Downloading and installing your plugins from the Marketplace window in PyCharm via the internet is the most common way to add a plugin to your work environment. However, there is a less common method of installing a PyCharm plugin: from disk.
Specifically, PyCharm plugins can be saved as local archive files (for example, JAR or ZIP files), and PyCharm can use the very source code to install those plugins. In order to install a plugin from disk, follow these steps:
- From the Plugins window, click on the
icon and choose the appropriate option, as illustrated here:
- From there, navigate the file browser to the local file that contains the source code of the plugin you would like to install.
The rest of the process is very similar to installing a plugin from the internet. Moreover, we can simply drag the archive file into PyCharm's welcome window, and the same installation process will begin.
Finally, as the last topic in this chapter, we will very briefly discuss the process of developing your own PyCharm plugins.