How to Install and Properly Set Up Python 3 - macOS Catalina or Big Sur

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

Python 3.9 is now the latest version that is offered by Homebrew, so note that the path, in which the symbolic links are installed, is: /usr/local/opt/python@3.9/libexec/bin, which has the Python version, unlike the path that is shown in the video. So you will need to use this path: /usr/local/opt/python@3.9/libexec/bin instead, and therefore, the export command would be: export PATH="/usr/local/opt/python@3.9/libexec/bin:$PATH"

[@jesuskristus18]

Thanks again for the help. But I am getting a ton of tracebacks and exceptions when running pip --version. However I can run pip3 --version so it seems just running pip breaks it and isn't linked to python 3. Can you please guide me?

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

Hi @Alexander Berg, yeah something is not right. I am replying to your other comment to try to help you figure out what went wrong.

[@ilatatke4706]

After doing this, the default version that I see is still 2.7.16. Where am I going wrong?

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

@@ilatatke4706 It is most likely a typo in the export command that you added to your .zshrc file. Can you run cat ~/.zshrc in terminal and paste what gets printed here?

[@ilatatke4706]

@@TheDataScienceMentor export PATH="usr/local/opt/python@3.9/libexec/bin:$PATH"

[@madeleinezahn2870]

I spent 5 HOURS scouring the internet trying to figure out how to make Python 3 the default in the terminal on my Mac and eventually just gave up. However, after following along with your video, I was finally able to get Python 3.9 as the default!! I look forward to watching the rest of the vids on your channel :)

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

Thanks Madeleine! I am glad you got it to work.

[@TheZibbor]

Thank you, I was so lost! As a beginner, these things are not intuitive at all and the books for learning python assume some level of expertise when many of us noobs have a deficit. Thank you, thank you for this step-by-step explanation!

[@joymirembe2362]

SAMEEE!!!

[@adama-k2710]

I've spent probably over 24 hours trying to figure this out I started using Python about 8 years ago Still doesn't work for me

[@yashwantraut]

thanks a ton, i search many web pages to get a solution but not a single one work you explain each and every step in detail

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

You are welcome, yashwant! I really appreciate it.

[@wasiqsaeed7514]

Must say the most reliable and professional way of fixing that, been looking for a video like this for ages. Thank you

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

You are welcome, Wasiq! I really appreciate the positive feedback.

[@martinevtimov5797]

I have read so many articles and stockoverflow comments on how to do it for some reason only your video helped me thank you!

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

Thanks Martin! I am glad to hear that this video helped you. Cheers!

[@piyushramnani1014]

I was lost and confused when I started searching for the solution on git and StackOverflow. Then I found your video. Thanks, man.

[@Appsorwebs]

Thanks so much, this video just saved me from day 2 of struggle to create a path for python3 on my mac!

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

Thanks @Apps OrWebs! I am glad you found the video helpful.

[@RockxSolidxSam]

Literally spent 3 hours the other day trying to get python 3 to work this video is amazing thankyou

Thank you for this tutorial. I'm new with Mac and I didn't know how to do this. Really straightforward video and easy to understand

[@monaabdallah3513]

I LITERALLY COULD KISS YOU RIGHT NOW!!!! I have been figuring this shit out for A DAY and you are a literal LIFE. SAVER. Thank you thank you thank youuuuuuuu!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@ForgedDimensions]

Thank you so so so much, every single time im coding in python I would get extremely discouraged because packages would not download correctly but with your help it finally works!!! I have Python downloaded correctly for the first time. Thank you so much!!!

[@Pizza-PizzaP]

Thank you so much for this video. So much easier to follow than any article or tutorial I've tried

[@OceaniaFlight815]

Excellent video, thank you. Best of the many I searched through trying to accomplish this. I really appreciate you mentioning that the "rc" at the end of .zshrc means run config and showing the cat command to verify the file contents. As a second-year student who knows a ton of Linux commands and filesystem types but very little experience actually working within these files, examples and connections like those really help.

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

Thanks Chrisco9! I am glad you found the video helpful and I really appreciate your positive feedback.

[@mariamavagyan6778]

the best video I found after hours of searching! Thank you!!!!

[@deniskomarov189]

This worked for me! I'm on OS X Catalina. Perhaps the most challenging part was switching the default shell from Bash to Zsh. It finally worked after checking these three (3) things: 1. run cmd in Terminal (chsh -s /bin/zsh) 2. System Preferences (users, right-click Adv settings, shell dropdown) 3. Terminal Preferences (general, default shell)
 see this forum for more help: superuser.com/questions/1503484/switching-to-zsh-in-macos-catalina-not-working

[@mayfairknights426]

Thank you so much! Finally managed to get the default to python 3 hopefully pip will work now once I reboot my machine

[@ayshamaqsood6991]

Clear explanation and helpful. Python is finally working on my Mac! Much appreciated 👍🏻

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

Thanks Aysha! I am glad to hear that.

[@wanderborn.]

For the M1 Macs there are few more steps to be done in terminal: Run the commands in that order in terminal, you'll be editing the path and creating the missing .zshrc file, exporting the path to this new file. cd /opt/homebrew/bin/ PATH=$PATH:/opt/homebrew/bin cd touch .zshrc echo export PATH=$PATH:/opt/homebrew/bin >> .zshrc

[@shibhuk8018]

Thank you so much. I am just stating to learn programming don’t know anything. I was trying to find a solution to run Python through Atom but it kept showing Path error. Searched everywhere nothing worked. Followed all your steps along with the new path in the comments finally it worked. THANK YOU

[@juliadelorenzo8743]

you are truly a hero thank so much no other videos helped

[@derrickdouglass]

Thanks. Helped me get me Octoprint up and running.

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

You are welcome, Derrick! I am glad it was of help to you.

[@vidumini23]

Woow.. glad to find out this channel. Thank you sir you helped to solve the issue too.. Thank you again for the great content.

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

Thanks Vidumini! I am really glad you found the video helpful.

[@chris_burrows]

Good video, you bring great honor to your family.

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

Thanks for the thoughtful comment!

[@izzuddinsuib431]

Hi can I know why at 8:28, I cannot have the brew install python working? it says that command not found: brew

[@tbalc4529]

I am getting error, zsh: command not found. I can no longer run python with homebrew. Please advise.

[@saleemahmed8364]

Thanks for this video. right to the point, crystal clear explanation. I spent a long time on the internet before i found this

[@didiermeral7620]

Merci 1000 fois mon ami ! j'ai recommencé car j'avais surement oublié quelque chose, mais quelle joie, à la fin ! great tutorial, indeed: you have a gift, every word in your mooth sounds clearly

[@tonykeybenet5552]

This Teacher is amazing, very well explained in details, it works finw!

[@RemindMeToBuiild]

Just a HUGE thanks for this!

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

You are welcome, Ryan!

[@krsnabantai]

Literally, you saved me! Thank you so much.

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

You are welcome. I am glad you found the video helpful!

[@louisgirardin2030]

Thx Data Science Mentor ! This is exactly what I was looking for ! This means you have one more follower :-)

[@alexaklson1546]

Thanks Louis! I am pleased to have you on board!

[@louisgirardin2030]

Alex Aklson FYI Just updated from 3.8 to 3.9.2 :-) . I realized that .zsrch requires another update since the path is changing form /python to /python@3.9 :-) Works like a charm!

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

@@louisgirardin2030 ​For sure. When I created the video, it was version 3.7 that was the latest. Unfortunately, I am not able to add any annotations to my video to let viewers know of the change in the path for Python 3.9. That is why I added the updated path to a comment that I pinned on this video. Thanks Louis!

[@DoubleADubstep]

Hi! I have a newbie question. I actually downloaded & installed Python3 via the Python website before watching this video. If I were to go through all the steps in this video - will that affect anything? If so, what can I do to remove the Python3 I've already installed? Thank you!

[@ShemOpolot]

Hi! Just got a new Macbook Pro M1 13" and it comes with Monterey 12.1. This process was working find but I can't seem to get it to use python3 by default. Please help?

[@ingable258]

Thank you so much! You just made my day! Got the right way to install the useable python 3.0+ on my mac through this video and could start learning python from scratches :D

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

You are welcome, @Ingable!

[@ssgop3776]

Thanks a lot and pls continue doing more excellent videos like this ...

[@MarisolsAdventures]

Another question please. After I install python the folder that it installs it to is /usr/local/opt/python@3.8/libexec/bin and this is slightly different than your screen. Yours has python instead of python3.8. I imagine I copy my link when I do the vim Command instead of making it look like yours ? Thank youuu

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

Hi @Mari D, yes absolutely, copy your path. It is interesting that Homebrew is starting to add the Python version to the path in which the symlinks are installed.

[@emersonjjsouza]

Thanks, This tutorial works perfect. Keep going this wonderful videos.

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

You are welcome! Thanks Emerson for the positive feedback.

[@supermarcio_]

Thanks for this video! The .profile steps nearly had me giving up

[@alexsalikovnz7530]

Thank you for the tutorial! It helped a lot. Looking forward to explore on your channel😊!

[@TheMarketUnion]

How do you find the directory that has the link to python 3

[@fatimaelmansouri9338]

Excellent video thank you for your effort

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

Thanks Fatima!

[@ngonidzashemwanjira208]

Why do I keep getting a syntax error even though I literally just copied and pasted things into my terminal

[@ashishaggarwal1842]

Thanks! Worked for me on big sur

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

You are welcome, Ashish! Glad to hear that.

[@olaayorinde3544]

I keep receiving the error 'command not found: brew', is this an indication that my install of homebrew went wrong?

[@andreasolis4054]

Very detailed, thank you! I can learn Python now!!

[@Heriterrific]

Hi there! I've installed python but without transiting to zsh beforehand. When I run 'python --version' I still get 2.7. While waiting for your answer, I've already switched to zsh but when I run the command 'ls -a' I can still see '.bash' what can I do? thanks

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

With macOS Catalina, you need to switch to zsh. It is okay to still have a bash file in your home folder, but did you add the export command updating your path to the bash file as well? If so, this is the reason why you still get the 2.7 version. Add the export command to your zsh file and you should get the Python 3 version when running Python.

[@bharathnawari2317]

I am getting error, zsh: command not found. I can no longer run python with homebrew. Please help.

[@LoadToCapacity]

When I download home brew it says successful but it doesn’t create any new directories as shown in the video. Is this a problem?

[@tejsharma1678]

Hi, I went through it but i got the error that- /usr/local/Cellar/gdbm/./1.22/bin/gdbm_dump: No such file or directory. When I went there is no such directory after gdbm. Please help me to download python and create my own environment.

[@fredperkins6293]

Cannot install Home-brew or latest version of Xcode My MacBook OS is up to date with version 10.15.7, but the Apple Store says Xcode download requires version 11.3 or later. ???? I tried to install Home-brew over an earlier version of Xcode that is installed. No luck after many tries and many suggested fixes.

[@luischuquillanquicamarena2903]

Excellent video, thank you so much.

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

You are welcome! Thanks Luis.

[@johnobadare2916]

thank you so much 😊

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

You are welcome!

[@klcara99]

I followed this exactly but when I quit terminal and restart, python is still coming up at the 2.7 version

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

Hi @klcara99, this most likely means that the path wasn't set correctly in the .zshrc file. Can you paste what you added to the .zshrc file here?

[@zhongnansu8516]

@@TheDataScienceMentor i got the same error, my text in.zshrc is "export PATH="/usr/local/opt/python@3.8/libexec/bin:$PATH". can you help me out

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

@@zhongnansu8516 Of course. Make sure that the .zshrc file is in your home directory. Also, in your .zshrc file, you don't have the double quotes before the export command, do you?

[@nathansu9454]

@@TheDataScienceMentor thank you for your reply, fix it :)

[@bicboi9006]

When I type in brew install python, it says “No similarly named formulae…” as an error

[@micro_Dots]

thank you so much. your video helped me so much to properly install everything.

[@aryanchitrakar2651]

when I try to use brew install python, it says- zsh: command not found: brew. please help me to solve this. thanks

[@HeroesOfAesthetics]

this saved me, thank you so much, just what I needed!!!!

[@ZhuTheGirl]

when changing shell, the following shows up: "Changing shell for xx. chsh: Credentials could not be verified, username or password is invalid. Credentials could not be verified, username or password is invalid." and python -- version give: "Traceback (most recent call last): NameError: name 'python' is not defined" not sure what is this?

[@erickpineda2803]

Thank you so much. You made it simple.

[@frenchmike]

how to change the default version my my Mac? I had pyenv and uninstall it but now even though I installed version 3.9.1, my terminal only shows 3.8.. I don't know how to fix this or even how to see all available versions. I know it's not exactly related to the video but any help would be appreciated, thanks

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

Hi French Mike, yeah this video is about installing the latest version of Python only. If you wish to install older versions and manage multiple versions at the same time, I show how to do that using pyenv in this video: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p4mph6OerrmWmK8 Let me know if you have any other questions.

[@kakaz7561]

am i the only one after type python 3 its appear python 3.8.2 (default , June 8 2020) ? why the machine not ask me to install on xcode ? Please help me

[@sagnikmitra6584]

there is some issue with installing the homebrew. Can you help?

[@ashwinnair1035]

which version should i use in the latest version some libraries are giving problem so shall i use 3.7 version of python as the version dosent cosist of much updates

[@Liberty_Freedom_Brotherhood]

I'm so lost lol. I typed "python" and got "WARNING: Python 2.7 is not recommended. This version is included in macOS for compatibility with legacy software. Future versions of macOS will not include Python 2.7. Instead, it is recommended that you transition to using 'python3' from within Terminal." but when I type it again it just returns "Traceback (most recent call last): File "", line 1, in NameError: name 'python' is not defined"

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

Did you get the warning message after you installed Python 3? As for the error, my guess is you had a space before python. Try running it again without any spaces and you should get the same warning message.

[@MarisolsAdventures]

What if I already installed command line developers tool? Can I still continue with your video and install Xcode ? Thank you!!

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

For sure. Also, if you don't think you will be doing a lot of development, you can skip installing Xcode and skip to installing Homebrew at 7:10.

[@MarisolsAdventures]

Tks

[@tia5055]

Can this create a problem in interactive python notebook in jupyter lab? My script.py in jupyter lab when run has no problem. But same code in ipynb in the jupyter lab seems not to recognize numpy installed via pip. Python and Pip has been modified shown in this video.

[@buczyslawek]

Thanks a lot. Really appreciate your work.

[@emreokten]

Hi there, thank you for all the detailed explanations. My question is if I install all the tools and python just like in the video (my version is Catalina) when a new version of MacOS is released (which is probably a couple of weeks later) what happens to all this installation. Will I be able to continue running it?

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

Absolutely! Updating to a new version of Catalina shouldn't impact your Python installation and setup.

[@gav240z]

Thank you, I am on 3.9 and everything works with PIP. Perfect.

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

You are welcome! Thanks @gav240z.

[@namangupta1249]

I have installed the python from its official site, how should I make now this as default python?

[@MrDombev]

Ok my mistake I solved the problem at the end I have to delete .zshrc and .zprofile(They were corrupted) After restarted from scratch et Tout va bien. Thanks so much for your fantastic tutorial

[@annadudareva3152]

Hello! I've got an issue while trying to install python3 in Terminal(I am new in python and even in MacBook): name 'python' is not defined. What should I do??

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

Hi Anna, welcome to Python and Mac :) When do you get this error? What are you running? When you start terminal, and run python, what do you get?

[@evasvete6209]

Hi. Sorry for this silly question, but where did you get the small symbol next to D (i believe it is called the caret sign). Thanks :)

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

Not silly at all. Do you mean tilde (~)? On a standard Mac keyboard, you should see it on the key to the left of the number 1 key. So press Shift + this key to type tilde.

[@evasvete6209]

Thank you so much. Have a great day.

[@somyabhupal6833]

hi, i didn't understand the shell thing after 9:00. Can you please help, i'm using M1 macbook air

[@GiggleNuggetsZone]

First video I watch after I format my mac.

[@FPChris]

How can I play an MP4 (with audio) on Catalina with Pyglet? It works fine on Windows 10 but I can't make it work on Catalina.

[@pitruckingllc3916]

wow, what can I say Thanks SUPPER! Just subscribed.

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

Thanks Pi Trucking LLC!

[@sudeshkumar5640]

I have done the above properly and everything is functional. Thanks a ton, sir!! One small thing is now how I can use python2 on my system ?

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

Hi Sudesh, the point is not to use Python 2 anymore. Why would you want to run Python 2? But anyway, it really depends on what you mean by "use". Do you mean running Python scripts?

[@DG-ju2wf]

Very helpful, save me hours, Very much appreciated.

[@fooocs]

When I try to install the dev tools from xcode it gives me the following error message : Installation of the software is not possible, because the software isn’t available on the software updateserver at the moment. Does anyone know and can/is willing to help me out? I'd be grateful.

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

Hi yumi, are you referring to the command line tools? Do you get this error when running "xcode-select --install"?

[@fooocs]

@@TheDataScienceMentor Yes sir, I do

[@alexaklson1546]

@@fooocs lnteresting, but you were able to install xcode, right?

[@fooocs]

@@alexaklson1546 Yes! I did install xcode on my mac, and I opened it once just like the video shows. My mac and xcode are up to date, so I don’t know what the problem is to be fair :/

[@thomasyoung9161]

Hi, when you are connecting to Xcode will this default the Terminal to running through this IDE? Can other IDE be used instead such as VS Code?

[@brandonrose7031]

Exactly what I needed thanks!

[@abhisheks2116]

Hey, Actually i installed vs code in my mac M1 and if i try to get an input as a string like: a = input("enter string inp") print(a) This shows the following error: Traceback (most recent call last): File "/Users/Desktop/python project /proj.py", line 1, in a = input("enter string inp") File "", line 1, in NameError: name 'newinp' is not defined I"m not sure if it has something to do with my default version as 2.7.16, even though in vs code it is showing 3.10.0. please help me out.

[@zorroboricua]

Why do you installed XCode for? You don't need it to run Python.

[@smithadavanam7355]

Thanka a lot my newly found virtual DS Mentor Sir

[@burcakotlu7858]

Why did you change your shell to z shell? Is it a must? What would happen if it was bash shell?

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

Hi Burçak, I am not sure if it is a must but if not, then it is highly recommended. In macOS Catalina, Apple moved from Bash to Z Shell, so the whole operating system is developed based on Z Shell being the default shell. I am not sure if it would cause an issues, so it is better and perhaps safer to switch. If you don't wish to switch and you are following my video, then every time I use .zshrc, you need to use .bash_profile.

[@burcakotlu7858]

@@TheDataScienceMentor Thanks a lot for the great content.

[@nakitadffs]

Thank you so much! This video really helped me!

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

You are welcome @nakitadffs! Glad to hear that.

[@shanlu8596]

This is super helpful thank you so much

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

You are welcome, Tan Cai!

[@epicwisdomhub]

Thank you!

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

You are welcome, Amraddin!

[@triop2010]

Hi i download python3 prior to watching the video so how do I find my path eg 'user/local/opt..' ? thank you

[@NoiSeCommander]

Thanks!! Updated python 3.9 and it works perfectly. I am a total beginner but will I be able to run everything via Xcode?

[@kevinlease2990]

this was helpful for me, thanks

[@computationalbadass]

it didn't work for me because i hadn't even installed python 3 from the python website 👀

[@AlejandroMartinez-tc9ob]

Very good video ! Thank you for explaining it so much detail. Now for some reason I still get python2. I am watching this video because I was using conda and pip at the same time and I was having to many bugs. Decided to uninstall conda. When I put in the terminal "where python3" I get these two folders /usr/local/bin/python3 /usr/bin/python3. currently

[@AlejandroMartinez-tc9ob]

These were not the folders were my brew install python went to. Those folders are currently in this path "export PATH="/usr/local/lib/python3.8/site-packages:$PATH" located in the .zshrc as you suggested. Can you please give me advice on what to do?

[@AlejandroMartinez-tc9ob]

I would truly appreciate your help. Keep up the great videos!

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

Thanks@@AlejandroMartinez-tc9ob! If you still get Python 2, this means your PATH wasn't configured properly to invoke Python 3. I think you used the wrong path in your export command. It should be the one with the symbolic links, which is "/usr/local/opt/python/libexec/bin". You can find it at 8:31. I am afraid you confused the two. So use "export PATH="/usr/local/opt/python/libexec/bin:$PATH" instead and this should do it.

[@AlejandroMartinez-tc9ob]

It worked! Thank you. Please keep posting more videos and tips!!!

[@bhanuchander6787]

Thanks, For the tutorial. I have followed the steps and tried to install latest version of python on my mac. But when I closed the terminal and tried to enter python I get this error [ zsh: command not found: python] [/Users/bond1028/.zshrc:export:1: not valid in this context: /usr/local/opt/python@3.9/libexec/bin:/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin:/Library/Apple/usr/bin] I don where did I made mistake. could you please help me?

[@fabianhaglund5792]

Useful! Thanks.

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

Thanks Fabian! I am glad you found it useful.

[@claudinemaeleysa1259]

Cool! Thank you so much! Great help :)

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

You are welcome, Claudine! I am glad that you found the video helpful!

[@salihbalci19]

thank you so much... really really helpful video..

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

You are welcome. I am glad you found it helpful!

[@ndk87]

ABSOLUTE LIFESAVER!!

[@TheDataScienceMentor]

Thanks @ndk87!

[@eseliot98]

Thank you very much Sir this is very helpful