ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'selenium' in Python

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'selenium' in Python #

The Python "ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'selenium'" occurs when we forget to install the selenium module before importing it or install it in an incorrect environment. To solve the error, install the module by running the pip install selenium command.

Open your terminal in your project's root directory and install the selenium module.

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# 👇️ in a virtual environment or using Python 2
pip install selenium

# 👇️ for python 3 (could also be pip3.10 depending on your version)
pip3 install selenium

# 👇️ if you get permissions error
sudo pip3 install selenium

# 👇️ if you don't have pip in your PATH environment variable
python -m pip install selenium

# 👇️ for python 3 (could also be pip3.10 depending on your version)
python3 -m pip install selenium

# 👇️ for Anaconda
conda install -c conda-forge selenium

After you install the selenium package, try importing it like:

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from selenium import webdriver

driver = webdriver.Chrome()
driver.get("http://www.python.org")

driver.close()

If you get an error that the executable needs to be in PATH, you have to install the webdriver-manager module.

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pip install webdriver-manager

pip3 install webdriver-manager

python3 -m pip install webdriver-manager

You can view the import statement for using the webdriver-manager module with each browser in the official pypi page. Here is an example that uses chrome:

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from selenium import webdriver
from selenium.webdriver.chrome.service import Service
from webdriver_manager.chrome import ChromeDriverManager

driver = webdriver.Chrome(service=Service(ChromeDriverManager().install()))

driver.get("http://www.python.org")

driver.close()

The Python error "ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'selenium'" occurs for multiple reasons:

1. Not having the selenium package installed by running pip install selenium.
2. Installing the package in a different Python version than the one you're using.
3. Installing the package globally and not in your virtual environment.
4. Your IDE running an incorrect version of Python.
5. Naming your module selenium.py which would shadow the official module.
6. Declaring a variable named selenium 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.

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python --version

For example, my Python version is 3.10.4, so I would install the selenium package with pip3.10 install selenium.

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pip3.10 install selenium

# 👇️ if you get permissions error use pip3 (NOT pip3.X)
sudo pip3 install selenium

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:

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# 👇️ make sure to use your version of Python, e.g. 3.10
python3 -m pip install selenium

If the "No module named 'selenium'" error persists, try restarting your IDE and development server/script.

You can check if you have the selenium package installed by running the pip show selenium command.

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# 👇️ check if you have selenium installed
pip3 show selenium

# 👇️ if you don't have pip set up in PATH
python3 -m pip show selenium

The pip show selenium 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.

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 dropdown menu.

If you are using a virtual environment, make sure you are installing selenium in your virtual environment and not globally.

You can try creating a virtual environment if you don't already have one.

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# 👇️ 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 selenium in virtual environment
pip install selenium

Your virtual environment will use the version of Python that was used to create it.

You also shouldn't be declaring a variable named selenium as that would also shadow the original module.

If the error is not resolved, try to uninstall the selenium package and then install it.

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# 👇️ check if you have selenium installed
pip3 show selenium

# 👇️ if you don't have pip set up in PATH
python3 -m pip show selenium

# 👇️ uninstall selenium
pip3 uninstall selenium

# 👇️ if you don't have pip set up in PATH
python3 -m pip uninstall selenium

# 👇️ install selenium
pip3 install selenium

# 👇️ if you don't have pip set up in PATH
python3 -m pip install selenium

Try restarting your IDE and development server/script.

You can also try to upgrade the version of the selenium package.

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pip3 install selenium --upgrade

# 👇️ if you don't have pip set up in PATH
python3 -m pip install selenium --upgrade

This one is for using virtual environments (VENV) on Windows:

This one is for using virtual environments (VENV) on MacOS and Linux:

Conclusion #

The Python "ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'selenium'" occurs when we forget to install the selenium module before importing it or install it in an incorrect environment. To solve the error, install the module by running the pip install selenium command.