How to Install `packaging` in Python

v26.0 General Purpose Python >=3.8

Core utilities for Python packages

Install pip install packaging

What is packaging?

Core utilities for Python packages

Reusable core utilities for various Python Packaging .

This library provides utilities that implement the interoperability specifications which have clearly one correct behaviour (eg: :pep:) or benefit greatly from having a single shared implementation (eg: :pep:).

The `` project includes the following: version handling, specifiers, markers, requirements, tags, metadata, lockfiles, utilities.

PyPI page → Author: Donald Stufft <[email protected]>

Quick Start

Minimal example to get started with packaging:

import packaging

print(packaging.__version__)

Installation

pip (standard)

pip install packaging

Virtual environment (recommended)

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

pip3

pip3 install packaging

conda

conda install -c conda-forge packaging

Poetry

poetry add packaging

Verify the Installation

After installing, confirm the package is available:

python -c "import packaging; print(packaging.__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 packaging with pip.

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'packaging'

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

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

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'packaging' (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 packaging to install into the interpreter you are running.

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

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

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

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 packaging. 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 packaging

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 packaging

Recent Releases

Version	Released
`26.0` latest	2026-01-21
`26.0rc3`	2026-01-15
`26.0rc2`	2026-01-12
`26.0rc1`	2026-01-09
`25.0`	2025-04-19

Full release history on PyPI →

Manage packaging

Upgrade to latest version

pip install --upgrade packaging

Install a specific version

pip install packaging==26.0

Uninstall

pip uninstall packaging

Check what is installed

pip show packaging

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

How to Install packaging in Python