How to check the Python installation path in Mac
In this post, we'll learn how to find the Mac Python installation path, verify the installation, and check the version.
As mentioned in the Download and Install (Mac) post, there are three main ways to install Python on the Mac. Let's also check the corresponding installation paths in each case.
1. Verify installation and version
Once you've installed Python using the installer or homebrew, you'll want to open a terminal and verify that your installation is working properly.
You can do this by simply running python3 --version
to check the version of Python you have installed, or python3
to run the REPL.
In the screenshot above, you can see that the newly installed version of the Python REPL is running, not the one that was installed by default on your Mac.
Of course, the previously installed Python still exists on the machine.
However, the version we just installed has a higher priority, so it runs first when we type the command python3
.
2. Check the installation path
2.1. Path to Python installed by the official Python installer
In Section 1 we saw that the newly installed Python is running, now let's check the path to this Python executable. To determine the location of this path, you can use the following command.
which python3
The `which' command checks the path to the executable file run by a specific command in the terminal, and can be used with any command, including git, docker, node, etc.
Result of execution:
It says that the Python executable that is now running is in the /usr/local/bin
folder.
However, the /usr/local/bin
folder contains mostly shortcuts, not actual executables. The same goes for Python.
Unix-like operating systems, including the Mac, have a feature similar to the Windows shortcut feature.
It's called a symbolic link, and you use the -l
option of the ls
command to get the original location of the file associated with the symbolic link.
ls -l /usr/local/bin/python3
Result of execution:
->
: The actual program is stored where this arrow points...
: These two dots represent the parent folder.
So the actual path to the downloaded Python is /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.11/bin/python3
.
I run the python file in that path and it works just fine.
2.2. Mac's built-in Python path
Next, let's look at the path to the Python executable that was originally installed on the Mac.
The pre-installed Python is used by the Mac OS and its own development platform, Xcode.
It's included in a collection of programs called Apple's CommandLineTools.
So the path to this Python is /Library/Developer/CommandLineTools/usr/bin/python3
.
Also, the same version is automatically installed in the /usr/bin/python3
path, so when you find them all and run them, you'll see something like this
Note that the /usr/local/bin
folder has a higher priority than the /usr/bin
folder, so if you type python3
without any paths, it will run the latest version.
These paths are called PATH
and are stored as environment variables in the shell you are using.
You can see all the values of PATH
with the following command.
echo $PATH
Execution result:
You can see that on my Mac, /usr/local/bin
is ranked 2nd and /usr/bin
is ranked 4th.
2.3. Path to Python executable file installed by Homebrew
To see the actual path and symlink path of the Python executable installed with Homebrew, see Download and Installation (Mac) - 3. How to download and install Python with Homebrew section.
2.4. Path to Python executable file installed with Conda / Mamba
To see the actual path and symlink path of the Python executable you installed with Conda or Mamba, see Download and Installation (Mac) - 4.3. Installing Python with the Conda/Mamba package manager section.
