system('clear') #on Linux System
clear()

Don’t Just Copy Paste the Code:

Why am I saying that?

If you copy-paste the code, I am pretty sure you will forget this code and then tomorrow again you will do a Google Search.

The best way is to understand the code written above. It is pretty simple to remember and write code if you know how it has implemented.

What is Lambda Function here?

Above code is all about lambda function.

The “lambda” keyword in Python is used to define anonymous functions. And these functions are also called as lambda functions.

Learn more about lambda function. You can write many such codes with no more hustle. It is extremely useful.

These commands are tested on Python 3.4 version. It will work for both Python 2.x and 3.x versions.

Clear Python Interpreter Console

What’s Next?

You can run a Python program without using the Python interpreter console. Install free text editor for your system (Linux/Windows/Mac). And now you can run the Python program from Windows’s command prompt or Linux’s terminal.

I am a Python developer.  I usually keep Python interpreter console opened. Sometimes test command runs over it and creates cluttered print output on python console. These backlog print command needs to be cleared. So use this trick to clear screen in Python.

Hope you find this quick commands and guide useful for your Python learning. Is there anything I can help you with? Feel free to write in the comment section below.

Happy Pythoning!

commandPython
Aniruddha Chaudhari
I am complete Python Nut, love Linux and vim as an editor. I hold Master of Computer Science from NIT Trichy. I dabble in C/C++, Java too. I keep sharing my coding knowledge and my own experience on CSEstack Portal.

Comments

  • Reply
    Dephiny
    May 27, 2019 at 10:00 pm

    Hi Aniruddha,

    I tried the above on how to clear python interpreter console screen but keep getting this error:-

    >>>import os
    >>>clear = lambda: os.system(‘clear’)
    >>>clear()
    TERM environment variable not set.
    256

    Any suggestions on how to fix this would be great. On the terminal it shows the TERM is already set, as seen below

    $ echo $TERM
    xterm-256color

    $ set | grep TERM
    TERM=xterm-256color

    Many thanks

    • Reply
      Aniruddha Chaudhari
      May 27, 2019 at 10:37 pm

      Hi Dephiny,

      What Linux distro you are using?

      Looks like there is an issue with the TERM environment variable. Try to export TERM variable “export TERM=xterm-color”.

      • Reply
        Sudhakaran
        August 27, 2019 at 11:10 pm

        Quotation marks inside the os.system() are wrong.

        Use ‘clear’ instead of ‘clear’.

        • Reply
          Aniruddha Chaudhari
          August 27, 2019 at 11:27 pm

          Hi Sudhakaran, Thanks for notifying.

          Looks like there is an issue with representation.

  • Reply
    Dephiny
    May 28, 2019 at 1:10 am

    Hi Aniruddha,

    Thank you for the reply, I am using Ubuntu 16.04.6 LTS (Xenial Xerus).
    Tried your suggestion no luck.

    • Reply
      Aniruddha Chaudhari
      October 5, 2019 at 9:18 am

      Dephiny, this is really strange. I will let you know if I find any solution.

  • Reply
    myusrn
    October 4, 2019 at 9:52 pm

    is there a way to keep the ‘0’ from showing up, i.e. instead of ‘clear()’ producing
    0
    >>>
    can this be authored to produce just
    >>>

    • Reply
      Aniruddha Chaudhari
      October 5, 2019 at 9:25 am

      Assign the return value to val. “0” will not get printed on console.

      import os
clear = lambda: os.system('clear')
val=clear()
  • Reply
    Justin
    October 24, 2019 at 9:20 am

    ctrl + l (That’s a lowercase L) clears the prompt too, on Linux. Also, the 0 is returned because of using lambda. If you insist upon using this method instead of ctrl + l, you can just do a function def instead:

    import os
def clear (): os.system('clear')

    lambda functions should be exclusively used as callback functions, in functions that return functions, and as throwaway functions such as its use with the map. Don’t abuse it elsewhere.

    From the PEP8 Python style guide:

    Always use a def statement instead of an assignment statement that binds a lambda expression directly to an identifier.

    Yes:

    def f(x): return 2*x

    No:

    f = lambda x: 2*x
  • Reply
    thekinglywe
    November 3, 2019 at 5:16 am

    Thanks for the article! Even though I ended up going with one of the suggestions in the comments to clear the screen(ctrl l) I learned about a new topic i should probably look into (lambda). I appreciate the content!

    • Reply
      Aniruddha Chaudhari
      November 4, 2019 at 4:18 pm

      Great. Lambda is an advanced Python concept. It comes very handy while working on real projects.

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