Python - PIP install trouble shooting - PermissionError: [WinError 5] Access is denied

Question

I get the following error when using PIP to either install new packages or even upgrade pip itself to the latest version. I am running pip on a windows 8.1 machine with Python 3.4.

The message is telling me I don't have Administrative Permission on the files (my account is an Administrator Account).

I would appreciate any thoughts on how to resolve this, as it is getting in the way of installing packages and progressing with Python.

Error message:

Installing collected packages: pip
  Found existing installation: pip 6.0.8
    Uninstalling pip-6.0.8:
      Removing file or directory c:\program files (x86)\python\python34\lib\site-packages\pip-6.0.8.dist-info\description.rst
      Cleaning up...
Exception:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Python\Python34\lib\shutil.py", line 523, in move
    os.rename(src, real_dst)
PermissionError: [WinError 5] Access is denied: 'c:\\program files (x86)\\python\\python34\\lib\\site-packages\\pip-6.0.8.dist-info\\description.rst' -> 'C:\\Users\\User\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\pip-uze_sc4k-uninstall\\program files (x86)\\python\\python34\\lib\\site-packages\\pip-6.0.8.dist-info\\description.rst'

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Python\Python34\lib\site-packages\pip\basecommand.py", line 232, in main
    status = self.run(options, args)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Python\Python34\lib\site-packages\pip\commands\install.py", line 347, in run
    root=options.root_path,
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Python\Python34\lib\site-packages\pip\req\req_set.py", line 543, in install
    requirement.uninstall(auto_confirm=True)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Python\Python34\lib\site-packages\pip\req\req_install.py", line 667, in uninstall
    paths_to_remove.remove(auto_confirm)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Python\Python34\lib\site-packages\pip\req\req_uninstall.py", line 126, in remove
    renames(path, new_path)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Python\Python34\lib\site-packages\pip\utils\__init__.py", line 316, in renames
    shutil.move(old, new)
  File "C:\Program Files (x86)\Python\Python34\lib\shutil.py", line 536, in move
    os.unlink(src)
PermissionError: [WinError 5] Access is denied: 'c:\\program files (x86)\\python\\python34\\lib\\site-packages\\pip-6.0.8.dist-info\\description.rst'

Run the command prompt as administrator. Might help. Having administrator permissions in the account is not always enough. — Roope, Aug 23 '15 at 13:59
Thanks Roope. This was indeed the issue. Easily solved but frustrating to experience. — Dave Mansfield, Aug 24 '15 at 12:51
Still relevant in 2018: don't run things as admin. The -by far- more sensible solution is to use `virtualenv` to create a virtual environment directory ("virtualenv dirname") and then activate that virtual environment with "dirname\Script\Activate" before running any pip commands. That way, everything gets written to dirs that you have full write permission for, without needing UAC, and without global installs for local dependencies. — Mike 'Pomax' Kamermans, Feb 13 '18 at 17:38
might be that Users group don't have permissions to write/modify for the C: drive, and this error will pop up even if you are logged in as admin, so you could check the permissions for the C: drive for the Users group. — Mikhail V, Apr 01 '20 at 10:09
Does this answer your question? [pip install access denied on Windows](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/31172719/pip-install-access-denied-on-windows) — Gonçalo Peres, Jan 10 '22 at 11:56

Roope · Answer 1 · 2019-11-24T12:09:52.987

87

E: Since this answer seems to have gained some popularity, I will add: doing things globally is most of the time not a great idea. Almost always the correct answer is: use a project environment where you're not installing things globally, e.g. with virtualenv.

For those that may run into the same issue:

Run the command prompt as administrator. Having administrator permissions in the account is not always enough. In Windows, things can be run as administrator by right-clicking the executable and selecting "Run as Administrator". So, type "cmd" to the Start menu, right click cmd.exe, and run it as administrator.

edited Nov 24 '19 at 12:09

answered Aug 25 '15 at 08:53

Roope

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If you don't have administrator privileges/don't want administrator privileges: http://stackoverflow.com/questions/7465445/how-to-install-python-modules-without-root-access – Gladclef Mar 05 '17 at 05:58
82

it still occurred even in admin mode – jef Oct 01 '17 at 14:33
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Still relevant in 2018: the by far more sensible solution is to create a virtualenv with "virtualenv dirname", and then activate it with "dirname\Script\Activate" before running any pip commands. – Mike 'Pomax' Kamermans Feb 13 '18 at 17:36
2

I encountered the same error message "PermissionError: [WinError 5] Access is denied" when trying to upgrade pip using the command "python -m pip install --upgrade pip" and when trying to install numpy using the command "pip install numpy". i followed the above method by opening and running the cmd window as Administrator, and ran the said installations. it worked. – Luke V Apr 30 '18 at 18:12
For those still asking themselves in 2018 why `virtualenv` is a more sensible solution than running `pip` as an administrator: "Everything seems fine, but we've unknowingly created a disaster!" https://www.dabapps.com/blog/introduction-to-pip-and-virtualenv-python/ – Egalth Oct 02 '18 at 20:38
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One more: "Usually `pip` and `virtualenv` are the only two packages you ever need to install globally, because once you've got both of these you can do all your work inside virtual environments." Quoted from the same link as above. – Egalth Oct 02 '18 at 20:42
4

If issue persists while using admin mode on Windows, try closing all command line prompts. It happened to me that I had another command line open with the virtual environment activated, and closing everything and starting in a new command line prompt helped me solve the issue – Jose Daniel Chacón Bogarín Nov 29 '18 at 11:35

score 69 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 12 '17 at 17:46

69

I know my answer would be weird but that's what I have experienced just now.

I got the similar error when installing tensorflow package and I tried the same by opening powershell in windows as administrator but in vain.

Later I found out that I was already using numpy in one of the python scripts in an active python session. So I closed the Spyder IDE and tried to install the tensorflow package by running powershell as administrator and it worked.

Hope this will help somebody else like me who will open this older but useful post in upcoming days

answered Nov 12 '17 at 17:46

JKC

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Thanks, this helped me out. Additionally i found Spyder to broken because what i tried earlier. This was fixed by running 'conda install tornado=4.5.3'' as suggested in https://github.com/spyder-ide/spyder/issues/6426 – Joris Mar 29 '18 at 16:39
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I had a running jupyter notebook. Closing it fixed the problem. – typhon04 Aug 29 '18 at 10:00
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I too had this problem , I just closed the already running window and tried again , this solved the pbm – SaddamBinSyed Nov 12 '18 at 07:33
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Been online searching for 20 minutes, this is the only thing that worked for me! thanks. – Ibrahim Awad Apr 08 '19 at 16:35
This worked, I had jupyter notebook running in another session. After I killed it, I was able to uninstall. – noobie Dec 18 '19 at 06:34
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This worked for me, I was facing the same problem even after running as administratior, closing already running window helped – Manu Gond Jan 08 '20 at 09:25
Yep, same problem. I had a jupyter notebook running on that environment. And after closing the session could install the req.txt file :/ – Sole Galli Dec 07 '21 at 09:34
Was running FastAPI in my IDE, myself. I was not able to run `pip` even in an Admin Powershell instance. Then I saw this answer and put two and two together. – Kevin Schroeder Aug 25 '23 at 13:56

score 31 · Answer 3 · edited Oct 27 '21 at 07:06

31

Even you run from Administrator, it may not solve the issue if the pip is installed inside another userspace. This is because Administrator doesn't own another's userspace directory, thus he can't see (go inside) the inside of the directory that is owned by somebody. Below is an exact solution.

python -m pip install -U pip --user //In Windows

Note: You should provide --user option

pip install -U pip --user //Linux, and MacOS

edited Oct 27 '21 at 07:06

wovano

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answered Aug 16 '18 at 04:20

Uddhav P. Gautam

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it returns this ERROR: Can not perform a '--user' install. User site-packages are not visible in this virtualenv. – JamesAng Mar 16 '21 at 16:53

score 10 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 21 '18 at 18:04

10

For those who run into this issue and running the command prompt as administrator does not work this worked for me:

Since I had already tried a first time without running the cmd prompt as admin, in my c:\Users\"USER"\AppData\Local\Temp folder I found it was trying to run files from the same pip-u2e7e0ad-uninstall folder. Deleting this folder from the Temp folder and retrying the installation fixed the issue for me.

answered Apr 21 '18 at 18:04

Michael Martin

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This did not work for me on Windows 10 with Anaconda. Deleting all `C:\\Users\\...\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\pip-unpack-` did not change anything for me. – Josiah Yoder Jul 18 '18 at 17:48
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THIS. especially on domain joined mwin machines – Glen020 Apr 30 '19 at 18:36
This worked to fix the problem when I was using a `virtualenv`. (Windows 10) – Eponymous Dec 22 '22 at 23:13

score 6 · Answer 5 · answered Jun 25 '16 at 12:25

6

Do not use the command prompt in the IDE. Run the command prompt from windows as an administrator. I'm sure this will solve the problem. If not, uninstall pip and reinstall the latest one directly.

answered Jun 25 '16 at 12:25

Santa

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I managed to do it from the IDE (PyCharm). I just restarted PyCharm itself in administrator mode. – Adam Toth Mar 02 '17 at 20:14

score 6 · Answer 6 · answered Jun 25 '16 at 15:18

6

As of upgrading from pip 7.x.x to 8.x.x on Python 3.4 (for *.whl support).

Wrong command: pip install --upgrade pip (can't move pip.exe to temporary folder, permisson denied)

OK variant: py -3.4 -m pip install --upgrade pip (do not execute pip.exe)

answered Jun 25 '16 at 15:18

Valerij

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Thank you. So the problem is that pip can't be moved temporarily due to it being executed as a program! – One Face Feb 07 '19 at 08:05

score 5 · Answer 7 · answered Oct 06 '16 at 00:42

5

I have had the same problem with anaconda on windows. It seems that there is an issu with mcAfee antivirus. If you deactivate it while running the updates or the installs, it allows you to properly run the installation.

answered Oct 06 '16 at 00:42

Netzsooc

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Disabling "Host IPS" helped me. Thanks! – amaslenn Feb 15 '17 at 09:14

Wyrmwood · Answer 8 · 2019-02-22T02:53:09.467

After seeing

You are using pip version 9.0.1, however version 10.0.1 is available.
You should consider upgrading via the 'python -m pip install --upgrade pip' command.

I ran

pip install -U pip

and hit this error

PermissionError: [WinError 5]

I tried again and got

pip install -U pip
ERROR: To modify pip, please run the following command:
c:\python36-32\python.exe -m pip install -U pip

After running that exact command, it worked.

For those promoting the use of virtual environments as a solution to this error, pip and virtualenv must be updated in your main install. Simply put, a virtual environment offers no solution to this problem.

This had to be this way because your C:\Users\user\AppData\Roaming\Python\Python36\Scripts folder is not in the environment's PATH. — Iuri Guilherme, Nov 16 '20 at 23:29

score 4 · Answer 9 · answered Nov 23 '19 at 14:20

TL;DR: python -m pip install -U pip, then try again.

I was already using a venv (virtualenv) in PyCharm.

Creating it I clicked inherit global site packages checkbox, to allow packages installed via an installer to work. Now inside my venv there was no pip installed, so it would use the inherited global pip.

Here is how the error went:

(venv) D:\path\to\my\project> pip install certifi  # or any other package

Would fail with

PermissionError: [WinError 5] Access denied: 'c:\\program files\\python36\\Lib\\site-packages\\certifi'

Notice how that is the path of the system python, not the venv one. However we want it to execute in the right environment.

Here some more digging:

(venv) D:\path\to\my\project> which pip
/c/Program Files/Python36/Scripts/pip

(venv) D:\path\to\my\project> which python
/d/path/to/my/project/venv/Scripts/python

So python is using the correct path, but pip is not? Let's install pip here in the correct one as well:

(venv) D:\path\to\my\project> python -m pip install -U pip
... does stuff ...
Successfully installed pip

Now that's better. Running the original failing command again now works, as it is using the correct pip.

(venv) D:\path\to\my\project> pip install certifi  # or any other package
... install noise ...
Successfully installed certifi-2019.9.11 chardet-3.0.4 idna-2.8 requests-2.22.0 urllib3-1.25.7

Thank you. Why `python -m pip install -U pip` worked please? — Avv, Nov 30 '21 at 22:05
@Avra The OS has no idea `pip` is installed. So we tell the `python` process to load the module (`-m`) with the name `pip` and then run `install -U pip` with it. The python interpreter's `pip` then will make the `pip` command available to the OS by putting a link into a folder which is available in `$PATH` where your shell will look for it when you next type `pip install …`. See [the documentation for `entry_points`](https://packaging.python.org/guides/creating-and-discovering-plugins/#using-package-metadata) of any installable python package if you want to learn more on that. — luckydonald, Dec 01 '21 at 14:04

Mike 'Pomax' Kamermans · Answer 10 · 2018-08-22T14:38:31.413

1

Still relevant in 2018: don't install packages as admin.

The by far more sensible solution is to use virtualenv to create a virtual environment directory (virtualenv dirname) and then activate that virtual environment with dirname\Script\Activate in Windows before running any pip commands. Or use pipenv to manage the installs for you.

That way, everything gets written to dirs that you have full write permission for, without needing UAC, and without global installs for local directories.

edited Aug 22 '18 at 14:38

answered Feb 13 '18 at 17:40

Mike 'Pomax' Kamermans

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It's the third time in same question you are posting this suggestions/comment. I admire your persistence, but what's the point? – Juliusz Apr 18 '18 at 08:52
Perhaps that you should use virtualenv, and that the other answers I commented are, are fairly insane given the Windows user rights models. Even if it's an old question, with old answers, leave new comments if answers no longer work for "now" (although admittedly, even back in 2015, the answer really was "use virtualenv"). Really bad advice is worse than no advice, leave comments when you see answers (or other comments) that will lead to disaster. – Mike 'Pomax' Kamermans Apr 18 '18 at 15:32
Honestly some users like me don't require multiple python installations. We're perfectly happy running a single installation and can manage the dependencies just fine like that, and we see no need for an extra command of "virtualenv" to activate if our only goal is to use a single python installation. I'm puzzled why using the default Python windows installer issues like this must persist. If running python natively on windows is not supported then the official installer should say so, otherwise a specific solution to the problem is all that's desired. – user4779 Jun 10 '19 at 04:32
Then I hope you don't ever need to run _anyone else's_ code, which _will_ yield version conflicts once you've run pip to install things globally. This has f'all to do with "purists" and everything to do with applying some common sense about conflicting software requirements in an ecosystem where that problem has been solved in about as non-intrusive a way as possible (pipenv ain't perfect, but it's a whole lot better than manually install every single requirement yourself, with manual _un_installing of packages that conflict every single time you need to run someone else's code). – Mike 'Pomax' Kamermans Jun 10 '19 at 14:50

score 1 · Answer 11 · answered Jan 26 '19 at 03:40

Note that if you are installing this through Anaconda, you will need to open Anaconda as an administrator and then launch the command prompt from there.

Otherwise, you can also run "Anaconda prompt" directly as an administrator to uninstall and install packages.

score 1 · Answer 12 · answered Aug 06 '21 at 22:41

1

Was facing this issue on windows when upgrading pip inside a virtual environment so in a loaded venv try

python -m pip install --upgrade pip

instead of using normal command like

pip install --upgrade pip #X

Can't use --user here, as we are in venv

answered Aug 06 '21 at 22:41

Syed Zain Jeelani

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score 0 · Answer 13 · answered May 10 '19 at 18:20

I ran into this issue when I was using pycharm to create and run a virtual environment - I clicked the "inherit global site packages" checkbox - deleting and recreating the venv solved the issue for me. If you used another means for creating your venv, make sure it IS NOT INHERITING global packages!

score 0 · Answer 14 · answered Jan 23 '21 at 12:18

I have the same error. Not sure why it happened. But I managed to upgrade by running:

pip install setuptools --upgrade --ignore-installed

After that, I used a PowerShell or Command Prompt - cmd in administrator mode to install the package:

pip install the-package

# or
easy_install the-package

Also, what they have already suggested: Installing packages using pip and virtual environments , which is the best practice for new projects.

score 0 · Answer 15 · answered Jul 28 '21 at 21:39

I had the same problem and I used these steps to solve it.

I added the path into "system environment variables".
I changed the "Registry editor". In order to do that, type "regeidt" in run, then open the "Registry editor". Go to "HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem", choose "LongPathsEnabled" and change the "Valuedata" to "1" press the "Ok", and restart the computer.
Run "Command Prompt" as an "administrator" and type "pip install scikit-learn".

score 0 · Answer 16 · answered Oct 11 '21 at 17:51

In my case, when I went into the properties of AppData folder, there were two checked check-boxes - one for 'Read-Only' and one for 'hidden'. I unchecked the 'hidden' option. It took 5 minutes to process. After that, I was able to install the packages successfully from cmd in administrator mode.

score 0 · Answer 17 · answered Dec 18 '21 at 14:19

0

Below worked for me

$ python -m pip install --user --upgrade pip

answered Dec 18 '21 at 14:19

dgor

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score 0 · Answer 18 · answered Jan 21 '22 at 19:59

0

Working inside a venv in Windows 10 that I received the error when using the PowerShell terminal inside VS Code. When using the command prompt terminal pip was upgraded successfully.

answered Jan 21 '22 at 19:59

noCodeMonkeys

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score 0 · Answer 19 · answered Jan 23 '23 at 07:59

I had a similar problem after upgrading my python installation (with scoop). The problem in my case was that the pip configuration was messed up:

pip config list                                                                                                   
global.target='C:/Program Files/Python310/Lib/site-packages'
global.trusted-host='pypi.python.org\npypi.org\nfiles.pythonhosted.org'

so I had to manually edit the global.target in the pip configuration.

pip config set global.target C:\Users\[User]\scoop\apps\python\current\Lib\site-packages

score 0 · Answer 20 · answered Mar 18 '23 at 12:02

I just had a similar problem.

ERROR: Could not install packages due to an OSError: [WinError 5]  Access is denied: 'C:\\Users\\Lenovo\\Documents\\STUDIES\\venv\\Lib\\site-packages\\matplotlib\\ft2font.cp311-win_amd64.pyd'
Check the permissions

The error occurred when I was trying to reinstall the matplotlib package. Beside, my VS Code was running with opened jupyter notebook, where one of cells contains:

import matplotlib as plt

The solution was to close the VS Code.

The point is, maybe try to close all programs that use the package that you want to install.

score -1 · Answer 21 · answered Jul 08 '18 at 16:45

-1

Just reinstall Python in another folder, e.g. c:\python. After that you won't be bothered by pip wanted administrator privileges.

Windows 10 Pro x64 user.

answered Jul 08 '18 at 16:45

Mark Twain

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Python - PIP install trouble shooting - PermissionError: [WinError 5] Access is denied

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