2019: ⚠️easy_install has been deprecated. Check Method #2 below for preferred installation!
I made a gif, coz. why not?
Details:
⚡️ OK, I read the solutions given above, but here’s an EASY solution to install pip.
MacOS comes with Python installed. But to make sure that you have Python installed open the terminal and run the following command.
python --version
If this command returns a version number that means Python exists. Which also means that you already have access to easy_install considering you are using macOS/OSX.
ℹ️ Now, all you have to do is run the following command.
sudo easy_install pip
After that, pip will be installed and you’ll be able to use it for installing other packages.
Let me know if you have any problems installing pip this way.
You can install it through Homebrew on OS X. Why would you install Python with Homebrew?
The version of Python that ships with OS X is great for learning but
it’s not good for development. The version shipped with OS X may be
out of date from the official current Python release, which is
considered the stable production version. (source)
Homebrew is something of a package manager for OS X. Find more details on the Homebrew page. Once Homebrew is installed, run the following to install the latest Python, Pip & Setuptools:
I’m surprised no-one has mentioned this – since 2013, python itself is capable of installing pip, no external commands (and no internet connection) required.
sudo -H python -m ensurepip
This will create a similar install to what easy_install would.
WARNING: for a modern macOS (2019) this can install python3, and for python2 you really need to do: brew install python@2
Install python3:
brew install python3
UPDATE: Python 3
If you install python3, pip will be installed automatically.
brew install python3
NEW 2019: now to use pip version 3, use pip3 , or you can execute: python3, to use version 3. When you install packages with pip3 they will be separated from python2.
OLD: You need only to upgrade pip, but before that you need create a virtual environment to work with Python 3. You can use a project folder or any folder:
downloading get-pip.py. Be sure to do this by following a trusted link since you will have to run the script as root.
call sudo python get-pip.py
The main advantage of that solution is that it install pip for the python version that has been used to run get-pip.py, which means that if you use the default OS X installation of python to run get-pip.py you will install pip for the python install from the system.
Most solutions that use a package manager (homebrew or macport) on OS X create a redundant installation of python in the environment of the package manager which can create inconsistencies in your system since, depending on what you are doing, you may call one installation of python instead of another.
Installing a separate copy of Python is a popular option, even though Python already comes with MacOS. You take on the responsibility to make sure you’re using the copy of Python you intend. But, the benefits are having the latest Python release and some protection from hosing your system if things go badly wrong.
brew update
brew install python # or brew install python3
Now confirm that we’re working with our newly installed Python:
ls -lh `which python`
…should show a symbolic link to a path with “Cellar” in it like:
lrwxr-xr-x 1 chris admin 35B Dec 2 13:40 /usr/local/bin/python -> ../Cellar/python/2.7.8_2/bin/python
Pip should be installed along with Python. You might want to upgrade it by typing:
pip install --upgrade pip
Now you’re ready to install any of the 50,000+ packages on PyPI.
Other Notes
Formerly, I’ve used get-pip.py to install pip. But, the docs warn that get-pip.py does not coordinate with package managers and may leave your system in an inconsistent state. Anyway, there’s no need, given that pip is now included with Python as of 2.7.9.
Note that pip isn’t the only package manager for Python. There’s also easy_install. It’s no good to mix the two, so don’t do it.
Finally, if you have both Python 2 and 3 installed, pip will point to whichever Python you installed last. Get in the habit of explicitly using either pip2 or pip3, so you’re sure which Python is getting the new library.
On the recent version (from Yosemite or El Capitan I believe… at least from Sierra onward), you need to run brew postinstall python3 after brew install python3 if you use homebrew.
So,
brew install python3 # this only installs python
brew postinstall python3 # this installs pip
On 1st March 2018 the python formula will be upgraded to Python 3.x and a python@2 formula will be added for installing Python 2.7 (although this will be keg-only so neither python nor python2 will be added to the PATH by default without a manual brew link –force). We will maintain python2, python3 and python@3 aliases.
So to install Python 3, run the following command:
brew install python3
Then, the pip is installed automatically, and you can install any package by pip install <package>.
Then update your PATH to include py27-pip bin directory (you can add this in ~/.bash_profile
PATH=/opt/local/Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.7/bin:$PATH
If you want to install pip without the need for sudo, which is always frustrating when trying to install packages globally, install pip in your local folder /usr/local like this:
I recommend Anaconda to you. It’s the leading open data science platform powered by Python. There are many basic packages installed. Anaconda (conda) comes with its own installation of pip.