Skip to content

Scheduling Tasks

If you have a task that needs to be completed regularly, and it's something you can automate with a python script, you can schedule the task to occur at set times to save you the hassle. It also helps guarantee that the task gets done when it should.

Python has packages available for scheduling tasks, such as python-chrontab. However, on a Windows machine it's possibly easiest to use the Windows Task Scheduler. Alternatively, you can use schedule task to run when you start up your computer.

Windows Task Scheduler

1. Create a .bat file

To use the Windows Task Scheduler to , you'll first need to create a .bat file. Open a new file on VS Code or notepad and type:

"<Path to python executable>" "<Path to script>"
pause
  • The path to the python executable for me is: "C:\Users\Erik\Anaconda3\python.exe"
  • The path to your script is the fully qualified path to your script, don't forget to include the script name and .py at the end.

Save the file and change the extension to .bat (e.g., run_me.bat).

You can run your script by double clicking on the file. Running a .bat file is a lot like typing python <my_script.py> into the CLI.

2. Schedule the task

To schedule the task, type 'schedule task' in the Windows start menu and open the Task Scheduler. Select 'Create Basic Task...' and work through the interface. You can open the settings dialog box for more options (see below) before saving.

task-scheduler

Additional settings available

  • General: Provide any name you want
  • Triggers: Add a New Trigger and select the type of trigger you'd prefer. The task can be run at a specific time and day, but also upon logging on to the computer or other options.
  • Actions: Add a New Action and select 'Start a Program'.
  • Conditions: You can specify additional conditions here.
  • Settings: Additional settings here. I recommend selecting 'Run task as soon as possible after a scheduled start is missed', in case the computer isn't on when the task should have been run.

The Startup Folder

Navigate to your .bat file, right-click and select copy. Use the Windows key + R keyboard shortcut to open the Run command. Type in shell:startup and click OK. Paste a shortcut to the .bat file in this folder and it will run on every startup (you'll need to restart for this to take effect).

Note that if you shut down your computer more than once a day, this will run the script multiple times that day. If you just want a daily task to run, use the Task Scheduler.

Read more about using batch files in Windows.

Getting an error?

In some cases (especially if you have multiple python versions installed on your computer), you may need to activate the base Anaconda environment before attempting to run your script in the .bat file. To do this, simply add a line at the beginning of your .bat file (edit the path as necessary to for your machine) so it looks like this:

call "C:\Users\Erik\Anaconda3\Scripts\activate.bat"
"C:\Users\Erik\Anaconda3\python.exe" "<Path to script>"

The call function is used to execute another .bat file from within a .bat file, and in this case will activate the base anaconda environment which will allow your machine to find the packages you need to run your script. If you don't do this, you may get a DLL load error when attempting to run the .bat file.