1/13/22, 5:16 PM Google Colab

Colaboratory

Frequently Asked Questions

The Basics
What is Colaboratory?

Colaboratory, or “Colab” for short, is a product from Google Research. Colab allows anybody to
write and execute arbitrary python code through the browser, and is especially well suited to
machine learning, data analysis and education. More technically, Colab is a hosted Jupyter
notebook service that requires no setup to use, while providing free access to computing resources
including GPUs.

Is it really free to use?

[email protected]
R8L0PN473F
Yes. Colab is free to use.

Seems too good to be true. What are the limitations?

Colab resources are not guaranteed and not unlimited, and the usage limits sometimes fluctuate.
This is necessary for Colab to be able to provide resources for free. For more details, see
Resource Limits

Users who are interested in more reliable access to better resources may be interested in Colab
Pro.

What is the difference between Jupyter and Colab?

Jupyter is the open source project on which Colab is based. Colab allows you to use and share
Jupyter notebooks with others without having to download, install, or run anything.

Using Colab
Where are my notebooks stored, and can I share them?

Colab notebooks are stored in Google Drive, or can be loaded from GitHub. Colab notebooks can
be shared just as you would with Google Docs or Sheets. Simply click the Share button at the top
This file is meant for personal use by [email protected] only.
https://research.google.com/colaboratory/faq.html 1/7
Sharing or publishing the contents in part or full is liable for legal action.
 1/13/22, 5:16 PM Google Colab

right of any Colab notebook, or follow these Google Drive file sharing instructions.

If I share my notebook, what will be shared?

If you choose to share a notebook, the full contents of your notebook (text, code, output, and
comments) will be shared. You can omit code cell output from being saved or shared by using Edit
> Notebook settings > Omit code cell output when saving this notebook. The virtual machine
you’re using, including any custom files and libraries that you’ve setup, will not be shared. So it’s a
good idea to include cells which install and load any custom libraries or files that your notebook
needs.

Can I import an existing Jupyter/IPython notebook into Colab?

Yes. Choose "Upload notebook" from the File menu.

How can I search Colab notebooks?

You can search Colab notebooks using Google Drive. Clicking on the Colab logo at the top left of
the notebook view will show all notebooks in Drive. You can also search for notebooks that you
have opened recently using File > Open notebook.

Where is my code executed? What happens to my execution state if I close the browser
window?
[email protected]
R8L0PN473F
Code is executed in a virtual machine private to your account. Virtual machines are deleted when
idle for a while, and have a maximum lifetime enforced by the Colab service.

How can I get my data out?

You can download any Colab notebook that you’ve created from Google Drive following these
instructions, or from within Colab’s File menu. All Colab notebooks are stored in the open source
Jupyter notebook format ( .ipynb).

How can I reset the virtual machine(s) my code runs on, and why is this sometimes
unavailable?

Selecting Runtime > Factory reset runtime to return all managed virtual machines assigned to
you to their original state. This can be helpful in cases where a virtual machine has become
unhealthy e.g. due to accidental overwrite of system files, or installation of incompatible software.
Colab limits how often this can be done to prevent undue resource consumption. If an attempt fails,
please try again later.

Why does drive.mount() sometimes fail saying "timed out", and why do I/O operations in
drive.mount()-mounted folders sometimes fail?

This file is meant for personal use by [email protected] only.

https://research.google.com/colaboratory/faq.html 2/7
Sharing or publishing the contents in part or full is liable for legal action.
 1/13/22, 5:16 PM Google Colab

Google Drive operations can time out when the number of files or subfolders in a folder grows too
large. If thousands of items are directly contained in the top-level "My Drive" folder then mounting
the drive will likely time out. Repeated attempts may eventually succeed as failed attempts cache
partial state locally before timing out. If you encounter this problem, try moving files and folders
directly contained in "My Drive" into sub-folders. A similar problem can occur when reading from
other folders after a successful drive.mount(). Accessing items in any folder containing many items
can cause errors like OSError: [Errno 5] Input/output error. Again, you can fix this problem by
moving directly contained items into sub-folders.
Note that "deleting" files or subfolders by moving them to the Trash may not be enough; if that
doesn't seem to help, make sure to also Empty your Trash.

Why do Drive operations sometimes fail due to quota?

Google Drive enforces various limits, including per-user and per-file operation count and bandwidth
quotas. Exceeding these limits will trigger Input/output error as above, and show a notification in
the Colab UI. A typical cause is accessing a popular shared file, or accessing too many distinct
files too quickly. Workarounds include:

Copy the file using drive.google.com and don't share it widely so that other users don't use
up its limits.
Avoid making many small I/O reads, instead opting to copy data from Drive to the Colab VM
in an archive format (e.g. .zip or.tar.gz files) and unarchive the data locally on the VM
[email protected]
R8L0PN473F instead of in the mounted Drive directory.
Wait a day for quota limits to reset.

Why do Drive operations sometimes fail due to storage quota?

Google Drive imposes a limit on how much data can be stored in it by each user. If Drive
operations are failing withInput/output error and a notification says storage quota has been
exceeded, delete some files using drive.google.com and Empty your Trash to reclaim the space. It
might take a little while for the reclaimed space to be available in Colab.

If you'd like to purchase more Drive space, visit Google Drive. Note that purchasing more space on
Drive will not increase the amount of disk available on Colab VMs. Subscribing to Colab Pro will.

Resource Limits
Why aren’t resources guaranteed in Colab?

In order to be able to offer computational resources for free, Colab needs to maintain the flexibility
to adjust usage limits and hardware availability on the fly. Resources available in Colab vary over
time to accommodate fluctuations in demand, as well as to accommodate overall growth and other
factors.

This file is meant for personal use by [email protected] only.

https://research.google.com/colaboratory/faq.html 3/7
Sharing or publishing the contents in part or full is liable for legal action.
 1/13/22, 5:16 PM Google Colab

Some users want to be able to do more in Colab than the resource limits allow. Colab Pro and
Pro+ provide priority access to faster GPUs, longer running notebooks and more memory. Our long
term goal is to continue providing a free version of Colab, while also growing in a sustainable
fashion to meet the needs of our users.

If you would like to have complete control over your resources in Colab, check out Colab GCP
Marketplace VMs. Colab GCP Marketplace VMs allow you to specify the exact runtime resources
to use and provide you with a persistent environment you can manage to your liking while still
using the Colab UI.

What are the usage limits of Colab?

Colab is able to provide free resources in part by having dynamic usage limits that sometimes
fluctuate, and by not providing guaranteed or unlimited resources. This means that overall usage
limits as well as idle timeout periods, maximum VM lifetime, GPU types available, and other factors
vary over time. Colab does not publish these limits, in part because they can (and sometimes do)
vary quickly.

GPUs and TPUs are sometimes prioritized for users who use Colab interactively rather than for
long-running computations, or for users who have recently used less resources in Colab. As a
result, users who use Colab for long-running computations, or users who have recently used more
resources in Colab, are more likely to run into usage limits and have their access to GPUs and
[email protected]
TPUs temporarily restricted. Users interested in having higher and more stable usage limits may
R8L0PN473F
be interested in Colab Pro and Pro+. Users with high computational needs may be interested in
using Colab’s UI with either a local runtime running on their own hardware or Colab GCP
Marketplace VMs.

What types of GPUs are available in Colab?

The types of GPUs that are available in Colab vary over time. This is necessary for Colab to be
able to provide access to these resources for free. The GPUs available in Colab often include
Nvidia K80s, T4s, and P100s. Users who are interested in more reliable access to Colab’s fastest
GPUs may be interested in Colab Pro and Pro+. If you would like to use specific hardware in
Colab, check out Colab GCP Marketplace VMs.

Note that using Colab for cryptocurrency mining is disallowed entirely, and may result in your
account being restricted for use with Colab altogether.

How long can notebooks run in Colab?

Notebooks run by connecting to virtual machines that have maximum lifetimes that can be as much
as 12 hours. Notebooks will also disconnect from VMs when left idle for too long. Maximum VM
lifetime and idle timeout behavior may vary over time, or based on your usage. This is necessary
for Colab to be able to offer computational resources for free. Users interested in longer VM

This file is meant for personal use by [email protected] only.

https://research.google.com/colaboratory/faq.html 4/7
Sharing or publishing the contents in part or full is liable for legal action.
 1/13/22, 5:16 PM Google Colab

lifetimes and more lenient idle timeout behaviors that don’t vary as much over time may be
interested in Colab Pro and Pro+.

If you would like to manage the lifetime of your Colab VM, check out Colab GCP Marketplace VMs
which provide you with a persistent environment you can manage to your liking.

How much memory is available in Colab?

The amount of memory available in Colab virtual machines varies over time (but is stable for the
lifetime of the VM). (Adjusting memory over time allows us to continue to offer Colab for free.) You
may sometimes be automatically assigned a VM with extra memory when Colab detects that you
are likely to need it. Users interested in having more memory available to them in Colab, and more
reliably, may be interested in Colab Pro and Pro+ or Colab GCP Marketplace VMs.

How can I get the most out of Colab?

Resources in Colab are prioritized for users who have recently used less resources, in order to
prevent the monopolization of limited resources by a small number of users. To get the most out of
Colab, consider closing your Colab tabs when you are done with your work, and avoid opting for a
GPU when it is not needed for your work. This will make it less likely that you will run into usage
limits in Colab. Users interested in going beyond the resource limits in the free version of Colab
may be interested in Colab Pro and Pro+.
[email protected]
R8L0PN473F
I saw a message saying my GPU is not being utilized. What should I do?

Colab offers optional accelerated compute environments, including GPU and TPU. Executing code
in a GPU or TPU runtime does not automatically mean that the GPU or TPU is being utilized. To
avoid hitting your GPU usage limits, we recommend switching to a standard runtime if you are not
utilizing the GPU. Choose Runtime > Change Runtime Type and set Hardware Accelerator to
None.

For examples of how to utilize GPU and TPU runtimes in Colab, see the Tensorflow With GPU and
TPUs In Colab example notebooks.

Additional Questions
What browsers are supported?

Colab works with most major browsers, and is most thoroughly tested with the latest versions of
Chrome, Firefox and Safari.

How is this related to colaboratory.jupyter.org?

This file is meant for personal use by [email protected] only.

https://research.google.com/colaboratory/faq.html 5/7
Sharing or publishing the contents in part or full is liable for legal action.
 1/13/22, 5:16 PM Google Colab

In 2014 we worked with the Jupyter development team to release an early version of the tool.
Since then Colab has continued to evolve, guided by internal usage.

What about other programming languages?

Colab focuses on supporting Python and its ecosystem of third-party tools. We're aware that users
are interested in support for other Jupyter kernels (eg R or Scala). We would like to support these,
but don't yet have any ETA.

I found a bug or have a question, who do I contact?

Open any Colab notebook. Then go to the Help menu and select ”Send feedback...”.

Why prompt to enable third-party cookies?

Colab uses HTML iframes and service workers hosted on separate origins in order to display rich
outputs securely. Browsers require enabling third-party cookies to use the service workers within
iframes. An alternative to enabling third-party cookies for all sites is to allow the following hostname
in your browser settings: googleusercontent.com.

How do I change the editor font?

Colab uses a generic monospace font for the editor. You can configure what font family is used for
[email protected]
monospace in most
R8L0PN473F modern browsers. Here's a few common ones:

In Firefox, follow the steps provided in the Firefox support documents to configure the
"Monospace" font.
In Chrome, navigate to "chrome://settings/fonts" and modify the section labeled "Fixed-width
font".

Does Colab support Python 2?

Python 2 is no longer supported in Colab. For information on migrating your code from Python 2 to
Python 3, see Porting Python 2 Code to Python 3.

Where can I learn more about Colab Pro and Pro+?

There is an FAQ for Colab Pro and Pro+ on the sign-up page.

How does billing work for Colab Pro and Colab Pro+?

Information for Colab Pro and Pro+, including pricing and how upgrades are handled, can be found
at the Colab Pro and Pro+ sign-up page.

How do I access Colab with a Workspace account?

This file is meant for personal use by [email protected] only.

https://research.google.com/colaboratory/faq.html 6/7
Sharing or publishing the contents in part or full is liable for legal action.
 1/13/22, 5:16 PM Google Colab

Access to Colab for Workspace users is controlled by the Workspace on/off control accessible to
your organization's administrator.

Workspace for Education organizations are required to obtain parental consent for students' (under
the age of 18) use of Additional Services with their Google Workspace for Education account. For
more information, please read our Help Center article “Communicating with Parents and Guardians
about Google Workspace for Education”. Note that Google accounts for children under the age of
13 are not supported.

[email protected]
R8L0PN473F

This file is meant for personal use by [email protected] only.

https://research.google.com/colaboratory/faq.html 7/7
Sharing or publishing the contents in part or full is liable for legal action.