How to exit Python in terminal

How do you exit Python in the terminal?

Short answer: type exit() or quit() and press Enter. You can also use the keyboard: Ctrl + D on macOS and Linux, or Ctrl + Z and then Enter on Windows. Since Python 3.13 you can type just exit or quit, without parentheses.

>>> exit()
$

If a script is running and you want to stop it, press Ctrl + C. Inside your own code, use sys.exit().

exit() closes the interactive Python, Ctrl + C stops a script that is running and sys.exit() ends your program from the code.

How to exit Python in every situation

Exit with exit() or quit()

>>> exit()

exit() and quit() do exactly the same thing: they close the interactive interpreter and take you back to your system prompt ($ on macOS and Linux, C:\Users\you> on Windows).

In Python 3.12 or older, typing exit without parentheses does not close Python. It only prints a reminder:

>>> exit
Use exit() or Ctrl-D (i.e. EOF) to exit

On Windows the message says Use exit() or Ctrl-Z plus Return to exit. Add the parentheses and Python closes. Since Python 3.13, the new interactive shell understands exit and quit on their own.

Exit with the keyboard

On macOS and Linux, Ctrl + Z does not close Python. It pauses it in the background and the shell shows something like zsh: suspended python3. Type fg to bring Python back and then exit with exit(), or end it from the shell with kill %1.

Stop a running script with Ctrl + C

If your program is stuck in a loop or taking too long, press Ctrl + C in the terminal where it runs. Python raises KeyboardInterrupt and stops:

$ python3 -c "while True: pass"
^CTraceback (most recent call last):
  File "<string>", line 1, in <module>
KeyboardInterrupt

That traceback is normal: it only says you stopped the program. If Ctrl + C does not work because the code catches every exception, close the terminal tab or end the process from your system (kill followed by the process number on macOS and Linux, or the Task Manager on Windows).

Exit from your code with sys.exit()

exit() and quit() are meant for the interactive shell. Inside a script, use sys.exit():

import sys
 
file_name = "data.csv"
 
if not file_name.endswith(".csv"):
    print("Error: I need a CSV file")
    sys.exit(1)
 
print("Processing", file_name)

The number is the exit code: 0 means everything went well and any other number means there was an error. Other programs and CI pipelines read it, and you can check it in the terminal with echo $? on macOS and Linux:

$ python3 -c "import sys; sys.exit(1)"
$ echo $?
1

If you pass text instead of a number, Python prints it and uses the exit code 1:

raise SystemExit("Error: the file is missing")

exit(), quit(), sys.exit() and os._exit()

Exit Python in VS Code, Jupyter and IPython

• VS Code: the integrated terminal works like any other terminal: exit(), Ctrl + D or Ctrl + Z and Enter. To stop a script you started with the Run button, press Ctrl + C in the terminal or click the trash icon to close it.
• Jupyter Notebook and JupyterLab: the kernel keeps running until you restart it. Use Kernel > Interrupt to stop a cell, and Restart or Shut Down to end Python.
• IPython: type exit, quit or press Ctrl + D.

Use AI when Python will not let you go

An assistant like ChatGPT, Claude or GitHub Copilot can tell you exactly what is happening in your terminal if you paste what you see. These three prompts are ready to copy.

1. Python does not close

I am in the Python terminal on [Windows / macOS / Linux] and I cannot exit.
This is what I see: [paste the last lines of your terminal]
Tell me how to exit and why what I tried did not work.

2. Stop a program safely

My Python script [describe what it does] sometimes gets stuck.
Show me how to stop it with Ctrl + C without losing data, using try/except KeyboardInterrupt and finally.

3. Use exit codes

Write a Python script that validates [what you need to check] and ends with sys.exit(0) if it is OK
or sys.exit(1) if it fails, so I can use it in [a CI pipeline / a bash script].

Check every answer by running it in your own terminal.

Common problems when exiting Python

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