Why does '(base)' appear in my anaconda command prompt?

My anaconda command prompt now says:

(base) C:\users\user_name>

I would like to know why (base) appears in front of the prompt. This started appearing since I created a virtual environment to run Django. If I enter 'deactivate' the prompt disappears but if I close the terminal and open a new terminal the 'base' is back again.

(base) C:\users\user_name> deactivate
C:\users\user_name>

The trouble is that this prompt does not recognize pip or any anaconda commands. I can run pip on the 'base' prompt, but not on the original one. I installed a module in '(base)...' using pip but this module is recognized by my ide.

conda list anaconda

in '(base)..' gives th version of Anaconda as 4.4. without the base, it does not recognize conda. I have run pip and conda several times before this happened. I'm running Windows 10.

Solution 1:

Try this:

conda config --set auto_activate_base false

The changeps1 only hide the command prompt, you still in this environment.

auto_activate_base can avoid entering the environment.

Solution 2:

Although Blockchain Business's answer is correct, as of v 4.6.4

DeprecationWarning: 'source deactivate' is deprecated. Use 'conda deactivate'.

so,

conda deactivate

This actually deactivates Anaconda completely, so may not be the best solution...

To restore:

 conda activate