How to Install Pip/Pip3 for Python [Simple Guide]

This tutorial will teach you how to install pip3, the package manager for Python, on Ubuntu Linux.

Pip is a Python Package Manager. It’s currently at version 3 – hence, Pip3.

Python is useful on its own, but it’s even more useful when you can start leveraging other people’s pre-written code.

The default repository used by Pip is the Python Package Index (PyPI) (https://pypi.org/). PyPI contains a collection of other users’ code for performing a multitude of tasks, from drawing graphs to artificial intelligence.

Checking if Pip is Already Installed

To check if pip is installed, you can check the version installed on your Ubuntu system by running the following in the terminal:

pip3 --version

If it is installed, you’ll see something like:

pip 20.0.2 from /usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/pip (python 3.8)

Installing Pip/Pip3

If it is not, you can install it by running the following in your terminal:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install python3-pip

Using Pip

You can list out all of the available functions in Pip from the terminal:

pip3 --help

Listing Installed Pip Packages

To see what Pip Packages are already installed on your system:

pip3 list

Installing Python Packages with Pip

To install a package, you’ll need to know the name of the package. You can search for packages online in the PyPI package database at https://pypi.org :

pip3 install smpl

Above, we installed the smpl graphing package.

Installing a Specific Package Version

Install a specific version of a package (often done for compatibility reasons):

pip3 install smpl==0.0.4.0

Upgrade an Already Installed Package

Update a package you already have installed on your system:

pip3 install --upgrade package-name

Uninstall

Finally, you can completely remove a package from your system using Pip:

pip3 uninstall package-name