PHP executable not found. Install PHP 7 and add it to your PATH or set the php.executablePath setting

Question

I'm running windows 10 fresh copy and I just installed visual studio code. I was trying to develop a PHP project using VS Code. But I'm having trouble in setting up the environment.

I saw a blog post and I downloaded the binary file of PHP 7 and place it in the "C" drive. Then I set path variable too.

But still, I'm getting this issue.

Answer 1

Well I'll throw my variation in. The error VS Code was showing says

'php' binary could not be either found or executed. Make sure PHP is installed, and add path to "php.executables" setting.

I misunderstood the place to add the settings and had it like this:

"php.executables": {    
    "php.executablePath": "/Program Files/PHP/php.exe",
    "php.validate.executablePath": "/Program Files/PHP/php.exe",
    "v8.3": "/Program Files/PHP/php.exe"
},

I looked at the other answers here and other places and realized I might have overthunk it. I changed it to

"php.executablePath": "/Program Files/PHP/php.exe",
"php.validate.executablePath": "/Program Files/PHP/php.exe",
"php.executables": {    
    "v8.3": "/Program Files/PHP/php.exe"
},

And then it started working. Hope this helps someone!

Answer 2

macOS users

Extending pableiros's answer here's bit more in-depth explanation for macOS beginner users.

For macOS users who do not have homebrew installed install with homebrew's installation instructions then follow along below.

For macOS users who do not have homebrew's php formulae installed follow pableiros's answer or brew's command here then follow along below.

For macOS users that now have or had brew's php formulae already installed and the notification error persists, open terminal app find your brew install executable application path: by running terminal command which php:

returns

/opt/homebrew/bin/php

Now add that path to your json settings

{
    "php.executablePath": "/opt/homebrew/bin/php"
}

Answer 3

Update (for xampp):

This one worked for me at settings.json add this code:

{
"php.validate.executablePath": "C:\\xampp\\php\\php.exe",
 // "php.executablePath": "C:\\xampp\\php\\php.exe",
 "phpserver.phpPath": "C:\\xampp\\php\\php.exe",
}

doesn't really need the executablePath as other's have mentioned so I omitted it and I added the phpserver.phpPath

Answer 4

Well , Everyone has added their answer but I will add one more thing that the chosen answer didn't update.
You can add multiple php executables now ( if code runner extension installed )
A similar issue was pointed out in vscode's github repo #128098 and in #131534 and it was addressed after

VS Code version: 1.59.1 [3866c35]
Release Date : 19th August 2021 or 2021-08-19T11:57:20.140Z

Anyway, so you can now :

• add your multiple versions/installations of php by clicking on the bottom status bar of vscode, specifically on the version of php you are running ( in this example it is 7.4.3)
  
  
  
• or by editing the code runner extension settings in settings.json(both point to the same file)
  

settings.json File path in windows and samplecontents:
C:\Users\{Your Name}\AppData\Roaming\Code\User\settings.json

"[html]": {
        "editor.defaultFormatter": "esbenp.prettier-vscode"
    },
    "vsicons.dontShowNewVersionMessage": true,
    "debug.onTaskErrors": "showErrors",
    "redhat.telemetry.enabled": false,
    "[cpp]": {
        "editor.wordBasedSuggestions": true,
        "editor.suggest.insertMode": "replace",
        "editor.semanticHighlighting.enabled": true
    },
    "security.workspace.trust.untrustedFiles": "open",
    "totalTypeScript.hideAllTips": false,
    "totalTypeScript.hideBasicTips": false,
    "files.associations": {
        "*.inc": "php"
    },
    "php.executables": {
        "7.4.3":"C:\\xampp\\php\\php.exe",
        "8.1":"C:\\xampp\\php8\\php.exe"
    }
}

Just add

    "php.executables": {
            "7.4.3":"C:\\xampp\\php\\php.exe"
        }

Or

"php.executables": {
            "7.4.3":"C:\\xampp\\php\\php.exe",
            "8.1":"C:\\xampp\\php8\\php.exe"
        }

at the bottom of your settings.json file in vs code

Answer 5

in 2022, I had the same issue - my solution was to set the php.executablePath and php.validate.executablePath to use the folder only (with a trailing slash), omitting the actual executable 'php.exe'.

Answer 6

If you are using macOS, you need to install php. You can install it via brew executing the following commands on the terminal:

brew tap homebrew/core

brew install php

After that, you can open VS Code and the error will disappear

Answer 7

On Ubuntu 20.04 the path to executable php is

List all available paths: $ whereis php

One of the paths is: /usr/bin/php

More details on where to add this path: https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/languages/php

Answer 8

For me this setting was working.
In my windows 8.1 the path for php7 is

C:\user\test\tools\php7\php.exe

settings.json

 {  
 "php.executablePath":"/user/test/tools/php7/php.exe",
 "php.validate.executablePath": "/user/test/tools/php7/php.exe"
 }

see also https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/issues/533

Answer 9

For those who are using xampp:

File -> Preferences -> Settings

"php.validate.executablePath": "C:\\xampp\\php\\php.exe",
"php.executablePath": "C:\\xampp\\php\\php.exe"

Answer 10

Try this !!!. This will solve your problem for sure!

Method 1 -

Step 1 - Go to 'Environmental Variables'.

Step 2 - Find PATH variable and add the path to your PHP folder.

Step 3 - For 'XAMPP' users put 'C:\xampp\php' and 'WAMP' users put 'C:\wamp64\bin\php\php7.1.9' ) and save.

Method 2-

In VS Code

File -> Preferences -> Settings.

Open 'settings.json' file and put the below codes.

If you are using WAMP put this code and Save.

  "php.validate.executablePath": "C:\\wamp64\\bin\\php\\php7.1.9\\php.exe",
  "php.executablePath": "C:\\wamp64\\bin\\php\\php7.1.9\\php.exe"

If you are using XAMPP put this code and Save.

  "php.validate.executablePath": "C:\\xampp\\php\\php.exe",
  "php.executablePath": "C:\\xampp\\php\\php.exe"

Note - Replace php7.1.9 with your PHP version.

Answer 11

For me it was important to delete the "php.executablePath" path from the VS code settings and leave only the path to PHP in the Path variable.

When I had the Path variable together with php.executablePath, an irritating error still occurred (despite the fact that the path to php was correct).

Answer 12

You installed PHP IntelliSense extension, and this error because of it.
So if you want to fix this problem go to this menu:
File -> Preferences -> Settings
Now you can see 2 window. In the right window add below codes:

{
    "php.validate.executablePath": "C:\\wamp64\\bin\\php\\php7.0.4\\php.exe",
    "php.executablePath": "C:\\wamp64\\bin\\php\\php7.0.4\\php.exe"
}

Just like below image.



NOTICE: This address C:\\wamp64\\bin\\php\\php7.0.4\\php.exe is my php7.exe file address. Replace this address with own php7.exe.

Answer 13

This one also works

1. Remove the "php.executablePath" line from the VS code settings.

2. Then add the xampp php path to the System variables

After that restart the Visual Studio Code

Answer 14

After adding php directory in User Settings,

{
    "php.validate.executablePath": "C:/phpdirectory/php7.1.8/php.exe",
    "php.executablePath": "C:/phpdirectory/php7.1.8/php.exe"
}

If you still have this error, please verify you have installed :

• 64-bit or 32-bit version of php (x64 or x86), depending on your OS;

• some librairies like Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio 2015 : http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=48145;

To test if you PHP exe is ok, open cmd.exe :

c:/prog/php-7.1.8-Win32-VC14-x64/php.exe --version

If PHP fails, a message will be prompted with the error (missing dll for example).