PyCharm IDE for Python development just got a big update
JetBrains has just released a major update for its Python IDE, PyCharm 2025.3.2. PyCharm and Google Colab are normally treated as separate tools, the former PyCharm for that serious, robust local IDE power, and Colab for easy, GPU-accelerated cloud access. This update merges them.
PyCharm is already the go-to IDE for many Python developers, as it handles everything from web frameworks to complex data science projects. Jupyter notebooks are an essential part of data exploration and prototyping, especially for machine learning and AI work. Although PyCharm has always had excellent support for local notebooks and external Jupyter servers, the cloud compute element was often a sticking point.
Google Colab is an extremely popular tool for running experiments on laptops, especially when your local computer simply doesn’t have the necessary processing power or access to specialized hardware like high-end GPUs. This new integration fully fills this gap. It allows developers to seamlessly move between powerful local IDE workflows and scalable cloud execution.
PyCharm 2025.3 update adds faster Python project management, free Jupyter support and more
The Community Edition and Pro versions are now available as a single download.
The best part is that this Colab feature is included for free as a core feature of PyCharm, right alongside basic Jupyter support. If you already rely on Colab for heavy computational work, you can now integrate these cloud-hosted notebooks directly into your PyCharm environment.
This lets you use the powerful IDE features you rely on, like refactoring and deep navigation, even when you’re running code remotely on Google’s infrastructure. It’s important to consider that the large and complex notebook projects you have to manage sometimes go beyond simple prototyping, so this is great news.
Connecting PyCharm to a Colab instance seems incredibly simple, which I like. Simply open your notebook in PyCharm and then select the Google Colab option from the Jupyter server menu in the upper right corner. After signing in to your Google account, PyCharm creates and uses a Colab-backed server for this notebook session. Once connected, the laptop behaves exactly as if it were running locally. You get outputs, tables, and inline visualizations rendered right in the editor window.
JetBrains also thought about the common frustration of missing files when working remotely. Sometimes your notebook relies on data or scripts that have not yet been downloaded to the Colab machine. PyCharm solved this problem by allowing you to download missing files directly from your local computer when they are needed.
I can’t even count the number of times I’ve created an awesome writing utility for one of my teams locally, only to have it completely crash the moment I push it to the cloud. It’s always a missing dependency or a weird file path issue. Trying to manage this remote file structure simply using a web browser is a very painful experience.
This way I will be able to see the Colab directories directly in my Project tool window and instantly download any missing files while I work. This will save me a significant amount of debugging and time wasted going back and forth.
PyCharm 2025.3.2 is available on the official website for download.
Source: JetBrains Blog
