How to Install `isort` in Python

v8.0.1 CLI & Utilities Python >=3.10.0

A Python utility / library to sort Python imports.

Install pip install isort

What is isort?

A Python utility / library to sort Python imports.

Read Latest Documentation - Browse GitHub Code Repository _____________

isort your imports, so you don't have to.

isort is a Python utility / library to sort imports alphabetically and automatically separate into sections and by type. It provides a command line utility, Python library and plugins for various editors to quickly sort all your imports. It requires Python 3.10+ to run but supports formatting Python 2 code too.

PyPI page → Author: Timothy Crosley <[email protected]>, staticdev <[email protected]>

Quick Start

Minimal example to get started with isort:

import isort

print(isort.__version__)

Installation

pip (standard)

pip install isort

Virtual environment (recommended)

python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate   # Windows: venv\Scripts\activate
pip install isort

pip3

pip3 install isort

conda

conda install -c conda-forge isort

Poetry

poetry add isort

Verify the Installation

After installing, confirm the package is available:

python -c "import isort; print(isort.__version__)"

If this prints a version number, installation succeeded. If you see a ModuleNotFoundError, see the errors section below.

Installation Errors

Common errors when installing isort with pip.

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'isort'

Cause: The package is not installed in the current Python environment.

Fix: Run pip install isort. If using a virtual environment, ensure it is activated first.

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'isort' (installed but still failing)

Cause: pip installed the package into a different Python than the one running your script.

Fix: Use python -m pip install isort to install into the interpreter you are running.

ImportError: cannot import name 'X' from 'isort'

Cause: The function or class does not exist in the installed version.

Fix: Check the version with pip show isort and upgrade with pip install --upgrade isort.

pip: command not found

Cause: pip is not in PATH or Python was not added to PATH during installation.

Fix: Try python -m pip install isort. On macOS/Linux try pip3.

PermissionError: [Errno 13] Permission denied

Cause: No write access to the system Python package directory.

Fix: Use a virtual environment, or add --user: pip install --user isort

SSL: CERTIFICATE_VERIFY_FAILED

Cause: pip cannot verify PyPI's SSL certificate — common behind corporate proxies.

Fix: Try: pip install --trusted-host pypi.org --trusted-host files.pythonhosted.org isort

Recent Releases

Version	Released
`8.0.1` latest	2026-02-28
`8.0.0`	2026-02-19
`7.0.0`	2025-10-11
`6.1.0`	2025-10-01
`6.0.1`	2025-02-26

Full release history on PyPI →

Manage isort

Upgrade to latest version

pip install --upgrade isort

Install a specific version

pip install isort==8.0.1

Uninstall

pip uninstall isort

Check what is installed

pip show isort

Last updated: 2026-04-11 • Data from PyPI

How to Install isort in Python