Borislav Hadzhiev
Mon Apr 18 2022ยท4 min read
Photo by Tomas Sobek
The Python "ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'tensorflow'" occurs when we
forget to install the tensorflow
module before importing it or install it in
an incorrect environment. To solve the error, install the module by running the
pip install tensorflow
command.
Open your terminal in your project's root directory and install the tensorflow
module.
# ๐๏ธ Requires the latest pip pip install --upgrade pip # ๐๏ธ in a virtual environment or using Python 2 pip install tensorflow # ๐๏ธ for python 3 (could also be pip3.10 depending on your version) pip3 install tensorflow # ๐๏ธ if you get permissions error sudo pip3 install tensorflow # ๐๏ธ if you don't have pip in your PATH environment variable python -m pip install tensorflow # ๐๏ธ for python 3 (could also be pip3.10 depending on your version) python3 -m pip install tensorflow # ๐๏ธ for Anaconda conda install -c conda-forge tensorflow
After you install the tensorflow package, try importing it like:
import tensorflow as tf dataset1 = tf.data.Dataset.from_tensor_slices(tf.random.uniform([4, 10])) print(dataset1.element_spec)
The Python error "ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'tensorflow'" occurs for multiple reasons:
tensorflow
package installed by running
pip install tensorflow
.tensorflow.py
which would shadow the official module.tensorflow
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 tensorflow
package with pip3.10 install tensorflow
.
pip3.10 install tensorflow # ๐๏ธ if you get permissions error use pip3 (NOT pip3.X) sudo pip3 install tensorflow
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 tensorflow
If the "No module named 'tensorflow'" error persists, try restarting your IDE and development server / script.
You can check if you have the tensorflow
package installed by running the
pip show tensorflow
command.
# ๐๏ธ check if you have tensorflow installed pip3 show tensorflow # ๐๏ธ if you don't have pip setup in PATH python3 -m pip show tensorflow
The pip show tensorflow
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.
tensorflow
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
tensorflow
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 tensorflow in virtual environment pip install tensorflow
Your virtual environment will use the version of Python that was used to create it.
tensorflow.py
because that would shadow the original tensorflow
module.You also shouldn't be declaring a variable named tensorflow
as that would also
shadow the original module.
If the error is not resolved, try to uninstall the tensorflow
package and then
install it.
# ๐๏ธ check if you have tensorflow installed pip3 show tensorflow # ๐๏ธ if you don't have pip setup in PATH python3 -m pip show tensorflow # ๐๏ธ uninstall tensorflow pip3 uninstall tensorflow # ๐๏ธ if you don't have pip setup in PATH python3 -m pip uninstall tensorflow # ๐๏ธ install tensorflow pip3 install tensorflow # ๐๏ธ if you don't have pip setup in PATH python3 -m pip install tensorflow
Try restarting your IDE and development server / script.
You can also try to upgrade the version of the tensorflow package.
pip3 install tensorflow --upgrade # ๐๏ธ if you don't have pip setup in PATH python3 -m pip install tensorflow --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
: