Unable to run IDLE: No module named '_tkinter'

Question

when i run "idle3.8" i get this error:

 IDLE can't import Tkinter.
   Your Python may not be configured for Tk.

I have installed every tkinter packages but i get this error again. and when I have imported tkinter and I get this error:

File "/usr/local/lib/python3.8/tkinter/__init__.py", line 36, in <module>
    import _tkinter # If this fails your Python may not be configured for Tk
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named '_tkinter'

But I can import tkinter on python 2

my operating system is fedora
my python version is:3.8.2

Are you making sure you are saying tkinter and not Tkinter as Tkinter is for python 2 — TheFluffDragon9, May 01 '20 at 13:00
Get some knowledge from [here](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/48385116/import-tkinter-or-tkinter) and get right understanding about what do you need to do. — Kalana, May 01 '20 at 15:16

score 2 · Answer 1 · answered May 23 '20 at 23:01

Here is step by step guide to make IDLE and tkinter work on macOS Catalina. Should be easily adapted to Linux:

install tcl-tk with Homebrew. In shell run brew install tcl-tk
in shell run echo 'export PATH="/usr/local/opt/tcl-tk/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.zshrc
reload shell by quitting Terminal app or run source ~/.zshrc
after reloaded check that tck-tk is in $PATH. Run echo $PATH | grep --color=auto tcl-tk. As the result you should see your $PATH contents with tcl-tk highlighted
now we run three commands from Homebrew's output from step #1
1. in shell run export LDFLAGS="-L/usr/local/opt/tcl-tk/lib"
2. in shell run export CPPFLAGS="-I/usr/local/opt/tcl-tk/include"
3. in shell run export PKG_CONFIG_PATH="/usr/local/opt/tcl-tk/lib/pkgconfig"
if you have your Python version already installed with pyenv then uninstall it with pyenv uninstall <your python version>. E.g. pyenv uninstall 3.8.2
set environment variable that will be used by python-build. In shell run PYTHON_CONFIGURE_OPTS="--with-tcltk-includes='-I/usr/local/opt/tcl-tk/include' --with-tcltk-libs='-L/usr/local/opt/tcl-tk/lib -ltcl8.6 -ltk8.6'" Note: in future use tck-tk version that actually installed with Homebrew. At the moment of posting 8.6 was the actual
finally install Python with pyenv with pyenv install <version>. E.g. pyenv install 3.8.2

Test

in shell run pyenv global <verion that you've just installed>
now check IDLE. In shell run idle. You should see IDLE window without any warnings and "text printed in red".

now check tkinter. In shell run python -m tkinter -c "tkinter._test()". You should see test window like on the image:

That's it!

My environment:

check this is something went wrong executing steps above:

macOS Catalina
zsh (included in macOS Catalina) = "shell" above
Homebrew (installed with instructions from Homebrew official website)
pyenv (installed with Homebrew and PATH updated according to pyenv official readme from GitHub)
Python 3.8.x - 3.9.x (installed with pyenv install <version> command)

Unable to run IDLE: No module named '_tkinter'

1 Answers1