Install pip on Windows

• If you haven't downloaded get-pip.py yet: You need to download this file from the official pip website or use curl in your command prompt.

  • Using curl (recommended): Open Command Prompt and type:

    DOS

    curl https://bootstrap.pypa.io/get-pip.py -o get-pip.py
    

    This will download the file to your current directory in the Command Prompt.

  • Manual Download: Go to https://bootstrap.pypa.io/get-pip.py in your web browser, right-click on the page, select "Save as...", and save the file as get-pip.py to a location you can easily navigate to (e.g., your Downloads folder, or a dedicated Python projects folder).

• The file is in a different directory: You might have downloaded get-pip.py to your Downloads folder, your Desktop, or another location, but you're trying to run the command from C:\Users\gparn.

  • Solution: Navigate to the directory where you saved get-pip.py in your Command Prompt using the cd (change directory) command.

    • Example (if in Downloads):

      DOS

      cd C:\Users\gparn\Downloads
      

    • Example (if on Desktop):

      DOS

      cd C:\Users\gparn\Desktop
      

    • Tip: Once you cd to the correct directory, you can type dir (or ls on Linux/macOS) and press Enter to list the contents of the current directory and confirm that get-pip.py is indeed there.

• Typo in the filename: Double-check that you've typed get-pip.py correctly. It's case-sensitive on some systems, though generally not on Windows for filenames.

  • Solution: Verify the exact filename.

• Incorrect file extension (hidden): Sometimes, if you're not showing file extensions in Windows File Explorer, you might have accidentally saved the file as get-pip.py.txt.

  • Solution: Enable "File name extensions" in File Explorer's "View" tab to see the full name. If it's get-pip.py.txt, rename it to get-pip.py.

2. You're running the command from the wrong place (as explained previously for IDLE)

• This error message often appears when people try to run command-line instructions within a Python interpreter (like the IDLE shell, which is not what you want for get-pip.py).

• Solution: Make sure you are running the python get-pip.py command in your Windows Command Prompt (CMD) or PowerShell, not within the IDLE Python shell or any other Python interpreter.

Steps to Fix and Install Pip on Windows 11:

1. Open Command Prompt: Press Win + R, type cmd, and press Enter.

2. Download get-pip.py:

   DOS

   curl https://bootstrap.pypa.io/get-pip.py -o get-pip.py
   

   (This will download it to your current directory, which is usually C:\Users\gparn by default when you open a new Command Prompt.)

   • Alternative: Manually download get-pip.py from https://bootstrap.pypa.io/get-pip.py and save it to C:\Users\gparn.

3. Navigate to the correct directory (if you saved it elsewhere): If you downloaded it to, say, your Downloads folder:

   DOS

   cd C:\Users\gparn\Downloads
   

   (Or whatever the full path is where you saved it.)

4. Run the installation script:

   DOS

   python get-pip.py
   

   Self-correction: If you have multiple Python versions, you might need to use py -3 get-pip.py or python3 get-pip.py depending on how your Python is set up. python usually points to Python 3 on recent Windows installs if installed correctly.

5. Verify Pip installation:

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   pip --version
   

   If it was successful, you should see output showing the pip version and its location.

Important Note: Modern Python installations (especially from python.org) usually include pip by default. You might not even need to run get-pip.py. You can often install or upgrade pip using the ensurepip module:

DOS

python -m ensurepip --upgrade

This is generally the preferred way to install or update pip if it's missing or outdated in an existing Python installation.