273

Since I got the macOS v12.3 (Monterey) update (not sure it's related though), I have been getting this error when I try to run my Python code in the terminal:

Python not found error

I am using Python 3.10.3, Atom IDE, and run the code in the terminal via atom-python-run package (which used to work perfectly fine). The settings for the package go like this:

atom-python-run-settings

The which command in the terminal returns the following (which is odd, because earlier it would return something to just which python):

Which Python

I gather the error occurs because the terminal calls for python instead of python3, but I am super new to any coding and have no idea why it started now and how to fix it. Nothing of these has worked for me:

  • I deleted and then reinstalled the Python interpreter from python.org.
  • I tried alias python='python3' (which I saw in one of the threads here).
  • I tried export PATH="/usr/local/bin:/usr/bin:/bin:/usr/sbin:/sbin" (which I found here).
  • To reset zsh and paths, I deleted all associated hidden files in /local/users/ and ran the terminal once again.
  • I deleted everything and reinstalled Mac OS X and the Python interpreter only to get the same error.
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22 Answers 22

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502

Anyone updating their macOS to Monterey 12.3 will find that they suddenly no longer have the system-provided Python 2.

The reason for this is that Apple removed the system-provided Python 2 installation (details).

So a workaround/solution for this is to use pyenv to install Python 2.7 (or any other specific version you need).

  1. Install pyenv with brew to manage different Python versions: brew install pyenv
  2. List all installable versions with pyenv install --list
  3. Install Python 2.7.18 with pyenv install 2.7.18
  4. List installed versions with pyenv versions
  5. Set global python version with pyenv global 2.7.18
  6. Add eval "$(pyenv init --path)" to ~/.zprofile (or ~/.bash_profile or ~/.zshrc, whichever you need)
  7. Relaunch the shell and check that Python works, or run $ source ~/.zprofile (Thanks masoud soroush!)
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18 Comments

This should be the accepted answer if the goal is to get Python 2 working on Mac OS Monterey
Why do all answers lead to homebrew? I recently migrated to pyenv + pipenv for management only using macports and I am hitting similar errors. In most cases, the user $PATH is screwed-up.
Doesn't work for me. Just same error. Cannot imagine why.
@surfrider did you add it to the PATH and restart your Terminal?
But then I just installed python from the official site and it solved all issues.
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212

OK, after a couple of days trying, this is what has worked for me:

  1. I reinstalled Monterey (not sure it was essential, but I just figured I had messed with terminal and $PATH too much).
  2. I installed python via brew rather than from the official website. It would still return command not found error.
  3. I ran echo "alias python=/usr/bin/python3" >> ~/.zshrc in terminal to alias python with python3.
  4. Relaunch the shell or run source ~/.zshrc

Problem solved.

As far as I get it, there is no more pre-installed python 2.x in macOS as of 12.3 hence the error. I still find it odd though that atom-python-run would call for python instead of python3 despite the settings.

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6 Comments

In some cases a program that you are using doesn't look into your ~/.zshrc. In my case a more portable solution was to run ln -s /opt/homebrew/bin/python3 /usr/local/bin/python, which doesn't depend on zsh.
echo "alias python=/usr/bin/python3" >> ~/.zshrc is the right command so it appends a new line before the previous content in the ~/.zshrc file
You do not need to define an alias if you install Python 3.x using Pyenv, for example. See my answer stackoverflow.com/a/73772425/505650 for a working solution.
Works but in my case the path is /usr/local/bin/python3.
If you are on an Apple Silicon , instead, see my answer: stackoverflow.com/a/74356785/12794085 Brew does not install casks to the directory you are pointing to.
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82

If you simply installed Python 3, just use python3 as the command instead of just python. In my case, I had to install pynev first via Homebrew (executable brew) using brew install pyenv.

But still after using pynev to install Python 2.7.18 and setting it as a global version using pyenv global 2.7.18, I still ran into an error while trying to run python.

What worked for me (since I already had Python 3 installed) was by changing my command to use python3 instead of just python. Of course, this won't be a solution to everyone who may want to use Python 2.

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4 Comments

Thanks, adding the 3 behind Python made the commands work! I wonder why this is...anyone an explanation?
How Can I just us python as a command that looks much simpler.
It appears you can use an alias (there are some caveats, though), @SubhanAhmed check out: askubuntu.com/questions/320996/…
Your comment addresses only one of the 2 issues.The problem with installing a proper python version and calling it from the terminal has been resolved in one of the earliest answers. What I am left with now is why atom-python-run keeps calling for python instead of python3 despite the settings. Please be sure you read the problem and the accepted answer before contributing.
52

you should try

sudo ln -s /usr/bin/python3 /usr/local/bin/python

that solve my problem：）

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8 Comments

This also solves my problem. macOS 12.3, Python 3.11 installed using .pkg from python.org
In my case help this: sudo ln -s /usr/local/bin/python3 /usr/local/bin/python
Why does this work?
Also solve my problem in macOS 14.1.1
Did this, now every time I try to run a python script it makes me reinstall the xcode command line tools. Every. Single. Time. xcode-select: Failed to locate 'python', requesting installation of command line developer tools.
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31

I just had this problem on a new Macbook Pro with macOS Monterey, and the below worked for me using Homebrew.

Using alias is not necessary when using Pyenv. Tested with Atom 1.60.0 and atom-python-run 0.9.7.

  1. Install pyenv (https://github.com/pyenv/pyenv#installation) and its dependencies (https://github.com/pyenv/pyenv/wiki#suggested-build-environment):

    brew install pyenv
brew install openssl readline sqlite3 xz zlib tcl-tk

  2. Install Python 3.10.6 but I assume other 3.x versions should work as well:

    pyenv install 3.10.6

  3. Add Pyenv to your shell according to the instructions in https://github.com/pyenv/pyenv#set-up-your-shell-environment-for-pyenv. In your home directory:

    echo 'export PYENV_ROOT="$HOME/.pyenv"' >> ~/.zshrc
echo 'command -v pyenv >/dev/null || export PATH="$PYENV_ROOT/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc
echo 'eval "$(pyenv init -)"' >> ~/.zshrc

  4. Make the installed Python available everywhere (this can be overridden per project or folder, if necessary):

    pyenv global 3.10.6

Now, the output looks like this:

% which python
/Users/jl/.pyenv/shims/python

% python --version
Python 3.10.6

If some scripts still fail, check that you have added Pyenv to the necessary shell startup file(s) as mentioned in step 3 above.

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5 Comments

Every time I try to run pyenv install 3.10.6 I get prompted to install XCode Developer Tools, which is already installed. It says "The 'clang' command requires the command line developer tools." The error in Terminal says: make: error: sh -c '/Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/usr/bin/xcodebuild -sdk '' -find make 2> /dev/null' failed with exit code 34304: (null) (errno=No such file or directory) I'm on Monterey.
Also failing for me % pyenv install 3.10.7 python-build: use [email protected] from homebrew python-build: use readline from homebrew Downloading Python-3.10.7.tar.xz... -> python.org/ftp/python/3.10.7/Python-3.10.7.tar.xz Installing Python-3.10.7... python-build: use tcl-tk from homebrew python-build: use readline from homebrew python-build: use zlib from xcode sdk BUILD FAILED (OS X 12.6 using python-build 20180424) Inspect or clean up the working tree at /var/folders/7s/rdl105q14k5b9d7cqc9l1gsr0000gn/T/python-build.20221010101606.15912 Results logged to /var/folde
@Corey Even if XCode Developer Tools are already installed, does the error message go away if you run the below command and then try to re-install the Python version? xcode-select --install
@JaydenLawson Same as my previous comment to Corey: does that work for you?
You may need to restart your Terminal to see the change.
22

Just run the below command in your terminal:

echo "alias python=/usr/bin/python3" >> ~/.zshrc

Basically, here we are saying the terminal to treat python as python3.
Works like magic!

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2 Comments

...and source ~/.zshrc after that, for newbies like me.
Same for me.. echo and source made the trick
19

Try the command python3 --version if you have installed Python 3.

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1 Comment

and it was easy like that
11

Since you installed python3.9> (https://python.org/downloads/) , you just need to run everything with python3 instead of python. You don't have to downgrade your python to use it... It works fine with suffixing python with 3, i.e. python3 eg. $ which python3, python3 --version, $ python3 script.py etc

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3 Comments

Your comment addresses only one of the 2 issues (and still brings nothing to table as you're not the first one to recommend that in this thread). The problem with installing a proper python version and calling it from the terminal has been resolved in one of the earliest answers. What I am left with now is why atom-python-run keeps calling for python instead of python3 despite the settings. Please be sure you read the problem and the accepted answer before contributing.
@Kig please be sure to read How to Ask and focus your questions on one specific problem. Questions here shouldn't be asking multiple questions to begin with...
This does not provide an answer to the question. Once you have sufficient reputation you will be able to comment on any post; instead, provide answers that don't require clarification from the asker. - From Review
9

I had the same problem with fresh MacOS Ventura with Apple Silicon M1 Pro chip. Seems like brew installs to a different location than before on Apple Silicon?

/usr/bin/ folder had a Python executable and the version for it was 3.9.6.

So I installed Python using brew but then I had to execute it via python3 command so I ran echo "alias python=/opt/homebrew/bin/python3" >> ~/.zshrc and restarted my terminal. I was prompted with the desired version of Python when executing python command.

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2 Comments

Only this worked for me on macOS 13.1 (Apple M1 Max).
You don't need to restart terminal. Instead run source ~/.zshrc to source and update current terminal.
8

Make sure you have Python installed. Either via installer from https://www.python.org/downloads/macos/ or brew install python then follow these:

echo "alias python=/usr/local/bin/python3" >> ~/.zshrc

then run source ~/.zshrc

and then confirm the installation by python --version and you should see Python 3.XX

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7

I installed Python then this error occurred and I just run

echo "alias python=/usr/bin/python3" >> ~/.zshrc

and I t worked.on macOS Monterey 12.4, Python 3.8.9

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1 Comment

this works perfectly fine with my Mac Montery 12.4
6

I got zsh: Command not found python after installing using https://www.python.org/ftp/python/3.10.4/python-3.10.4-macos11.pkg

I solved it by configuring the ENVIRONMENT. I added a line,

alias python=/usr/local/bin/python3.10

Into the .zshrc file (you must be sure it is the true path).

My macOS (Apple silicon):

Darwin Johns-MacBook-Pro.local 21.4.0 Darwin Kernel Version 21.4.0: Mon Feb 21 20:35:58 PST 2022; root:xnu-8020.101.4~2/RELEASE_ARM64_T6000 arm64

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3 Comments

@PeterMortensen I mean that you just add 'alias python=/usr/local/bin/python3.10` into the .zshrc file. That is all.
This worked for me. On a Mac the location is under local. echo "alias python=/usr/local/bin/python3" >> ~/.zshrc. you might also need to do this for pip as well. echo "alias pip=/usr/local/bin/pip3" >> ~/.zshrc. Hope this helps.
yeah~ you are right. this solution also works for pip.
4

I First installed python with brew

brew install python

Then I tried linking the python with symlinks using:

brew link python3

And it worked for me.

PS: I was trying to run a shell script and alias approach didn't work.

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2

  1. Run the following command to check the path to your Python 3 installation:

    $ which python3

    This will show the full path of your Python 3 binary. On most systems, it should be /usr/bin/python3 or /opt/homebrew/bin/python3

  2. cat ~/.zshrc

  3. add line if not available : alias python=/correct-path-to-python3

    example : alias python=/usr/bin/python3

  4. source ~/.zshrc or restart terminal

  5. python --version

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1

alias python=/usr/bin/python3

This command works but need to re-enter whenever we restart the termian

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1

If you are using pyenv and on Mac M1, then try switching the python from system version to a version that is installed already (ex: pyenv global 3.8.13, considering 3.8.13 is another version). In order to check what versions installed use pyenv versions.

If you don't have another version, try installing a new one and switch to that new environment (ex: pyenv install 3.8.13). Then install using pip. Everything should work fine. thats what worked for me.

and make sure your pip and python are aliased to pip3 and python3 respective in the respective terminal configuration file.

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0

I have a MacBook Pro with an Apple M1 chip and macOS v12.4 (Monterey).

  • I deleted all Python versions and cleared the trash
  • Opened Terminal and typed "python"
  • This prompted an xcode.app update
  • Then I downloaded the latest version of Python from python.org (version 2.10.5)
  • Installed that version
  • Quit Terminal
  • Opened Terminal
  • Typed "python3"

It seems to now be there OK.

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0

this helped me curl https://bootstrap.pypa.io/get-pip.py -o get-pip.py python3 get-pip.py

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-1

I use brew install brew install [email protected], after installation success I want to know the version of python, I run command python --version, and I got the problem zsh: command not found: python.

If you install it successfully, please check in the terminal. It will show you if you got problem in install if not problem you just change command from python --version to python3 --version.

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1 Comment

Your comment addresses only one of the 2 issues (and still brings nothing to table as you're not the first one to recommend that in this thread). The problem with installing a proper python version and calling it from the terminal has been resolved in one of the earliest answers. What I am left with now is why atom-python-run keeps calling for python instead of python3 despite the settings. Please be sure you read the problem and the accepted answer before contributing.
-1

for 3.10.8

install with python with brew command

brew install [email protected]

if you have .zshrc file just edit like this

alias python='python3'

alias pip ='pip'

export PATH="/opt/homebrew/opt/[email protected]/libexec/bin:$PATH"

if you dont have .zshrc file:

cd

vi .zshrc

and copy/paste the line below

alias python='python3'

alias pip ='pip'

export PATH="/opt/homebrew/opt/[email protected]/libexec/bin:$PATH"

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1 Comment

As it’s currently written, your answer is unclear. Please edit to add additional details that will help others understand how this addresses the question asked. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center.
-1

eval "$(pyenv init --path)"

bash starting will be more slow, just suggest

export PATH=$PATH:$HOME/.pyenv/shims

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Comments

-2 
python3 -m venv venv

using python3 instead of python or py works for me

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1 Comment

They are not calling Python directly but using the atom-python-run package that calls Python using python and not python3.

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