How to Fix ImportError: No module named pandas [Mac/Linux/Windows/PyCharm]

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Quick Fix: Python raises the ImportError: No module named pandas when it cannot find the Pandas installation. The most frequent source of this error is that you haven’t installed Pandas explicitly with pip install pandas.

Alternatively, you may have different Python versions on your computer, and Pandas is not installed for the particular version you’re using. To fix it, run pip install pandas in your Linux/MacOS/Windows terminal.

Problem: You’ve just learned about the awesome capabilities of the Pandas library and you want to try it out, so you start with the following import statement you found on the web:

import pandas as pd

This is supposed to import the Pandas library into your (virtual) environment. However, it only throws the following import error: no module named pandas!

>>> import pandas as pd
ImportError: No module named pandas on line 1 in main.py

You can reproduce this error in the following interactive Python shell:

Why did this error occur?

The reason is that Python doesn’t provide Pandas in its standard library. You need to install Pandas first!

Before being able to import the Pandas module, you need to install it using Python’s package manager pip. You can run the following command in your Windows shell (without the $ symbol):

$ pip install pandas

Here’s the screenshot on my Windows machine:

pip install pandas screenshot

This simple command installs Pandas in your virtual environment on Windows, Linux, and macOS.

It assumes that you know that your pip version is updated. If it isn’t, use the following two commands (there’s no harm in doing it anyway):

$ python -m pip install --upgrade pip
...
$ pip install pandas

Here’s how this plays out on my Windows command line:

Upgrade pip screenshot Windows

The warning message disappeared!

If you need to refresh your Pandas skills, check out the following Pandas cheat sheets—I’ve compiled the best 5 in this article:

Related article: Top 5 Pandas Cheat Sheets

How to Fix “ImportError: No module named pandas” in PyCharm

If you create a new Python project in PyCharm and try to import the Pandas library, it’ll throw the following error:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:/Users/xcent/Desktop/Finxter/Books/book_dash/pythonProject/main.py", line 1, in <module>
    import pandas as pd
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'pandas'

Process finished with exit code 1

The reason is that each PyCharm project, per default, creates a virtual environment in which you can install custom Python modules. But the virtual environment is initially empty—even if you’ve already installed Pandas on your computer!

Here’s a screenshot:

The fix is simple: Use the PyCharm installation tooltips to install Pandas in your virtual environment—two clicks and you’re good to go!

First, right-click on the pandas text in your editor:

Second, click “Show Context Actions” in your context menu. In the new menu that arises, click “Install Pandas” and wait for PyCharm to finish the installation.

The code will run after your installation completes successfully.

As an alternative, you can also open the “Terminal” tool at the bottom and type:

pip install pandas

If this doesn’t work, you may want to change the Python interpreter to another version using the following tutorial:

You can also manually install a new library such as Pandas in PyCharm using the following procedure:

  • Open File > Settings > Project from the PyCharm menu.
  • Select your current project.
  • Click the Python Interpreter tab within your project tab.
  • Click the small + symbol to add a new library to the project.
  • Now type in the library to be installed, in your example Pandas, and click Install Package.
  • Wait for the installation to terminate and close all popup windows.

Here’s a complete introduction to PyCharm:

Related Article: PyCharm—A Helpful Illustrated Guide

Other Ways to Install Pandas

I have found a great online tutorial on how this error can be resolved in some ways that are not addressed here (e.g., when using Anaconda). You can watch the tutorial video here:

And a great screenshot guiding you through a flowchart is available here:

source

Finally, the tutorial lists the following three steps to overcome the "No Module Named Pandas" issue:

OriginSolution
Pandas library not installedpip install pandas
Python cannot find pandas installation pathInstall pandas in your virtual environment, global environment, or add it to your path (environment variable).
Different Python and pandas versions installedUpgrade your Python installation (recommended).
Or, downgrade your pandas installation (not recommended) with pip install pandas=x.xx.x

[Summary] ImportError: No module named pandas

Pandas is not part of the Python standard library so it doesn’t ship with the default Python installation.

Thus, you need to install it using the pip installer.

To install pip, follow my detailed guide:

Pandas is distributed through pip which uses so-called wheel files.

💡 Info: A .whl file (read: wheel file) is a zip archive that contains all the files necessary to run a Python application. It’s a built-package format for Python, i.e., a zip archive with .whl suffix such as in yourPackage.whl. The purpose of a wheel is to contain all files for a PEP-compliant installation that approximately matches the on-disk format. It allows you to migrate a Python application from one system to another in a simple and robust way.

So, in some cases, you need to install wheel first before attempting to install pandas. This is explored next!

Install Pandas on Windows

Do you want to install Pandas on Windows?

Install wheel first and pandas second using pip for Python 2 or pip3 for Python 3 depending on the Python version installed on your system.

Python 2

pip install wheel
pip install pandas

Python 3

pip3 install wheel
pip3 install pandas

If you haven’t added pip to your environment variable yet, Windows cannot find pip and an error message will be displayed. In this case, run the following commands in your terminal instead to install pandas:

py -m pip install wheel
py -m pip install pandas

Install Pandas on macOS and Linux 

The recommended way to install the pandas module on macOS (OSX) and Linux is to use the commands pip (for Python 2) or pip3 (for Python 3) assuming you’ve installed pip already.

Do you run Python 2?

Copy&paste the following two commands in your terminal/shell:

sudo pip install wheel
sudo pip install pandas

Do you run Python 3?

Copy&paste the following two commands in your terminal/shell:

sudo pip3 install wheel
sudo pip3 install pandas

Do you have easy_install on your system?

Copy&paste the following two commands into your terminal/shell:

sudo easy_install -U wheel
sudo easy_install -U pandas

Do you run CentOs (yum)?

Copy&paste the following two commands into your terminal/shell:

yum install python-wheel
yum install python-pandas

Do you run Ubuntu (Debian)?

Copy&paste the following two commands into your terminal/shell:

sudo apt-get install python-wheel
sudo apt-get install python-pandas

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