How to view .ipynb as regular text instead of an IPython notebook in vscode

Question

VS Code recently added the ability to work with Jupyter Notebooks (.ipynb files), this is to say it renders them as notebooks and not the underlying text.

The problem I'm running into is I want to make some edits on the raw text rather than the "notebook" but I can't figure out how to show it as a text file the way any other editor would.

Is there a way to toggle between the views?

Libin Varghese · Accepted Answer · 2021-01-04 16:43:26Z

35

Disable automatically opening `*.ipynb` files in Notebook Editor

To make sure the Jupyter notebooks don't open in the Notebook Editor automatically, make sure to disable this settings. (Command Palette -> Settings)

OR

In the User or Workspace settings.json, add the following the root json - "jupyter.useNotebookEditor": false

To toggle between the Notebook Editor and Raw Text Mode Editing

There is an option/command called Reopen Editor with..., which will provide you options to open the *.ipynb file in text mode.

You trigger this by performing a Right Click on the Editor Tab (Editor Title Bar) or Command Palette -> Reopen Editor with...

PS: I have the Jupyter extension (v2020.12.414227025)

answered Jan 4, 2021 at 16:43

Libin Varghese

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Nickolay Over a year ago

jupyter.useNotebookEditor is no more. The other answer has the up-to-date solution.

saccodd · Accepted Answer · 2020-04-24 13:21:12Z

17

Open: File > Preferences > Settings

Search ipynb and deselect the following:

answered Apr 24, 2020 at 13:21

saccodd

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Eduardo Pignatelli Over a year ago

If visual studio code does a mess, as it usually does, and this does not work, just rename the file to another extension, such as .txt and then read it.

aquirdturtle · Accepted Answer · 2021-09-30 04:14:16Z

12

Other answers didn't work for me recently. I found no "use notebook editor" option under preferences, perhaps vs code has reorganized recently. Instead I found the following solution. Right click on an *.ipynb file tab to get the context menu, and click "Reopen Editor With..." as pictured below.

Then on the following popup click "configure default editor for .ipynb", and then click on the text editor as seen below:

And viola. The default settings have been changed.

answered Sep 30, 2021 at 4:14

aquirdturtle

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2 Comments

user1816847 Over a year ago

Changing the accepted answer as this is what works now.

foobarbecue May 18 at 16:06

This is gone too now (2025.1). "Override file type" was the best solution I could find.

UselesssCat · Accepted Answer · 2021-01-04 17:55:54Z

6

I think the fastest way is to rename the file.

Just press F2 (or return for mac) while selecting the file in the vscode explorer, then rename from my-notebook.ipynb to my-notebook.json, because jupyter ipynb files are regular json files

edited Jan 4, 2021 at 17:55

answered Sep 24, 2020 at 7:45

UselesssCat

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erikizan · Accepted Answer · 2022-04-11 16:42:08Z

4

(Similar to aquirdturtle's answer)
What about

On the left side explorer

Right Click on file -> Open With -> Text Editor

answered Apr 11, 2022 at 16:42

erikizan

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irie · Accepted Answer · 2021-11-18 13:18:15Z

1

Create .json file and paste the notebook json in there, save the file and then rename the extension to .ipynb and it will open in the jupyter editor

answered Nov 18, 2021 at 13:18

irie

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rioV8 · Accepted Answer · 2020-04-08 00:15:03Z

-1

Set the setting

"files.associations": {
  "*.ipynb": "text"
}

Or try click on the Status Bar field that shows the Language Mode of the file in the lower right.

Use the command: Change Language Mode

answered Apr 8, 2020 at 0:15

rioV8

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8 Comments

user1816847 Over a year ago

there is no language mode in the status bar and using the command pallet it says there's "no text editor active at this time" which I suspect is because it's rendering a notebook using presumably a built in browser. Changing file associations doesn't work either.

rioV8 Over a year ago

@user1816847 rename the file to .txt and open with VSC

user1816847 Over a year ago

hmm yes this is what i'm trying to avoid though :(

rioV8 Over a year ago

@user1816847 I used notepad++ to edit .ipynb files, search settings for ipynb and unmark the open in Notebook editor

user1816847 Over a year ago

yeah :( I added sublime text into my work flow to do the one thing i need to do but i'm not happy about adding tools. Hopefully there will be a way to turn it off in VSCode.

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Disable automatically opening `*.ipynb` files in Notebook Editor

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