Watch Now This tutorial has a related video course created by the Real Python team. Watch it together with the written tutorial to deepen your understanding: Python Basics: Setting Up Python

Installing or updating Python on your computer is the first step to becoming a Python programmer. There are a multitude of installation methods: you can download official Python distributions from Python.org, install from a package manager, and even install specialized distributions for scientific computing, Internet of Things, and embedded systems.

This tutorial focuses on official distributions, as they're generally the best option for getting started with learning to program in Python.

In this tutorial you'll learn how to:

  • Check which version of Python, if any, is installed on your machine
  • Install or update Python on Windows, macOS, and Linux
  • Use Python on mobile devices like phones or tablets
  • Use Python on the Web with online interpreters

No matter what operating system you're on, this tutorial has you covered. Find your operating system below and dive in!

How to Install Python on Windows

There are three installation methods on Windows:

  1. The Microsoft Store
  2. The full installer
  3. Windows Subsystem for Linux

In this section, you'll learn how to check which version of Python, if any, is installed on your Windows computer. You'll also learn which of the three installation methods you should use. For a more comprehensive guide, check out Your Python Coding Environment on Windows: Setup Guide.

How to Check Your Python Version on Windows

To check if you already have Python on your Windows machine, first open a command-line application, such as PowerShell.

You can also use cmd.exe or Windows Terminal.

With the command line open, type in the following command and press Enter :

                                                  C:\>                  python --version                  Python 3.8.4

Using the --version switch will show you the version that's installed. Alternatively, you can use the -V switch:

                                                  C:\>                  python -V                  Python 3.8.4

In either case, if you see a version less than 3.8.4, which was the most recent version at the time of writing, then you'll want to upgrade your installation.

If you're interested in where the installation is located, then you can use the where.exe command in cmd.exe or PowerShell:

                                                  C:\>                  where.exe python                  C:\Users\mertz\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python37-32\python.exe

Note that the where.exe command will work only if Python has been installed for your user account.

What Your Options Are

As mentioned earlier, there are three ways to install the official Python distribution on Windows:

  1. Microsoft Store package: The most straightforward installation method on Windows involves installing from the Microsoft Store app. This is recommended for beginner Python users looking for an easy-to-set-up interactive experience.

  2. Full Installer: This approach involves downloading Python directly from the Python.org website. This is recommended for intermediate and advanced developers who need more control during the setup process.

  3. Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL): The WSL allows you to run a Linux environment directly in Windows. You can learn how to enable the WSL by reading the Windows Subsystem for Linux Installation Guide for Windows 10.

In this section, we'll focus on only the first two options, which are the most popular installation methods in a Windows environment.

If you want to install in the WSL, then you can read the Linux section of this tutorial after you've installed the Linux distribution of your choice.

The two official Python installers for Windows aren't identical. The Microsoft Store package has some important limitations.

Limitations of the Microsoft Store Package

The official Python documentation has this to say about the Microsoft Store package:

The Microsoft Store package is an easily installable Python interpreter that is intended mainly for interactive use, for example, by students. (Source)

The key takeaway here is that the Microsoft Store package is "intended mainly for interactive use." That is, the Microsoft Store package is designed to be used by students and people learning to use Python for the first time.

In addition to targeting beginning Pythonistas, the Microsoft Store package has limitations that make it ill-suited for a professional development environment. In particular, it does not have full write access to shared locations such as TEMP or the registry.

Windows Installer Recommendations

If you're new to Python and focused primarily on learning the language rather than building professional software, then you should install from the Microsoft Store package. This offers the shortest and easiest path to getting started with minimal hassle.

On the other hand, if you're an experienced developer looking to develop professional software in a Windows environment, then the official Python.org installer is the right choice. Your installation won't be limited by Microsoft Store policies, and you can control where the executable is installed and even add Python to PATH if necessary.

How to Install From the Microsoft Store

If you're new to Python and looking to get started quickly, then the Microsoft Store package is the best way to get up and running without any fuss. You can install from the Microsoft Store in two steps.

Step 1: Open the Python App Page in the Microsoft Store

Open the Microsoft Store app and search for Python.

You'll likely see multiple versions that you can choose to install:

The Microsoft Store search results for "Python"

Select Python 3.8, or the highest version number you see available in the app, to open the installation page.

Alternatively, you can open PowerShell and type the following command:

If you don't already have a version of Python on your system, then when you press Enter , the Microsoft Store will automatically launch and take you to the latest version of Python in the store.

Step 2: Install the Python App

After you've selected the version to be installed, follow these steps to complete the installation:

  1. Click Get.

  2. Wait for the application to download. When it's finished downloading, the Get button will be replaced with a button that says Install on my devices.

  3. Click Install on my devices and select the devices on which you'd like to complete the installation.

  4. Click Install Now and then OK to start the installation.

  5. If the installation was successful, then you'll see the message "This product is installed" at the top of the Microsoft Store page.

Congratulations! You now have access to Python, including pip and IDLE!

How to Install From the Full Installer

For professional developers who need a full-featured Python development environment, installing from the full installer is the right choice. It offers more customization and control over the installation than installing from the Microsoft Store.

You can install from the full installer in two steps.

Step 1: Download the Full Installer

Follow these steps to download the full installer:

  1. Open a browser window and navigate to the Python.org Downloads page for Windows.

  2. Under the "Python Releases for Windows" heading, click the link for the Latest Python 3 Release - Python 3.x.x. As of this writing, the latest version was Python 3.8.4.

  3. Scroll to the bottom and select either Windows x86-64 executable installer for 64-bit or Windows x86 executable installer for 32-bit.

If you aren't sure whether to select the 32-bit or the 64-bit installer, then you can expand the box below to help you decide.

For Windows, you can choose either the 32-bit or the 64-bit installer. Here's the difference between the two:

  • If your system has a 32-bit processor, then you should choose the 32-bit installer. If you attempt to install the 64-bit version on a 32-bit processor, then you'll get an error at the beginning and the install will fail.

  • On a 64-bit system, either installer will work for most purposes. The 32-bit version will generally use less memory, but the 64-bit version performs better for applications with intensive computation.

If you're unsure which version to pick, go with the 64-bit version.

If you have a 64-bit system and would like to switch from 64-bit Python to 32-bit (or vice versa), then you can just uninstall Python and then reinstall it by downloading the other installer from Python.org.

When the installer is finished downloading, move on to the next step.

Step 2: Run the Installer

Once you've chosen and downloaded an installer, run it by double-clicking on the downloaded file. A dialog box like the one below will appear:

Windows installation dialog

There are four things to notice about this dialog box:

  1. The default install path is in the AppData/ directory of the current Windows user.

  2. The Customize installation button can be used to customize the installation location and which additional features get installed, including pip and IDLE.

  3. The Install launcher for all users (recommended) checkbox is checked default. This means every user on the machine will have access to the py.exe launcher. You can uncheck this box to restrict Python to the current Windows user.

  4. The Add Python 3.8 to PATH checkbox is unchecked by default. There are several reasons that you might not want Python on PATH, so make sure you understand the implications before you check this box.

The full installer gives you total control over the installation process.

Customize the installation to meet your needs using the options available on the dialog box. Then click Install Now. That's all there is to it!

Congratulations—you now have the latest version of Python 3 on your Windows machine!

How to Install Python on macOS

Python 2 comes preinstalled on older versions of macOS. This is no longer the case for current versions of macOS, starting with macOS Catalina.

There are two installation methods on macOS:

  1. The official installer
  2. The Homebrew package manager

In this section, you'll learn how to check which version of Python, if any, is installed on your macOS device. You'll also learn which of the two installation methods you should use.

How to Check Your Python Version on a Mac

To check which Python version you have on your Mac, first open a command-line application, such as Terminal.

With the command line open, type in the following commands:

                                                  # Check the system Python version                  $ python --version                  # Check the Python 2 version                  $ python2 --version                  # Check the Python 3 version                  $ python3 --version

If you have Python on your system, then one or more of these commands should respond with a version number.

For example, if Python 3.6.10 were already set up on your computer, then the python3 command would display that version number:

                                                  $                  python3 --version                  Python 3.6.10
You'll want to get the latest version of Python if any of these conditions is true:
  • None of the above commands returns a version number.
  • The only version you see displayed is in the Python 2.X series.
  • You have a version of Python 3 that isn't the latest available, which was version 3.8.4 as of this writing.

What Your Options Are

There are two ways to install the official Python distribution on macOS:

  1. The official installer: This method involves downloading the official installer from the Python.org website and running it on your machine.

  2. The Homebrew package manager: This method involves downloading and installing the Homebrew package manager if you don't already have it installed, and then typing a command into a terminal application.

Both the official installer and the Homebrew package manager will work, but only the official installer is maintained by the Python Software Foundation.

The distributions installed by the official installer and the Homebrew package manager aren't identical. Installing from Homebrew has some limitations.

Limitations of Installing From Homebrew

The Python distribution for macOS available on Homebrew doesn't include the Tcl/Tk dependency required by the Tkinter module. Tkinter is the standard library module for developing graphical user interfaces in Python and is in fact an interface for the Tk GUI toolkit, which isn't part of Python.

Homebrew doesn't install the Tk GUI toolkit dependency. Instead, it relies on an existing version installed on your system. The system version of Tcl/Tk may be outdated or missing entirely and could prevent you from importing the Tkinter module.

macOS Installer Recommendations

The Homebrew package manager is a popular method for installing Python on macOS because it's easy to manage from the command line and offers commands to upgrade Python without having to go to a website. Because Homebrew is a command-line utility, it can be automated with bash scripts.

However, the Python distribution offered by Homebrew isn't controlled by the Python Software Foundation and could change at any time. The most reliable method on macOS is to use the official installer, especially if you plan on doing Python GUI programming with Tkinter.

How to Install From the Official Installer

Installing Python from the official installer is the most reliable installation method on macOS. It includes all the system dependencies needed for developing applications with Python.

You can install from the official installer in two steps.

Step 1: Download the Official Installer

Follow these steps to download the full installer:

  1. Open a browser window and navigate to the Python.org Downloads page for macOS.

  2. Under the "Python Releases for Mac OS X" heading, click the link for the Latest Python 3 Release - Python 3.x.x. As of this writing, the latest version was Python 3.8.4.

  3. Scroll to the bottom and click macOS 64-bit installer to start the download.

When the installer is finished downloading, move on to the next step.

Step 2: Run the Installer

Run the installer by double-clicking the downloaded file. You should see the following window:

The macOS installation window.

Follow these steps to complete the installation:

  1. Press Continue a few times until you're asked to agree to the software license agreement. Then click Agree.

  2. You'll be shown a window that tells you the install destination and how much space it will take. You most likely don't want to change the default location, so go ahead and click Install to start the installation.

  3. When the installer is finished copying files, click Close to close the installer window.

Congratulations—you now have the latest version of Python 3 on your macOS computer!

How to Install From Homebrew

For users who need to install from the command line, especially those who won't be using Python to develop graphical user interfaces with the Tkinter module, the Homebrew package manager is a good option. You can install from the Homebrew package manager in two steps.

Step 1: Install Homebrew

If you already have Homebrew installed, then you can skip this step. If you don't have Homebrew installed, then use the following procedure to install Homebrew:

  1. Open a browser and navigate to http://brew.sh/.

  2. You should see a command for installing Homebrew near the top of the page under the tile "Install Homebrew." This command will be something like the following:

                                                                        $                        /bin/bash -c                        "                        $(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install.sh)                        "

    Highlight the command with your cursor and press Cmd + C to copy it to your clipboard.

  3. Open a terminal window and paste the command, then press Enter . This will begin the Homebrew installation.

  4. Enter your macOS user password when prompted.

Depending on your Internet connection, it may take a few minutes to download all of Homebrew's required files. Once the installation is complete, you'll end up back at the shell prompt in your terminal window.

Now that Homebrew is installed, you're ready to install Python.

Step 2: Install Python

Follow these steps to complete the installation with Homebrew:

  1. Open a terminal application.

  2. Type in the following command to upgrade Homebrew:

                                                                        $                        brew update                        &&                        brew upgrade

Installing with Homebrew is now as straightforward as running the command brew install python3. This will download and set up the latest version of Python on your machine.

You can make sure everything went correctly by testing if you can access Python from the terminal:

  1. Open a terminal.

  2. Type pip3 and press Enter .

  3. You should see the help text from Python's pip package manager. If you get an error message running pip3, then go through the install steps again to make sure you have a working installation.

Congratulations—you now have Python on your macOS system!

How to Install Python on Linux

There are two installation methods on Linux:

  1. Using your operating system's package manager
  2. Building Python from source code

In this section, you'll learn how to check which version of Python, if any, is on your Linux computer. You'll also learn which of the two installation methods you should use.

How to Check Your Python Version on Linux

Many Linux distributions come packaged with Python, but it probably won't be the latest version and may even be Python 2 instead of Python 3. You should check the version to make sure.

To find out which version of Python you have, open a terminal window and try the following commands:

                                                  # Check the system Python version                  $ python --version                  # Check the Python 2 version                  $ python2 --version                  # Check the Python 3 version                  $ python3 --version

If you have Python on your machine, then one or more of these commands should respond with a version number.

For example, if you already had Python 3.6.10 on your computer, then the python3 --version command would display that version number:

                                                  $                  python3 --version                  Python 3.6.10

You'll want to get the latest version of Python if your current version is in the Python 2.X series or is not the latest version of Python 3 available, which was 3.8.4 as of this writing.

What Your Options Are

There are two ways to install the official Python distribution on Linux:

  1. Install from a package manager: This is the most common installation method on most Linux distributions. It involves running a command from the command line.

  2. Build from source code: This method is more difficult than using a package manager. It involves running a series of commands from the command line as well as making sure you have the correct dependencies installed to compile the Python source code.

Not every Linux distribution has a package manager, and not every package manager has Python in its package repository. Depending on your operating system, building Python from source code might be your only option.

Which installation method you use mainly boils down to whether your Linux OS has a package manager and whether you need to control the details of the installation.

Linux Installation Recommendations

The most popular way to install Python on Linux is with your operating system's package manager, which is a good choice for most users. However, depending on your Linux distribution, Python may not be available through a package manager. In this case, you'll need to build Python from source code.

There are three main reasons that you might choose to build Python from source code:

  1. You can't download Python from your operating system's package manager.

  2. You need to control how Python gets compiled, such as when you want to lower the memory footprint on embedded systems.

  3. You want to try out beta versions and release candidates of the latest and greatest version before it's generally available.

To complete the installation on your Linux machine, find your Linux distribution below and follow the steps provided.

How to Install on Ubuntu and Linux Mint

In this section, you'll learn how to install Python using Ubuntu's apt package manager. If you'd like to build Python from source code, skip ahead to the How to Build Python From Source Code section.

Depending on the version of the Ubuntu distribution you run, the process for setting up Python on your system will vary. You can determine your local Ubuntu version by running the following command:

                                                  $                  lsb_release -a                  No LSB modules are available.                  Distributor ID: Ubuntu                  Description:    Ubuntu 16.04.4 LTS                  Release:        16.04                  Codename:       xenial

Follow the instructions below that match the version number you see under Release in the console output:

  • Ubuntu 18.04, Ubuntu 20.04 and above: Python 3.8 doesn't come by default on Ubuntu 18.04 and above, but it is available in the Universe repository. To install version 3.8, open a terminal application and type the following commands:

                                                                  $                      sudo apt-get update                      $                      sudo apt-get install python3.8 python3-pip

    Once the installation is complete, you can run Python 3.8 with the python3.8 command and pip with the pip3 command.

  • Linux Mint and Ubuntu 17 and below: Python 3.8 isn't in the Universe repository, so you need to get it from a Personal Package Archive (PPA). For example, to install from the "deadsnakes" PPA, use the following commands:

                                                                  $                      sudo add-apt-repository ppa:deadsnakes/ppa                      $                      sudo apt-get update                      $                      sudo apt-get install python3.8 python3-pip

    Once the installation is complete, you can run Python 3.8 with the python3.8 command and run pip with the pip3 command.

Congratulations! You now have Python 3 set up on your machine!

How to Install on Debian Linux

Before you can install Python 3.8 on Debian, you'll need to install the sudo command. To install it, execute the following commands in a terminal:

                                                  $                  su                  $                  apt-get install sudo                  $                  sudo vim /etc/sudoers

After that, open the /etc/sudoers file using the sudo vim command or your favorite text editor. Add the following line of text to the end of the file, replacing your_username with your actual username:

                                your_username ALL=(ALL) ALL

Now you can skip ahead to the How to Build Python From Source Code section to finish installing Python.

How to Install on openSUSE

Building from source is the most reliable way to set up Python on openSUSE. To do that, you'll need to install the development tools, which can be done in YaST via the menus or by using zypper:

                                                  $                  sudu zypper install -t pattern devel_C_C

This might take a while to complete as it installs over 150 packages. Once it's completed, skip ahead to the How to Build Python From Source Code section.

How to Install on CentOS and Fedora

Python 3.8 isn't available in the CentOS and Fedora repositories, so you'll have to build Python from source code. Before you compile Python, though, you need to make sure your system is prepared.

First, update the yum package manager:

Once yum finishes updating, you can install the necessary build dependencies with the following commands:

                                                  $                  sudo yum -y groupinstall                  "Development Tools"                  $                  sudo yum -y install gcc openssl-devel bzip2-devel libffi-devel

When everything is finished installing, skip ahead to the How to Build Python From Source Code section.

How to Install on Arch Linux

Arch Linux is fairly diligent about keeping up with Python releases. It's likely you already have the latest version. If not, use the following command to update Python:

When Python is finished updating, you should be all set!

How to Build Python From Source Code

Sometimes your Linux distribution doesn't have the latest version of Python, or maybe you just want to be able to build the latest, greatest version yourself. Here are the steps you need to take to build Python from source:

Step 1: Download the Source Code

To start, you need to get the Python source code. Python.org makes this fairly straightforward. If you go to the Downloads page, then you'll see the latest source for Python 3 at the top. Just make sure you don't grab Legacy Python, Python 2!

When you select the Python 3 version, you'll see a "Files" section at the bottom of the page. Select Gzipped source tarball and download it to your machine. If you prefer a command-line method, you can use wget to download the file to your current directory:

                                                        $                    wget https://www.python.org/ftp/python/3.8.4/Python-3.8.4.tgz

When the tarball finishes downloading, there are a few things you'll need to do to prepare your system for building Python.

Step 2: Prepare Your System

There are a few distro-specific steps involved in building Python from scratch. The goal of each step is the same on all distros, but you might need to translate to your distribution if it doesn't use apt-get:

  1. First, update your package manager and upgrade your packages:

                                                                        $                        sudo apt-get update                        $                        sudo apt-get upgrade

  2. Next, make sure you have all of the build requirements installed:

                                                                        # For apt-based systems (like Debian, Ubuntu, and Mint)                        $ sudo apt-get install -y make build-essential libssl-dev zlib1g-dev                        \                        libbz2-dev libreadline-dev libsqlite3-dev wget curl llvm                        \                        libncurses5-dev libncursesw5-dev xz-utils tk-dev                        # For yum-based systems (like CentOS)                        $ sudo yum -y groupinstall                        "Development Tools"                        $ sudo yum -y install gcc openssl-devel bzip2-devel libffi-devel

    It's fine if you already have some of the requirements installed on your system. You can execute the above commands and any existing packages will not be overwritten.

Now that your system is ready to go, it's time to start building Python!

Step 3: Build Python

  1. Once you have the prerequisites and the TAR file, you can unpack the source into a directory. Note that the following command will create a new directory called Python-3.8.3 under the one you're in:

                                                                        $                        tar xvf Python-3.8.4.tgz                        $                                                cd                        Python-3.8.4

  2. Now you need to run the ./configure tool to prepare the build:

                                                                        $                        ./configure --enable-optimizations --with-ensurepip=install

    The enable-optimizations flag will enable some optimizations within Python to make it run about 10 percent faster. Doing this may add twenty or thirty minutes to the compilation time. The with-ensurepip=install flag will install pip bundled with this installation.

  3. Next, you build Python using make. The -j option simply tells make to split the building into parallel steps to speed up the compilation. Even with the parallel builds, this step can take several minutes:

  4. Finally, you'll want to install your new version of Python. You'll use the altinstall target here to avoid overwriting the system Python. Since you're installing into /usr/bin, you'll need to run as root:

It might take a while to finish installation. Once it's done, you can verify that Python is set up correctly.

Step 4: Verify Your Installation

Test that the python3.8 --version command returns the latest version:

                                                        $                    python3.8 --version                    Python 3.8.4

If you see Python 3.8.4, then you're all set!

If you have some extra time on your hands, you can also run the test suite to make sure everything is working properly on your system.

To run the test suite, type the following command:

You'll probably want to find something else to do for a while, as your computer will be running tests for some time. If all the tests pass, then you can be confident that your brand-new Python build is working as expected!

How to Install Python on iOS

The Pythonista app for iOS is a full-fledged Python development environment that you can run on your iPhone or iPad. It features a Python editor, technical documentation, and an interpreter all rolled into a single app.

Pythonista is surprisingly fun to use. It's a great little tool when you're stuck without a laptop and want to work on your Python skills on the go. It comes with the complete Python 3 standard library and even includes full documentation that you can browse offline.

To set up Pythonista, you need to download it from the iOS app store.

How to Install Python on Android

If you have an Android tablet or phone and want to practice Python on the go, there are several options available. The one that we found most reliably supports Python 3.8 is Pydroid 3.

Pydroid 3 features an interpreter that you can use for REPL sessions, and it also allows you to edit, save, and execute Python code.

You can download and install Pydroid 3 from the Google Play store. There is a free version and also a paid Premium version that supports code prediction and code analysis.

Online Python Interpreters

If you want to try out the examples in this tutorial without setting up Python on your machine, then there are several websites that offer an online Python interpreter:

  • Python.org Online Console
  • Repl.it
  • Python Fiddle
  • Trinket
  • Python Anywhere

These cloud-based Python interpreters may not be able to execute some of the more complex examples in this tutorial, but they're adequate for running most of the code and may be a nice way to get started. More information on using these sites is presented in the next tutorial in this series.

Conclusion

Congratulations! You now have access to the latest version of Python for your system. Your Python journey is just beginning.

In this tutorial you've learned how to:

  • Check which version of Python, if any, is installed on your system
  • Install the latest version of Python on Windows, macOS, and Linux
  • Use Python on mobile devices like phones or tablets
  • Use Python on the Web with online interpreters

You're now ready to get started programming in Python! Be sure to share your progress and any questions you may have in the comments below.

Watch Now This tutorial has a related video course created by the Real Python team. Watch it together with the written tutorial to deepen your understanding: Python Basics: Setting Up Python