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Google Colab

Google Colab (short for Google Colaboratory) is a cloud-based Jupyter Notebook environment from Google that lets you write, run, and share Python code in a web browser without any local installation. It is widely used for machine learning, data science, and education.

Installation and Setup

Google Colab requires no local installation. To get started, visit colab.research.google.com and sign in with a Google account. Notebooks are stored in and shared through Google Drive.

Key Features

  • Runs Python notebooks in the browser with no local setup required
  • Provides access to CPUs, with limited free GPU and TPU usage subject to availability
  • Comes with popular Python libraries pre-installed, including NumPy, PyTorch, and TensorFlow (CPU/GPU runtimes only)
  • Shares notebooks like Google Docs or Sheets, letting collaborators view or edit them
  • Integrates with Google Drive for notebook storage and sharing
  • Imports notebooks from GitHub, Google Drive, or local upload
  • Offers paid plans including Colab Pro, Colab Pro+, and Pay As You Go for faster hardware, more memory, and longer runtimes

Usage

  1. Go to colab.research.google.com or create a new notebook from Google Drive.
  2. Add a code cell and run it with Shift+Enter or the play button.
  3. Install additional packages with !pip install <package> in a code cell.
  4. Change the hardware accelerator to GPU or TPU from Runtime > Change runtime type.
  5. Share notebooks with collaborators using the Share button, just as you would with a Google Doc.
Jupyter Notebook: An Introduction

Tutorial

Jupyter Notebook: An Introduction

In this step-by-step Python tutorial, you learn how to get started with The Jupyter Notebook, an open source web application that you can use to create and share documents that contain live code, equations, visualizations, and text.

intermediate tools

For additional information on related topics, take a look at the following resources:

By Leodanis Pozo Ramos • Updated March 11, 2026
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