How to pip install a package Globally instead of Locally

# Table of Contents

1. Pip install a package globally instead of locally
2. Pip install a package globally instead of locally using umask

# Pip install a package globally instead of locally

Use the -H flag to pip install a package globally instead of locally, e.g. sudo -H pip install package-name.

When the -H flag is set, the pip install command installs the package in the system's home directory.

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sudo -H pip install requests

sudo -H pip3 install requests

Make sure to replace requests with the name of the package you're trying to install.

If you run sudo pip install <package-name> without the -H flag, the root user writes to the current user's home directory which can cause issues because the package cannot be used without running as root.

If you get a message that the package is already installed, use the --ignore-installed option.

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sudo -H pip install requests --ignore-installed

# 👇️ For Python v3
sudo -H pip3 install requests --ignore-installed

# Windows installs globally unless virtual environment is active

On Windows, when you do pip install <package-name>, the package is installed globally as long as you don't have a virtual environment active.

You can use the deactivate command if you need to exit a virtual environment.

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deactivate

If you get a message that the package is already installed, but you need to overwrite the existing package, use one of the following options.

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pip install requests --upgrade
pip install requests --ignore-installed
pip install requests --force-reinstall

# 👇️ For Python v3
pip3 install requests --upgrade
pip3 install requests --ignore-installed
pip3 install requests --force-reinstall

The --force-reinstall option forces pip to reinstall the package.

You can also uninstall the package and then install it.

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pip uninstall requests
pip3 uninstall requests

pip install requests
pip3 install requests

An alternative approach to install a package globally is to use the umask 022 command.

# Pip install a package globally instead of locally using umask

This is a two-step process:

1. Use the umask 022 command to make the files of the package accessible to all users.
2. Use the sudo pip install package-name command to install the package globally.

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umask 022

sudo pip install requests

# 👇️ For Python 3
sudo pip3 install requests

Make sure to replace requests with the name of the module you're trying to install.

If you already installed the module using sudo, uninstall it first.

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sudo pip uninstall requests
sudo pip3 uninstall requests

umask 022

sudo pip install requests
sudo pip3 install requests

The umask command is used to assign the default file permissions for newly created files and folders.

The umask 022 command makes it so the default directory permissions are 755 and the default file permissions are 644.

Permissions of 755 mean that everyone has read and execute access and only the owner of the directory has write access.

Permissions of 644 mean that everyone has read access and the owner has read and write access.

Instead of prefixing every pip command with sudo, you can also switch to the root user.

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sudo su
umask 022

pip install requests
pip3 install requests

# Additional Resources

You can learn more about the related topics by checking out the following tutorials:

• The difference between pip freeze and pip list in Python
• Pip install multiple requirements files in Python
• Pip install and uninstall in silent, non-interactive mode
• Pip install a specific version of a Python package
• Pip list all available versions of a Python package
• The purpose of pip's --no-cache-dir option
• How to find the dependencies of a Python package
• Check the syntax of a Python script without executing it
• 'EntryPoints' object has no attribute 'get' error [Solved]