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Python

KeyboardInterrupt: What It Means and How to Fix It

Error reference

KeyboardInterrupt

Language

Python

Severity

Low

When it happens

KeyboardInterrupt is raised when the user presses Ctrl+C (or the interrupt key) to stop a running program.

Potential fixes

Catch KeyboardInterrupt explicitly if you need to perform cleanup before exiting. Use a finally block to ensure resources like file handles and network connections are closed regardless of how the program exits. Avoid catching BaseException broadly.

Related errors

SystemExitEOFError

Deep dive

KeyboardInterrupt is raised when the user presses Ctrl+C (or the interrupt key) to stop a running program. It is a subclass of BaseException, not Exception, so bare except: clauses will catch it but except Exception: will not.

Why it happens

  • •The user manually interrupts a long-running script with Ctrl+C.
  • •A test runner or process manager sends SIGINT to the process.
  • •An automated script sends an interrupt signal programmatically.

Potential fixes

Catch KeyboardInterrupt explicitly if you need to perform cleanup before exiting. Use a finally block to ensure resources like file handles and network connections are closed regardless of how the program exits. Avoid catching BaseException broadly.

Examples

Python

Code that triggers the error

# User presses Ctrl+C during this loop
import time
while True:
    time.sleep(1)
    print("Running...")

Error output

Running...
Running...
^CTraceback (most recent call last):
  File "app.py", line 3, in <module>
KeyboardInterrupt

Fixed code

import time
try:
    while True:
        time.sleep(1)
        print("Running...")
except KeyboardInterrupt:
    print("Stopped by user")

Practice in English

How would you explain a KeyboardInterrupt to a fellow dev? Choose the right phrase:

"I hit an error...

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