Last updated: Feb 1, 2023
Reading timeยท11 min
The Python "ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'colorama'" occurs when we
forget to install the colorama
module before importing it or install it in an
incorrect environment.
To solve the error, install the module by running the pip install colorama
command.
Open your terminal in your project's root directory and install the colorama
module.
# ๐๏ธ in a virtual environment or using Python 2 pip install colorama # ๐๏ธ for python 3 (could also be pip3.10 depending on your version) pip3 install colorama # ๐๏ธ if you get permissions error sudo pip3 install colorama pip install colorama --user # ๐๏ธ if you don't have pip in your PATH environment variable python -m pip install colorama # ๐๏ธ for python 3 (could also be pip3.10 depending on your version) python3 -m pip install colorama # ๐๏ธ using py alias (Windows) py -m pip install colorama # ๐๏ธ for Anaconda conda install -c anaconda colorama # ๐๏ธ for Jupyter Notebook !pip install colorama
After you install the colorama package, try importing it as follows.
from colorama import Fore, Back, Style print(Fore.RED + 'some red text') print(Back.GREEN + 'and with a green background') print(Style.DIM + 'and in dim text') print(Style.RESET_ALL) print('back to normal now')
The error occurs for multiple reasons:
colorama
package installed by running
pip install colorama
.colorama.py
which would shadow the official module.colorama
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 colorama
package with pip3.10 install colorama
.
pip3.10 install colorama # ๐๏ธ if you get permissions error use pip3 (NOT pip3.X) sudo pip3 install colorama
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 colorama
If the "No module named 'colorama'" error persists, try restarting your IDE and development server/script.
You can
check if you have the colorama
package installed
by running the pip show colorama
command.
# ๐๏ธ check if you have colorama installed pip show colorama # ๐๏ธ if you don't have pip set up in PATH python -m pip show colorama
The pip show colorama
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.
colorama
package using the incorrect version or your IDE might be set up 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 dropdown menu.
If you are using a virtual environment, make sure you are installing colorama
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 colorama in virtual environment pip install colorama
If the python3 -m venv venv
command doesn't work, try the following 2
commands:
python -m venv venv
py -m venv venv
Your virtual environment will use the version of Python that was used to create it.
colorama.py
because that would shadow the original colorama
module.You also shouldn't be declaring a variable named colorama
as that would also
shadow the original module.
If the error is not resolved, try to uninstall the colorama
package and then
reinstall it.
# ๐๏ธ check if you have colorama installed pip show colorama # ๐๏ธ if you don't have pip set up in PATH python -m pip show colorama # ๐๏ธ uninstall colorama pip uninstall colorama # ๐๏ธ if you don't have pip set up in PATH python -m pip uninstall colorama # ๐๏ธ install colorama pip install colorama # ๐๏ธ if you don't have pip set up in PATH python -m pip install colorama
Try restarting your IDE and development server/script.
You can also try to upgrade the version of the colorama package.
pip install colorama --upgrade # ๐๏ธ if you don't have pip set up in PATH python -m pip install colorama --upgrade
colorama
.To install the colorama
module on Windows:
pip install colorama
and press Enter.pip install colorama # ๐๏ธ for Python 3 pip3 install colorama # ๐๏ธ if you don't have pip in your PATH environment variable python -m pip install colorama # ๐๏ธ for Python 3 python3 -m pip install colorama # ๐๏ธ using py alias py -m pip install colorama # ๐๏ธ if you get permissions error pip install colorama --user # ๐๏ธ for Anaconda conda install -c anaconda colorama
After you install the colorama package, try importing it as follows.
from colorama import Fore, Back, Style print(Fore.RED + 'some red text') print(Back.GREEN + 'and with a green background') print(Style.DIM + 'and in dim text') print(Style.RESET_ALL) print('back to normal now')
If the installation command doesn't succeed, try running CMD as an administrator.
If you get the error
'pip' is not recognized as an internal or external command,
use the python -m
command when installing colorama
.
python -m pip install colorama python3 -m pip install colorama py -m pip install colorama
Alternatively, you can install the colorama
module in a virtual environment:
Shift
and right-click in Explorer.# ๐๏ธ might also be: "python3 -m venv venv" python -m venv venv # ๐๏ธ activate on Windows (PowerShell) venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1 # ๐๏ธ activate on Windows (cmd.exe) venv\Scripts\activate.bat # ๐๏ธ install colorama in virtual environment pip install colorama
If the python -m venv venv
command doesn't work, try the following 2 commands:
python3 -m venv venv
py -m venv venv
.If you see an error message that ps1 cannot be loaded because running scripts is disabled on this system, run the following command, type "yes" when prompted and rerun the activation command.
Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned -Scope CurrentUser
colorama
module is installed by using the pip show colorama
command.pip show colorama pip3 show colorama python -m pip show colorama python3 -m pip show colorama
The pip show colorama
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.
To install colorama on macOS or Linux:
pip install colorama
and press Enter.pip install colorama # ๐๏ธ for Python 3 pip3 install colorama # ๐๏ธ if you get permissions error sudo pip3 install colorama # ๐๏ธ if you don't have pip in your PATH environment variable python -m pip install colorama # ๐๏ธ for python 3 python3 -m pip install colorama # ๐๏ธ alternative if you get permissions error pip install colorama --user # ๐๏ธ for Anaconda conda install -c anaconda colorama
After you install the colorama package, try importing it as follows.
from colorama import Fore, Back, Style print(Fore.RED + 'some red text') print(Back.GREEN + 'and with a green background') print(Style.DIM + 'and in dim text') print(Style.RESET_ALL) print('back to normal now')
If you get an error that pip
isn't found, use the python -m
command.
python -m pip install colorama python3 -m pip install colorama
If you get a permissions error, prefix the command with sudo
.
sudo pip install colorama sudo pip3 install colorama
Alternatively, you can install the colorama
package in a virtual environment:
# ๐๏ธ could also be "python -m venv venv" python3 -m venv venv # ๐๏ธ activate virtual env on macOS or Linux source venv/bin/activate # ๐๏ธ install colorama in virtual environment pip install colorama
Your virtual environment will use the version of Python that was used to create it.
python3 -m venv venv
command doesn't work, use python -m venv venv
instead.You can use the pip show
command to verify
colorama
has been installed
successfully.
pip show colorama pip3 show colorama python -m pip show colorama python3 -m pip show colorama
The pip show colorama
command will either state that the package is not
installed or show a bunch of information about the package.
To install colorama in Visual Studio Code:
pip install colorama
command to install the colorama
module.pip install colorama # ๐๏ธ for Python 3 pip3 install colorama # ๐๏ธ if you get permissions error sudo pip3 install colorama # ๐๏ธ if you don't have pip in your PATH environment variable python -m pip install colorama # ๐๏ธ for python 3 python3 -m pip install colorama # ๐๏ธ using py alias py -m pip install colorama # ๐๏ธ alternative if you get permissions error pip install colorama --user
CTRL+Shift+P
and then typing "View: Toggle Terminal".After you install the colorama package, try importing it as follows.
from colorama import Fore, Back, Style print(Fore.RED + 'some red text') print(Back.GREEN + 'and with a green background') print(Style.DIM + 'and in dim text') print(Style.RESET_ALL) print('back to normal now')
When installing Python modules in Visual Studio code, make sure that your IDE is configured to use the correct Python version.
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 dropdown menu.
You can use the python --version
command if you need to get your version of
Python.
python --version python3 --version
You can also try creating a virtual environment if you don't already have one.
# ๐๏ธ could also be "python -m venv venv" or "py -m venv 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 colorama in virtual environment pip install colorama
Your virtual environment will use the version of Python that was used to create it.
To install colorama in PyCharm:
Alt+F12
on your keyboard to open the terminal.pip install colorama
command to install the colorama
module.pip install colorama # ๐๏ธ for Python 3 pip3 install colorama # ๐๏ธ if you get permissions error sudo pip3 install colorama # ๐๏ธ if you don't have pip in your PATH environment variable python -m pip install colorama # ๐๏ธ for python 3 python3 -m pip install colorama # ๐๏ธ using py alias py -m pip install colorama # ๐๏ธ alternative if you get permissions error pip install colorama --user
After you install the colorama package, try importing it as follows.
from colorama import Fore, Back, Style print(Fore.RED + 'some red text') print(Back.GREEN + 'and with a green background') print(Style.DIM + 'and in dim text') print(Style.RESET_ALL) print('back to normal now')
Alternatively, you can use the IDE itself to install the module.
+
icon and type colorama
.Click on "File" > "Settings" > "Project" > "Python Interpreter".
Then select the correct Python version from the dropdown menu.
You can use the python --version
command if you need to get your version of
Python.
python --version python3 --version
To install colorama in Anaconda:
colorama
in the search bar to the right.colorama
package and click on "Apply".Alternatively, you can install the colorama
package with a command.
If you are on Windows, search for "Anaconda Prompt" and open the application.
If you are on macOS or Linux, open your terminal.
Run the following command to install the colorama
package.
# ๐๏ธ using conda conda install -c anaconda colorama # ๐๏ธ Alternatively use `pip` pip install colorama # ๐๏ธ for Python 3 pip3 install colorama # ๐๏ธ if you get permissions error sudo pip3 install colorama # ๐๏ธ if you don't have pip in your PATH environment variable python -m pip install colorama # ๐๏ธ for python 3 python3 -m pip install colorama # ๐๏ธ using py alias py -m pip install colorama # ๐๏ธ alternative if you get permissions error pip install colorama --user
After you install the colorama package, try importing it as follows.
from colorama import Fore, Back, Style print(Fore.RED + 'some red text') print(Back.GREEN + 'and with a green background') print(Style.DIM + 'and in dim text') print(Style.RESET_ALL) print('back to normal now')
Click on the following article if you need to install a specific version of the package using Anaconda.
To install colorama in Jupyter Notebook:
pip install colorama
and press Enter.# ๐๏ธ using pip pip install colorama # ๐๏ธ for Python 3 pip3 install colorama # ๐๏ธ if you get permissions error sudo pip3 install colorama # ๐๏ธ if you don't have pip in your PATH environment variable python -m pip install colorama # ๐๏ธ for python 3 python3 -m pip install colorama # ๐๏ธ using py alias py -m pip install colorama # ๐๏ธ using conda conda install -c anaconda colorama # ๐๏ธ alternative if you get permissions error pip install colorama --user
After you install the colorama package, try importing it as follows.
from colorama import Fore, Back, Style print(Fore.RED + 'some red text') print(Back.GREEN + 'and with a green background') print(Style.DIM + 'and in dim text') print(Style.RESET_ALL) print('back to normal now')
Alternatively, you can use the Python ipykernel.
Click on "New" and then click on "Python 3 (ipykernel)".
Type !pip install colorama
and click on "Run".
Note that the pip install
command must be prefixed with an exclamation mark if
you use this approach.
!pip install colorama
Once you type the command, click "Run" to install the colorama
module.
If you get a permissions error, e.g. "[WinError: 5] Access is denied", add the
--user
option to the installation command.
!pip install colorama --user
If the error persists, try to restart the Jupyter Kernel and rerun the command.