How to remove pip package after deleting it manually
Question:
I deleted a pip package with rm -rf command thinking that the package will be removed. Now the package has been deleted but it still shows up in pip list and I’m unable to remove it with pip uninstall nor can I update with pip install --upgrade.
I’d like to remove it completely. Can anyone please tell me how?
EDIT
The package is psycopg2.
If I try to uninstall :
hammad@hammad-P5QL-E:~$ pip uninstall psycopg2
Can't uninstall 'psycopg2'. No files were found to uninstall.
This is the directory in which psycopg2 was located /usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packagesand I rm -rf ‘d it from the same directory.
TIA
Answers:
packages installed using pip can be uninstalled completely using
pip uninstall <package>
pip uninstall is likely to fail if the package is installed using python setup.py install as they do not leave behind metadata to determine what files were installed.
packages still show up in pip list if their paths(.pth file) still exist in your site-packages or dist-packages folder. You’ll need to remove them as well in case you’re removing using rm -rf
I’m sure there’s a better way to achieve this and I would like to read about it, but a workaround I can think of is this:
- Install the package on a different machine.
- Copy the
rm‘ed directory to the original machine (ssh, ftp, whatever).
pip uninstall the package (should work again then).
But, yes, I’d also love to hear about a decent solution for this situation.
- Go to the
site-packages directory where pip is installing your packages.
- You should see the egg file that corresponds to the package you want to uninstall. Delete the egg file (or, to be on the safe side, move it to a different directory).
- Do the same with the package files for the package you want to delete (in this case, the
psycopg2 directory).
pip install YOUR-PACKAGE
I met the same issue while experimenting with my own Python library and what I’ve found out is that pip freeze will show you the library as installed if your current directory contains lib.egg-info folder. And pip uninstall <lib> will give you the same error message.
- Make sure your current directory doesn’t have any
egg-info folders
- Check
pip show <lib-name> to see the details about the location of the library, so you can remove files manually.
I deleted a pip package with rm -rf command thinking that the package will be removed. Now the package has been deleted but it still shows up in pip list and I’m unable to remove it with pip uninstall nor can I update with pip install --upgrade.
I’d like to remove it completely. Can anyone please tell me how?
EDIT
The package is psycopg2.
If I try to uninstall :
hammad@hammad-P5QL-E:~$ pip uninstall psycopg2
Can't uninstall 'psycopg2'. No files were found to uninstall.
This is the directory in which psycopg2 was located /usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packagesand I rm -rf ‘d it from the same directory.
TIA
packages installed using pip can be uninstalled completely using
pip uninstall <package>
pip uninstall is likely to fail if the package is installed using python setup.py install as they do not leave behind metadata to determine what files were installed.
packages still show up in pip list if their paths(.pth file) still exist in your site-packages or dist-packages folder. You’ll need to remove them as well in case you’re removing using rm -rf
I’m sure there’s a better way to achieve this and I would like to read about it, but a workaround I can think of is this:
- Install the package on a different machine.
- Copy the
rm‘ed directory to the original machine (ssh, ftp, whatever). pip uninstallthe package (should work again then).
But, yes, I’d also love to hear about a decent solution for this situation.
- Go to the
site-packagesdirectory where pip is installing your packages. - You should see the egg file that corresponds to the package you want to uninstall. Delete the egg file (or, to be on the safe side, move it to a different directory).
- Do the same with the package files for the package you want to delete (in this case, the
psycopg2directory). pip install YOUR-PACKAGE
I met the same issue while experimenting with my own Python library and what I’ve found out is that pip freeze will show you the library as installed if your current directory contains lib.egg-info folder. And pip uninstall <lib> will give you the same error message.
- Make sure your current directory doesn’t have any
egg-infofolders - Check
pip show <lib-name>to see the details about the location of the library, so you can remove files manually.