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