How to install Python on Windows, Linux and macOS

If you want to install Python, the easiest way is to use the official installation packages of the popular scripting language. You can choose between different older and newer versions for various platforms. We’ll show you how to find the right edition to install and set up Python on your system.

If you want to work with Python, you need two things: a code editor, which ideally offers syntax highlighting, as well as the appropriate version of Python for the respective system and purpose. Your device doesn’t have to fulfil any special hardware or software requirements to install Python.

When deciding on a version, two questions in particular need to be answered:

1. Which operating system do you want to use Python on?
2. What’s the purpose of your programming efforts?

In principle, you have great freedom in the choice of platform. The open-source language is available for Windows, Linux and macOS. Depending on the system, however, a different installation package must be chosen.

The background for the use or installation of Python therefore plays a role because different versions are recommended depending on the intended use. For example, if you want to learn to program with Python, you can simply install the current version of Python. If you are programming a specific application and want to ensure compatibility with third-party modules, it’s often better to use older versions. Therefore, before even setting up Python, find out which version is best suited to your project.

There are various options for downloading and setting up Python for different platforms. However, the best place to download all the different versions is, without doubt, the official Python website. Here you can find current and older versions, Docker images and development versions in the test phase for Windows, Linux/UNIX and macOS, or other platforms such as iOS, IBM i, AIX or Solaris.

Alternatively, you can download Python, which is one of the most popular internet programming languages, in other ways. Users of Linux or macOS, for example, can also obtain the installation files directly via the package manager. To install Python on newer Microsoft operating systems such as Windows 10 or 11, you can use the Microsoft Store. This is installed by default and has various Python versions available for direct download.

Installing Python on a Microsoft system can be done in just a few steps. The only thing to note is that newer versions, from Python 3.9.x onwards, only run on Windows 8 or higher.

On the official Python website, you’ll find all relevant releases of Python 2 and Python 3 for Windows. For practice or work purposes, downloading a “stable” version is recommended.

With all download packages, you have the choice between 32- and 64-bit. Choose the variant that suits your system architecture. Use the “Windows installer” for an ordinary installation (recommended for beginners).

With Linux distributions, you install Python conveniently via the terminal — if the scripting language is not already installed on the system. For example, Ubuntu 20.04 and later versions of the derivative come with Python 3.9 by default. Read the steps below to find out if Python is already installed and how to install it manually on Linux if not. As an example, we use Ubuntu 22.04 in this case.

Open the terminal and enter this command:

If no version of Python is installed yet, you can always initiate the installation using the package management system apt. First, update the package manager with the following command:

Then, install Python using this command:

Once Python is set up, you can use the programming language at any time from the terminal. To do so, simply enter the following command:

Apple operating systems have come with Python preinstalled for a long time, however, never with a version newer than Python 2.7. Installing a newer Python variant is therefore strongly recommended, even if your system already has a version. The best way is via the Homebrew package manager, which has to be installed first.

After successful installation, you’ll find two more commands under “Next steps”, both of which you should also run. In this way, you add Homebrew to the PATH environment variable to be able to use the package manager from the command line.

Once Homebrew is installed, you can set up Python. To do this, enter the following command in the terminal:

As with Linux/UNIX, you can now run Python from the terminal at any time by typing the following command: