title: Pip installed packages don't show up in Anaconda Navigator
body: <p>Many Python packages don't have pre-built <code>conda</code> packages, so Anaconda users are frequently forced to use <code>pip</code> to install packages.  I have to do this routinely, since so many packages don't have conda packages, not even in the most common alternate channel(s) like <code>conda-forge</code> or <code>bio-conda</code>.  </p>
  
  <p>This open issue was already reported in the Anaconda github support repo <a href="https://github.com/ContinuumIO/anaconda-issues/issues/10634" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://github.com/ContinuumIO/anaconda-issues/issues/10634</a>.  However, no answers have been forthcoming in almost 1 year.  I am asking here because responses are typically faster and shared more widely than in support forums for individual products.  </p>
  
  <p>I hate the productivity loss of re-installing Anaconda, particularly a long-standing installation, because it can take 3-4 hours to backup and export existing environment build files as <code>requirements.txt</code>, remove an existing Anaconda installation, clean out the Windows Registry, search the Windows file system for leftover detritus, and then rebuild all of my environments one at a time.</p>
  
  <p>Does anyone know a trick, or have a Python script or some other workaround(s) to refresh the Package Index within a conda environment or for ALL environments created and managed by the Anaconda Navigator GUI.  It would be awesome if there was an updater widget within the Anaconda Navigator GUI to allow users to select for which virtual environment(s) they want the package index to be updated.  </p>
  
  <h2>What I have tried</h2>
  
  <p>In the Anaconda Navigator GUI "Environments" tab, clicking on the "Update Index..." button does not get updated with the list of packages installed "behind the scenes" from a Anaconda Command Prompt.  </p>
  
  <h2>The result I get</h2>
  
  <p>pip-installed packages are NOT included in the Anaconda Package Index update process.  It does not find packages in environments installed inside and outside of the Anaconda3 root directory.  It doesn't even find all packages underneath the <code>\envs</code> folder.  This makes me think packages are not installed into the currently selected environments, so it takes time to verify their location in C:\ProgramData\Anaconda3\envs, C:\Users\username\AppData\Local, or elsewhere.  </p>
  
  <p>What else I have tried: after having a corrupted Anaconda and Spyder installation that would not start at all, I posted requests for help on various support forums.  I got answers that were not much help, like "Just don't mix <code>pip</code> and <code>conda</code> packages, use one or the other".  That is not practical since so many Python packages are not available in the conda package format.  I have gotten that impractical advice from Anaconda and Spyder developers in the past.  </p>
  
  <h2>Severity and impact</h2>
  
  <p>This is an important issue, since it is possible to use / misuse conda and pip and inadvertently corrupt Anaconda so badly that it requires a painful and time-consuming removal and re-installation of the entire Anaconda distribution.  </p>
  
  <p>A possible solution beyond my current cable-tow... If someone can build an intelligent and transparent converter built into the PyPi, Anaconda Cloud, Conda-forge, and other channels that made this conversion automatic and validated, then this conversation might not be needed.  </p>