How to set jupyter notebook to open on browser automatically

Question

So I don't have issues trying to open the jupyter notebook but for some reason, I cannot get it to open in the browser automatically no matter what I'm trying to do. I follow these posts to no avail: unable to open jupyter(ipython) notebook on browser https://github.com/jupyter/notebook/issues/2130

I created the jupyter config through jupyter notebook --generate-config and modified these settings:

c.NotebookApp.browser = 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe' c.NotebookApp.open_browser = True
c.NotebookApp.webbrowser_open_new = 2

It still does not open the notebook automatically in chrome. I wonder if I am doing something stupid but I can't figure out what else to do. I am running on Windows 10 and launching jupyter through cygwin. When I type jupyter notebook (after modifying the settings file) in cygwin, it gives me this output:

$ jupyter notebook
[I 21:57:41.782 NotebookApp] Serving notebooks from local directory: /cygdrive/c/home
[I 21:57:41.782 NotebookApp] The Jupyter Notebook is running at:
[I 21:57:41.782 NotebookApp] http://localhost:8888/?token=373da6a3a3ed7c5fb991f0b3b1042bff22e3fa946aea8bc1
[I 21:57:41.782 NotebookApp] Use Control-C to stop this server and shut down all kernels (twice to skip confirmation).
[C 21:57:41.799 NotebookApp]

To access the notebook, open this file in a browser:
    file:///cygdrive/c/home/.local/share/jupyter/runtime/nbserver-1003-open.html
Or copy and paste one of these URLs:
    http://localhost:8888/?token=373da6a3a3ed7c5fb991f0b3b1042bff22e3fa946aea8bc1

Is there anything else I can do to make it open in the browser automatically?

Update: I found this link and it doesn't work either: Launch IPython notebook with selected browser

I also found that this setting was wrong: c.NotebookApp.browser = 'C:\Program Files (x86)\Google\Chrome\Application\chrome.exe' , it is supposed to be: c.NotebookApp.browser = 'C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Google\\Chrome\\Application\\chrome.exe' . But I still haven't made any progress. :(

Answer 1

Add this line to your jupyter_notebook_config.py file:

c.NotebookApp.use_redirect_file = False

This should open jupyter notebooks automatically in your browser with the localhost / 127.0.0.1 URL.

More info for the sake of completeness:

• The config file should be found in ~/.jupyter/jupyter_notebook_config.py . If missing can be generated (as you did) with the command: jupyter notebook --generate-config
• Here's the Github issue where the change was discussed (the same solution was also highlighted here )
• Here's the reference in the documentation

Answer 2

At the command line, type:

jupyter notebook --browser=<Browser>

<Browser> being Chrome , Safari , Firefox , etc.

Answer 3

You can fix it by setting to 'false' this setting in the config file

If not already done, generate a config file: jupyter notebook --generate-config

Then update this: NotebookApp.use_redirect_file to False (defaulted as True) in ~/.jupyter/jupyter_notebook_config.py

(from https://jupyter-notebook.readthedocs.io/en/stable/config.html )

NotebookApp.use_redirect_fileBool

Default: True

Disable launching browser by redirect file For versions of notebook > 5.7.2, a security feature measure was added that prevented the authentication token used to launch the browser from being visible. This feature makes it difficult for other users on a multi-user system from running code in your Jupyter session as you.

However, some environments (like Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) and Chromebooks), launching a browser using a redirect file can lead the browser failing to load. This is because of the difference in file structures/paths between the runtime and the browser. Disabling this setting to False will disable this behavior, allowing the browser to launch by using a URL and visible token (as before).