pythonpython-3.xmacosterminal

Completely uninstall Python 3 on Mac

I installed Python 3 on Mac and installed some packages as well. But then I see AWS lamda does not support Python 3 so I decided to downgrade. I removed Python3 folder in Applications and cleared the trash. But still I see a folder named 3 in /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions which is causing problems, such as this:

  $ python3 -m pip install virtualenv
 Requirement already satisfied: virtualenv in      /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.10/lib/python3.10/site-packages (20.14.1)
 Requirement already satisfied: platformdirs<3,>=2 in /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.10/lib/python3.10/site-packages (from virtualenv) (2.5.2)

So my question is how do I completely uninstall python 3 from my Mac?

Solution

  • ⚠️ WARNING: macOS comes with a system Python installation in /usr/bin/python3 that should NOT be removed as it's required for system functionality. Only remove Python versions you've manually installed.

    Please read the end of 5.1.1 for official insight: https://docs.python.org/3/using/mac.html#installation-steps

    Legacy Python

    The previous edit for this question suggested removing /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/2.x/bin/python as a way of completely removing Python. This flexibility has since changed with newer macOS updates.

    Identify Your Python Installations

    Before removing anything, determine which Python installations exist and where they're located:

    # List all Python installations
which -a python python3

# Check Python versions
python3 --version

# Find installation locations
ls -l /opt/homebrew/bin/python*
ls -l /usr/local/bin/python*
ls -l /usr/bin/python*

    For Homebrew Python

    # Uninstall Python
brew uninstall python@3.x
# Remove orphaned files
brew cleanup
# List any broken symlinks, etc.
brew doctor

    For Python.org installer

    # Remove the application
sudo rm -rf /Applications/Python\ 3.x

# Check for framework files
ls -la /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/
# If found, remove the specific version
sudo rm -rf /Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.x

# Check for and remove symbolic links
# For Intel Macs:
cd /usr/local/bin
ls -l | grep '../Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.x' | awk '{print $9}' | xargs rm -f
# For Apple Silicon:
cd /opt/homebrew/bin
ls -l | grep '../Library/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.x' | awk '{print $9}' | xargs rm -f

# Check for user-specific packages
ls -l ~/Library/Python/
# Remove if needed
rm -rf ~/Library/Python/3.x/

    For pyenv-managed Python

    # List all installed Python versions
pyenv versions

# Show the current active version
pyenv version

# Uninstall a specific version
pyenv uninstall 3.x.y

# Check pyenv installation location
ls -la ~/.pyenv/versions/

# Remove pyenv shims and rehash
pyenv rehash

# If you want to completely remove pyenv itself
# For Homebrew installation:
brew uninstall pyenv
# For manual installation:
rm -rf ~/.pyenv
# Don't forget to remove pyenv initialization from your shell profile
# (.bash_profile, .zshrc, etc.)

    Clean Up Remaining Files

    # Remove Python cache files
find ~/ -name "__pycache__" -type d -exec rm -rf {} +
find ~/ -name "*.pyc" -delete

# Check for any remaining Python-related directories
ls -la ~/Library/Application\ Support/ | grep -i python
ls -la ~/Library/Caches/ | grep -i python

    Please