R and RStudio Resources

Follow these instructions to set up the software that we’ll be using throughout the semester.

Important

Even if you’ve already downloaded both R and RStudio for a previous class, you need to re-download to make sure that you have the most current versions.



File Organization

Required: Create a folder for this course on your local harddrive (e.g. Desktop or Documents), not necessarily on a Cloud Drive as you may encounter large datasets in this class.


Highly Recommended: Change the default file download location for your internet browser.

  • Generally by default, internet browsers automatically save all files to the Downloads folder on your computer. This does not encourage good file organization practices. You need to change this option so that your browser asks you where to save each file before downloading it.
  • This page has information on how to do this for the most common browsers.



Installation and Updates

Required: Install (or update) R and RStudio

As of January 2026, the latest versions of R and RStudio are:

  • R: 4.5.2
  • RStudio: 2026.01.0+392

If you do not have the latest versions of both R and RStudio installed on your computer, see below. (Not sure if you do? See the THIRD step, below.)

  1. FIRST: Download R here.
    • You will see three links “Download R for …”
    • Choose the link that corresponds to your computer operating system (and pay attention to processor chip type for Mac - M1/M2 or Intel; on your computer, click Apple > About this Mac to find info about the chip).
  2. SECOND: Download RStudio here.
    • Click the button under step 2 to install the version of RStudio recommended for your computer.
  3. THIRD: Check your work
    • Open an RStudio session.
    • Run the following in the Console, and repeat the FIRST or SECOND step if the version numbers that print out are not equal to (or more recent than) those listed above.
# check R version
R.Version()

# check RStudio version
rstudioapi::versionInfo()


Highly Recommended: Set essential RStudio options.

Go to:

  • Windows: Edit > Preferences > General
  • Mac: Tools > Global Options… > General

Navigate to the “Workspace” section.

  • Restore .RData into workspace at startup: Leave this unchecked
  • Save workspace to .RData on exit: Select “Never”
  • Press “Apply” and then “OK”

If you don’t change these options, RStudio will save all of the objects you ever create in your Global Environment. In practice, this leads to all of the objects, datasets, etc that you have ever worked with at Macalester being loaded in when you start RStudio.

  • This can make startup slow.
  • It clutters the Global Environment. (e.g., You’re working on something and referring to diamonds not knowing that a diamonds that was used in class last year is already in the Global Environment.)


Highly Recommended: Watch this video made by Dr. Lisa Lendway that describes useful configuration options for RStudio.


Optional: For a refresher on RStudio features, watch this video. It also shows you how to customize the layout and color scheme of RStudio.


Using R

Here are a few other resources that may come in handy this semester: