How to uninstall a package installed with pip install --user

0 votes

There is a --user option for pip which can install a Python package per user:

pip install --user [python-package-name]

I used this option to install a package on a server for which I do not have root access. What I need now is to uninstall the installed package on the current user. I tried to execute this command:

pip uninstall --user [python-package-name]

But I got:

no such option: --user

How can I uninstall a package that I installed with pip install --user, other than manually finding and deleting the package?

Dec 4, 2020 in Python by anonymous
• 10,520 points
17,577 views

1 answer to this question.

0 votes

Having tested this using Python 3.5 and pip 7.1.2 on Linux, the situation appears to be this:

  • pip install --user somepackage installs to $HOME/.local, and uninstalling it does work using pip uninstall somepackage.

  • This is true whether or not somepackage is also installed system-wide at the same time.

  • If the package is installed at both places, only the local one will be uninstalled. To uninstall the package system-wide using pip, first uninstall it locally, then run the same uninstall command again, with root privileges.

  • In addition to the predefined user install directory, pip install --target somedir somepackage will install the package into somedir. There is no way to uninstall a package from such a place using pip. (But there is a somewhat old unmerged pull request on Github that implements pip uninstall --target.)

  • Since the only places pip will ever uninstall from are system-wide and predefined user-local, you need to run pip uninstall as the respective user to uninstall from a given user's local install directory.

answered Dec 4, 2020 by Gitika
• 65,890 points

Related Questions In Python

0 votes
1 answer

How to Install Python packages from local file system folder to virtualenv with pip?

Hello @kartik, You can try the code below: pip ...READ MORE

answered May 12, 2020 in Python by Niroj
• 82,880 points

edited Oct 7, 2021 by Sarfaraz 13,283 views
0 votes
1 answer
0 votes
1 answer

How to install pip with Python 3?

If you're running Python 2.7.9+ or Python ...READ MORE

answered Jan 5, 2021 in Python by Gitika
• 65,890 points
1,451 views
0 votes
1 answer
0 votes
2 answers
+1 vote
2 answers

how can i count the items in a list?

Syntax :            list. count(value) Code: colors = ['red', 'green', ...READ MORE

answered Jul 7, 2019 in Python by Neha
• 330 points

edited Jul 8, 2019 by Kalgi 4,397 views
0 votes
1 answer
+5 votes
6 answers

Lowercase in Python

You can simply the built-in function in ...READ MORE

answered Apr 11, 2018 in Python by hemant
• 5,790 points
4,004 views
0 votes
1 answer

How to find which version of package is installed with pip?

As of pip 1.3, there is a pip show command. $ ...READ MORE

answered Dec 4, 2020 in Python by Gitika
• 65,890 points
5,040 views
0 votes
1 answer

How do I install a Python package with a .whl file?

I just used the following which was ...READ MORE

answered Nov 20, 2020 in Python by Gitika
• 65,890 points
5,025 views
webinar REGISTER FOR FREE WEBINAR X
REGISTER NOW
webinar_success Thank you for registering Join Edureka Meetup community for 100+ Free Webinars each month JOIN MEETUP GROUP