Why doesn't this python keyboard interrupt work? (in pycharm)

Solution 1:

I know this is an old question, but I ran into the same problem and think there's an easier solution:

In PyCharm go to "Run"/"Edit Configurations" and check "Emulate terminal in output console". PyCharm now accepts keyboard interrupts (make sure the console is focused).

Tested on: PyCharm 2019.1 (Community Edition)

Solution 2:

From your screen shot it appears that you are running this code in an IDE. The thing about IDEs is that they are not quite the same as running normally, especially when it comes to handling of keyboard characters. The way you press ctrl-c, your IDE thinks you want to copy text. The python program never sees the character. Pehaps it brings up a separate window when running? Then you would select that window before ctrl-c.

Solution 3:

PyCharm's Python Console raises the exception console_thrift.KeyboardInterruptException on Ctrl-C instead of KeyboardInterrupt. The exception console_thrift.KeyboardInterruptException is not a subclass of KeyboardInterrupt, therefore not caught by the line except KeyboardInterrupt.

Adding the following lines would make your script compatible with PyCharm.

try:
    from console_thrift import KeyboardInterruptException as KeyboardInterrupt
except ImportError:
    pass

This would not break compatibility with running the script in a terminal, or other IDE, like IDLE or Spyder, since the module console_thrift is found only within PyCharm.

Solution 4:

If that comment doesn't solve your problem, (from @tdelaney) you need to have your shell window focused (meaning you've clicked on it when the program is running.) and then you can use Control+C

Solution 5:

You can also use PyCharm's Python console and use Ctrl + C, if you catch the exception that PyCharm raises when Ctrl + C is pressed. I wrote a short function below called is_keyboard_interrupt that tells you whether the exception is KeyboardInterrupt, including PyCharm's. If it is not, simply re-raise it. I paste a simplified version of the code below.

When it is run:

type 'help' and press Enter to repeat the loop.
type anything else and press Enter to check that ValueError is handled properly.
Press Ctrl + C to check that KeyboardInterrupt is caught, including in PyCharm's python console.

Note: This doesn't work with PyCharm's debugger console (the one invoked by "Debug" rather than "Run"), but there the need for Ctrl + C is less because you can simply press the pause button.

I also put this on my Gist where I may make updates: https://gist.github.com/yulkang/14da861b271576a9eb1fa0f905351b97

def is_keyboard_interrupt(exception):
    # The second condition is necessary for it to work with the stop button
    # in PyCharm Python console.
    return (type(exception) is KeyboardInterrupt
            or type(exception).__name__ == 'KeyboardInterruptException')

try:
    def print_help():
        print("To exit type exit or Ctrl + c can be used at any time")
    print_help()

    while True:
        task = input("What do you want to do? Type \"help\" for help:- ")
        if task == 'help':
            print_help()
        else:
            print("Invalid input.")

            # to check that ValueError is handled separately
            raise ValueError()

except Exception as ex:
    try:
        # Catch all exceptions and test if it is KeyboardInterrupt, native or
        # PyCharm's.
        if not is_keyboard_interrupt(ex):
            raise ex

        print('KeyboardInterrupt caught as expected.')
        print('Exception type: %s' % type(ex).__name__)
        exit()

    except ValueError:
        print('ValueError!')