Borislav Hadzhiev
Wed Apr 20 2022ยท4 min read
Photo by Raychan
The Python "ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'boto3'" occurs when we
forget to install the boto3
module before importing it or install it in an
incorrect environment. To solve the error, install the module by running the
pip install boto3
command.
Open your terminal in your project's root directory and install the boto3
module.
# ๐๏ธ in a virtual environment or using Python 2 pip install boto3 # ๐๏ธ for python 3 (could also be pip3.10 depending on your version) pip3 install boto3 # ๐๏ธ if you get permissions error sudo pip3 install boto3 # ๐๏ธ if you don't have pip in your PATH environment variable python -m pip install boto3 # ๐๏ธ for python 3 (could also be pip3.10 depending on your version) python3 -m pip install boto3 # ๐๏ธ for Anaconda conda install -c conda-forge boto3
After you install the boto3 package, try importing it like:
import boto3 print(boto3.__version__)
The Python error "ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'boto3'" occurs for multiple reasons:
boto3
package installed by running pip install boto3
.boto3.py
which would shadow the official module.boto3
which would shadow the imported variable.If the error persists, get your Python version and make sure you are installing the package using the correct Python version.
python --version
For example, my Python version is 3.10.4
, so I would install the boto3 package
with pip3.10 install boto3
.
pip3.10 install boto3 # ๐๏ธ if you get permissions error use pip3 (NOT pip3.X) sudo pip3 install boto3
Notice that the version number corresponds to the version of pip
I'm using.
If the PATH for pip
is not set up on your machine, replace pip
with
python3 -m pip
:
# ๐๏ธ make sure to use your version of Python, e.g. 3.10 python3 -m pip install boto3
If the "No module named 'boto3'" error persists, try restarting your IDE and development server / script.
You can check if you have the boto3
package installed by running the
pip show boto3
command.
# ๐๏ธ check if you have boto3 installed pip3 show boto3 # ๐๏ธ if you don't have pip setup in PATH python3 -m pip show boto3
The pip show boto3
command will either state that the package is not installed
or show a bunch of information about the package, including the location where
the package is installed.
If the package is not installed, make sure your IDE is using the correct version of Python.
boto3
package using the incorrect version or your IDE might be setup to use a different version.For example, In VSCode, you can press CTRL + Shift + P
or (โ
+ Shift
+ P
on Mac) to open the command palette.
Then type "Python select interpreter" in the field.
Then select the correct python version from the drop down menu.
If you are using a virtual environment, make sure you are installing boto3
in
your virtual environment and not globally.
You can try creating a virtual environment if you don't already have one.
# ๐๏ธ use correct version of Python when creating VENV python3 -m venv venv # ๐๏ธ activate on Unix or MacOS source venv/bin/activate # ๐๏ธ activate on Windows (cmd.exe) venv\Scripts\activate.bat # ๐๏ธ activate on Windows (PowerShell) venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1 # ๐๏ธ install boto3 in virtual environment pip install boto3
Your virtual environment will use the version of Python that was used to create it.
boto3.py
because that would shadow the original boto3
module.You also shouldn't be declaring a variable named boto3
as that would also
shadow the original module.
If the error is not resolved, try to uninstall the boto3
package and then
install it.
# ๐๏ธ check if you have boto3 installed pip3 show boto3 # ๐๏ธ if you don't have pip setup in PATH python3 -m pip show boto3 # ๐๏ธ uninstall boto3 pip3 uninstall boto3 # ๐๏ธ if you don't have pip setup in PATH python3 -m pip uninstall boto3 # ๐๏ธ install boto3 pip3 install boto3 # ๐๏ธ if you don't have pip setup in PATH python3 -m pip install boto3
Try restarting your IDE and development server / script.
You can also try to upgrade the version of the boto3 package.
pip3 install boto3 --upgrade # ๐๏ธ if you don't have pip setup in PATH python3 -m pip install boto3 --upgrade
This one is for using using virtual environments (VENV) on Windows
:
This one is for using using virtual environments (VENV) on MacOS
and Linux
: