How do I install pip on macOS or OS X?

Answer 1

Install python3 first, then use pip3 to install packages.

brew install python

python3 will be installed, and pip is shipped with it. To use pip to install some package, run the following

pip3 install package

Notice it's pip3 because you want to use python3.

Answer 2

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.

Answer 3

The simplest solution is to follow the installation instruction from pip's home site.

Basically, this consists in:

• 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.

Answer 4

For those who have both python2 & python3 installed, here's the solution:

python2.7 -m ensurepip --default-pip

Additionally, if you wanna install pip for python3.6:

wget https://bootstrap.pypa.io/get-pip.py
sudo python3.6 get-pip.py

Answer 5

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

---

UPDATED - Homebrew version after 1.5

According to the official Homebrew page:

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>.

Answer 6

UPDATED 2020 August: MacOs Cataline

Install homebrew

https://docs.brew.sh/Installation

mkdir homebrew && curl -L https://github.com/Homebrew/brew/tarball/master | tar xz --strip 1 -C homebrew

Add the path:

sudo nano  ~/.bash_profile

Add this line:
export PATH="$HOME/homebrew/bin:$PATH"

Install python3:

brew install python

This python (v3) install pip3, in order to use only 'pip' , add an alias:

sudo nano  ~/.bash_profile
Add this line:
alias pip=pip3

UPDATED 2019 October: MacOs Mojave

MacOS comes with python2, but not with pip. Anyway, it's better to manage it with homebrew, you must install it before:

https://docs.brew.sh/Installation

Install python2:

brew install python

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:

python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate
pip install --upgrade pip

Check the versions:

pip -V
python --version

NEW 2019:
pip3 -V
python3 --version

To deactivate the environment:

$ deactivate