install tkinter on mac os and pyenv

Question

When I import tkinter, I get this error:

No module named '_tkinter'

I used both the installation here: https://platform.activestate.com/oferlip/ActiveTcl-8.5/distributions

and also tried this command:

brew install tcl-tk

I saw in this github comment: https://github.com/pyenv/pyenv/issues/1375#issuecomment-533182043

which states that I need to uninstall and then reinstall the pyenv (after installing tck-tk).

I have a lot of installation on my pyenv, is there a way to use tkinter without uninstalling my virtualenv ?

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Aug 12 '20 at 20:12

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I looked it up, and I am pretty sure Tkinter comes pre-installed with Python

Try:

    import tkinter as tk
    from tkinter import *
    print("It works!")

Good luck!

answered Aug 12 '20 at 20:12

bays2023

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I am getting the error:Traceback (most recent call last): import _tkinter # If this fails your Python may not be configured for Tk ModuleNotFoundError: No module named '_tkinter' It is possible that it is not preinstalled in pyenv – Kenny Smith Aug 13 '20 at 10:20
What version of Python do you have? – bays2023 Aug 13 '20 at 18:06
My Python version is 3.7.8 – Kenny Smith Aug 14 '20 at 14:41
Have you tried uninstalling Python and reinstalling? – bays2023 Aug 14 '20 at 16:49
Yes, And it works. I tried to avoid that, in order to not reinstall all the packages I had – Kenny Smith Aug 15 '20 at 06:36

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 05 '21 at 00:59

0

brew install python-tk@3.9

see this formula

answered Jul 05 '21 at 00:59

Pay C.

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score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Jun 03 '23 at 10:32

Using tkinter with pyenv can be tricky due to missing dependencies.

The following two steps should help you fix the tkinter and pyenv issue.

Step 1: Installing Necessary System Packages

Using tkinter with pyenv can be tricky due to missing dependencies.

First, let's make sure we have installed the necessary system packages for tkinter.

On macOS, you can use Homebrew:

brew install tcl-tk

Step 2: Linking the Correct Tcl/Tk Versions

Next, make sure you link the correct versions of Tcl/Tk when installing Python. pyenv builds Python in your environment, but if you don't have the required dependencies, like the Tk/Tcl libraries, it'll build Python without them.

If the Python version you want to use is already installed on your system, you'll need to uninstall it before proceeding. For example:

pyenv uninstall 3.11.3

When installing a new Python version with pyenv, use the following commands:

For macOS, after installing tcl-tk with brew:

brew install openssl readline sqlite3 xz zlib

env LDFLAGS="-L$(brew --prefix openssl@1.1)/lib -L$(brew --prefix readline)/lib -L$(brew --prefix sqlite3)/lib -L$(brew --prefix xz)/lib -L$(brew --prefix zlib)/lib -L$(brew --prefix tcl-tk)/lib" \
CPPFLAGS="-I$(brew --prefix openssl@1.1)/include -I$(brew --prefix readline)/include -I$(brew --prefix sqlite3)/include -I$(brew --prefix xz)/include -I$(brew --prefix zlib)/include -I$(brew --prefix tcl-tk)/include" \
PKG_CONFIG_PATH="$(brew --prefix openssl@1.1)/lib/pkgconfig:$(brew --prefix readline)/lib/pkgconfig:$(brew --prefix sqlite3)/lib/pkgconfig:$(brew --prefix xz)/lib/pkgconfig:$(brew --prefix zlib)/lib/pkgconfig:$(brew --prefix tcl-tk)/lib/pkgconfig" \
pyenv install <version>

Replace <version> with the version of Python you want to install. After that, you should be able to import tkinter in your pyenv Python environment.

Note that I couldn't get tkinter to work with pyenv on Python 3.11.0, but it worked perfectly on 3.11.2.

install tkinter on mac os and pyenv

3 Answers3

Step 1: Installing Necessary System Packages

Step 2: Linking the Correct Tcl/Tk Versions