The Python installers for Windows include pip. You should be able to access pip using:
py -m pip --version
pip 9.0.1 from c:\python36\lib\site-packages (Python 3.6.1)
You can make sure that pip is up-to-date by running:
py -m pip install --upgrade pip
You can also install pip yourself to ensure you have the latest version. It’s recommended to use the system pip to bootstrap a user installation of pip:
python3 -m pip install --user --upgrade pip
Afterwards, you should have the newest pip installed in your user site:
python3 -m pip --version
pip 9.0.1 from $HOME/.local/lib/python3.6/site-packages (python 3.6)
Note
If you are using Python 3.3 or newer, the venv module is the preferred way to create and manage virtual environments. venv is included in the Python standard library and requires no additional installation. If you are using venv, you may skip this section.
virtualenv is used to manage Python packages for different projects. Using virtualenv allows you to avoid installing Python packages globally which could break system tools or other projects. You can install virtualenv using pip.
python3 -m pip install --user virtualenv
py -m pip install --user virtualenv
venv (for Python 3) and virtualenv (for Python 2) allow you to manage separate package installations for different projects. They essentially allow you to create a “virtual” isolated Python installation and install packages into that virtual installation. When you switch projects, you can simply create a new virtual environment and not have to worry about breaking the packages installed in the other environments. It is always recommended to use a virtual environment while developing Python applications.
To create a virtual environment, go to your project’s directory and run venv. If you are using Python 2, replace venv with virtualenv in the below commands.
python3 -m venv env
py -m venv env
The second argument is the location to create the virtual environment. Generally, you can just create this in your project and call it env.
venv will create a virtual Python installation in the env folder.
Note
You should exclude your virtual environment directory from your version control system using .gitignore or similar.
Before you can start installing or using packages in your virtual environment you’ll need to activate it. Activating a virtual environment will put the virtual environment-specific python and pip executables into your shell’s PATH.
source env/bin/activate
.\env\Scripts\activate
You can confirm you’re in the virtual environment by checking the location of your Python interpreter, it should point to the env directory.
which python
.../env/bin/python
where python
.../env/bin/python.exe
As long as your virtual environment is activated pip will install packages into that specific environment and you’ll be able to import and use packages in your Python application.
If you want to switch projects or otherwise leave your virtual environment, simply run:
deactivate
If you want to re-enter the virtual environment just follow the same instructions above about activating a virtual environment. There’s no need to re-create the virtual environment.
