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I solved my own question but I thought I'd share my problem and answer for anyone else having this issue.

In a nutshell, I installed Anaconda and I wanted it to be my one and only source for Python. I know how to use the navigator GUI and the Anaconda prompt but I wanted to be able to run vanilla python from other shells like powershell, command prompt, gitbash, wsl, etc especially as I have those integrated with VS Code, my main editor.

I located what I thought was the proper python.exe file (2 locations C:\ProgramData\Anaconda3 and C:\Users\User\AppData\Local\Microsoft\WindowsApps) and added them to both to system path and then when that didn't work, to user path. When I typed python it opened up the MS Store for installing python.

That could have been enough of a clue but it took one more hint for me to figure it out. When I navigated to the directory in question in powershell and hit python, it still opened up the store. I mistakenly thought that for some reason this app/program just wasn't designed to be open via the terminal, if such a thing is possible, because when I double clicked on it in the GUI, it opened in the Anaconda terminal. I thought it called some other program that I had to find. Well, I found the answer. I'll post that as an answer.

gcr
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1 Answers1

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In brief, you have to disable windows from hijacking your intended use of the Python command and redirecting you to store.

Edit: This is the exact way (after you get Anaconda installed and working as its own program in it's own native shell environments). Go into windows Settings>Apps>Apps Execution Alias and toggle off App Installer (python.exe) and App Installer (python3.exe). It was that easy- all GUI work.

BTW more on how/why Windows set this up this way can be found here.

This question was kind of answered here and here as well but I thought I'd share my answer as it refers to Anaconda's python explicitly and it works as expected.

gcr
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