Borislav Hadzhiev
Last updated: Apr 20, 2022
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The Python "ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'nltk'" occurs when we forget
to install the nltk
module before importing it or install it in an incorrect
environment. To solve the error, install the module by running the
pip install nltk
command.
Open your terminal in your project's root directory and install the nltk
module.
# 👇️ in a virtual environment or using Python 2 pip install nltk # 👇️ for python 3 (could also be pip3.10 depending on your version) pip3 install nltk # 👇️ if you get permissions error sudo pip3 install nltk # 👇️ if you don't have pip in your PATH environment variable python -m pip install nltk # 👇️ for python 3 (could also be pip3.10 depending on your version) python3 -m pip install nltk # 👇️ for Anaconda conda install -c anaconda nltk
After you install the nltk package, try importing it like:
import nltk print(nltk.__version__) nltk.download() sentence = """At eight o'clock on Thursday morning Arthur didn't feel very good.""" tokens = nltk.word_tokenize(sentence) print(tokens)
The Python error "ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'nltk'" occurs for multiple reasons:
nltk
package installed by running pip install nltk
.nltk.py
which would shadow the official module.nltk
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 nltk package
with pip3.10 install nltk
.
pip3.10 install nltk # 👇️ if you get permissions error use pip3 (NOT pip3.X) sudo pip3 install nltk
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
:
# 👇️ make sure to use your version of Python, e.g. 3.10 python3 -m pip install nltk
If the "No module named 'nltk'" error persists, try restarting your IDE and development server / script.
You can check if you have the nltk
package installed by running the
pip show nltk
command.
# 👇️ check if you have nltk installed pip3 show nltk # 👇️ if you don't have pip setup in PATH python3 -m pip show nltk
The pip show nltk
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.
nltk
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 (⌘
+ 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 nltk
in
your virtual environment and not globally.
You can try creating a virtual environment if you don't already have one.
# 👇️ use correct version of Python when creating VENV python3 -m venv venv # 👇️ activate on Unix or MacOS source venv/bin/activate # 👇️ activate on Windows (cmd.exe) venv\Scripts\activate.bat # 👇️ activate on Windows (PowerShell) venv\Scripts\Activate.ps1 # 👇️ install nltk in virtual environment pip install nltk
Your virtual environment will use the version of Python that was used to create it.
nltk.py
because that would shadow the original nltk
module.You also shouldn't be declaring a variable named nltk
as that would also
shadow the original module.
If the error is not resolved, try to uninstall the nltk
package and then
install it.
# 👇️ check if you have nltk installed pip3 show nltk # 👇️ if you don't have pip setup in PATH python3 -m pip show nltk # 👇️ uninstall nltk pip3 uninstall nltk # 👇️ if you don't have pip setup in PATH python3 -m pip uninstall nltk # 👇️ install nltk pip3 install nltk # 👇️ if you don't have pip setup in PATH python3 -m pip install nltk
Try restarting your IDE and development server / script.
You can also try to upgrade the version of the nltk package.
pip3 install nltk --upgrade # 👇️ if you don't have pip setup in PATH python3 -m pip install nltk --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
: