Install R, RStudio, and Quarto (PC) — Interactive Checklist Form

Objective

This guide explains, step by step, how to install:

  • R
  • RStudio
  • Quarto
  • A simple test project to confirm everything is working

Review Information

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Date

Overall Comments

Before You Start

You need:

  • A Windows PC
  • Internet access
  • Permission to install software

It is a good idea to close unnecessary programs before starting.

Step 1 — Download R for Windows

  1. Open your web browser.

  2. Go to https://cran.r-project.org.

  3. Click Download R for Windows.

  4. Download the latest .exe installer.

  5. Wait for the file to finish downloading.

Step 2 — Install R on Windows

  1. Open the downloaded R installer.

  2. Click Next through the installation steps.

  3. Click Install.

  4. Wait for installation to complete.

  5. Click Finish when done.

Step 3 — Verify R Installation

  1. Open Command Prompt.

  2. Type:

R --version
  1. Press Enter.

You should see something like:

R version 4.x.x
  1. You can also test later inside RStudio by typing:
version

Step 4 — If R Does Not Work

If R is not found:

  1. Close Command Prompt.

  2. Install R again from CRAN.

  3. Open a new Command Prompt window.

  4. Test again with:

R --version

Step 5 — Download RStudio for Windows

  1. Open your web browser.

  2. Go to https://posit.co/download/rstudio-desktop/.

  3. Download the RStudio Desktop installer for Windows.

  4. Wait for the file to download.

Step 6 — Install RStudio on Windows

  1. Open the downloaded RStudio installer.

  2. Click Next through the installation steps.

  3. Click Install.

  4. Wait for installation to complete.

  5. Click Finish.

Step 7 — Download Quarto for Windows

  1. Open your web browser.

  2. Go to https://quarto.org/docs/get-started/.

  3. Download the Quarto installer for Windows.

  4. Wait for the .exe file to download.

Step 8 — Install Quarto on Windows

  1. Open the downloaded Quarto installer.

  2. Click Next through the installation steps.

  3. Click Install.

  4. Wait for installation to complete.

  5. Click Finish.

Step 9 — Verify Quarto Installation

  1. Open Command Prompt.

  2. Type:

quarto --version
  1. Press Enter.

You should see something like:

1.x.x
  1. If the command is not found, close Command Prompt, reopen it, and test again.

Step 10 — Open RStudio and Confirm It Starts

  1. Open RStudio.

  2. Wait for the program to finish loading.

  3. Confirm that the Console panel appears.

  4. In the Console, type:

version
  1. Press Enter.

Step 11 — Create a Working Folder

  1. In File Explorer, create or choose a folder for your work.

Example:

C:\Users\YourName\Documents\R-Projects

  1. Open RStudio.

  2. Use File > New Project or File > Open File… later when needed.

Step 12 — Create a Test Quarto File

  1. In RStudio, click:
File > New File > Quarto Document

  1. Choose HTML.

  2. Save the file as:

test-quarto-pc.qmd
  1. Replace the content with:
---
title: "My First Quarto Report"
format: html
---

# Hello Yahya

R, RStudio, and Quarto are working on Windows.

Step 13 — Render the Test File

  1. In RStudio, open test-quarto-pc.qmd.

  2. Click the Render button.

  3. Wait for the HTML output to open.

Expected result:

A web page appears showing the title and the message.

Step 14 — Install Common R Packages

In the RStudio Console, type:

install.packages("tidyverse")
install.packages("ggplot2")
install.packages("readxl")

Press Enter after each line, or paste all lines together.

Step 15 — Check Installed Packages

In the RStudio Console, type:

installed.packages()[, "Package"]

Look for packages such as:

  • tidyverse
  • ggplot2
  • readxl

Step 16 — Automatic Environment Check

This section displays the detected R version and Quarto version when this QMD file is rendered successfully.

If this section renders correctly, then R is installed and Quarto is available to render the document.

cat("R detected: ", R.version.string, "\n", sep = "")
R detected: R version 4.3.2 (2023-10-31 ucrt)
quarto_path <- Sys.which("quarto")
if (nzchar(quarto_path)) {
  cat("Quarto executable: ", quarto_path, "\n", sep = "")
} else {
  cat("Quarto executable: Not found in PATH\n")
}
Quarto executable: C:\PROGRA~1\Quarto\bin\quarto.exe
quarto_version <- tryCatch(
  system2("quarto", "--version", stdout = TRUE, stderr = TRUE),
  error = function(e) paste("Could not run quarto --version:", conditionMessage(e))
)
cat("Quarto version check:\n")
Quarto version check:
cat(paste(quarto_version, collapse = "\n"))
1.6.40

Step 17 — Useful Windows Notes

  • On Windows, you can use Command Prompt to test both R --version and quarto --version.
  • If RStudio does not immediately see the tools, restart RStudio.
  • If Command Prompt does not see the new installation, close and reopen Command Prompt.
  • Quarto is often installed system-wide and works automatically with RStudio.

Troubleshooting

Problem 1 — R not recognized

Fix:

  • Reinstall R from CRAN
  • Open a new Command Prompt window
  • Test again with R --version

Problem 2 — quarto not recognized

Fix:

  • Reinstall Quarto from quarto.org
  • Close and reopen Command Prompt
  • Test again with quarto --version

Problem 3 — RStudio opens but cannot render

Fix:

  • Confirm Quarto is installed
  • Restart RStudio
  • Open the QMD file again
  • Try Render one more time

Problem 4 — Package installation fails

Try again in the RStudio Console with:

install.packages("tidyverse")

Then repeat for the other packages.

Summary

You have now completed the following:

  • Installed R on Windows
  • Installed RStudio
  • Installed Quarto
  • Verified R and Quarto
  • Created and rendered a test QMD file
  • Installed common R packages

Next Suggested Step

Create a second Quarto file and add:

  • One heading
  • One paragraph
  • One R code chunk
  • One simple plot

Then render it to HTML.