How to Install `psycopg2-binary` in Python

v2.9.11 General Purpose Python >=3.9 LGPL with exceptions

psycopg2 - Python-PostgreSQL Database Adapter

Install pip install psycopg2-binary

What is psycopg2-binary?

psycopg2 - Python-PostgreSQL Database Adapter

Psycopg is the most popular PostgreSQL database adapter for the Python programming language. Its main features are the complete implementation of the Python DB API 2.0 specification and the thread safety (several threads can share the same connection). It was designed for heavily multi-threaded applications that create and destroy lots of cursors and make a large number of concurrent "INSERT"s or "UPDATE"s.

Psycopg 2 is mostly implemented in C as a libpq wrapper, resulting in being both efficient and secure. It features client-side and server-side cursors, asynchronous communication and notifications, "COPY TO/COPY FROM" support. Many Python types are supported out-of-the-box and adapted to matching PostgreSQL data types; adaptation can be extended and customized thanks to a flexible objects adaptation system.

Psycopg 2 is both Unicode and Python 3 friendly.

Documentation → PyPI page → Author: Federico Di Gregorio

Quick Start

Minimal example to get started with psycopg2-binary:

import psycopg2

conn = psycopg2.connect(
    host="localhost", database="mydb",
    user="postgres", password="secret"
)
cur = conn.cursor()
cur.execute("SELECT version();")
print(cur.fetchone())
conn.close()

Installation

pip (standard)

pip install psycopg2-binary

Virtual environment (recommended)

python -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate   # Windows: venv\Scripts\activate
pip install psycopg2-binary

pip3

pip3 install psycopg2-binary

conda

conda install -c conda-forge psycopg2-binary

Poetry

poetry add psycopg2-binary

Verify the Installation

After installing, confirm the package is available:

python -c "import psycopg2; print(psycopg2.__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 psycopg2-binary with pip.

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'psycopg2'

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

Fix: Run pip install psycopg2-binary. If using a virtual environment, ensure it is activated first.

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'psycopg2' (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 psycopg2-binary to install into the interpreter you are running.

ImportError: cannot import name 'X' from 'psycopg2'

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

Fix: Check the version with pip show psycopg2-binary and upgrade with pip install --upgrade psycopg2-binary.

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 psycopg2-binary. 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 psycopg2-binary

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 psycopg2-binary

Runtime Errors

Common errors when using psycopg2-binary after installation.

psycopg2.OperationalError: could not connect to server: Connection refused

Cause: PostgreSQL is not running or not accepting connections.

Fix: Start PostgreSQL and verify host, port, database name, user, and password.

psycopg2.ProgrammingError: relation does not exist

Cause: The table referenced in the SQL query does not exist in this database.

Fix: Run your schema migrations. Confirm you are connected to the right database.

Recent Releases

Version	Released
`2.9.11` latest	2025-10-10
`2.9.10`	2024-10-16
`2.9.9`	2023-10-03
`2.9.8`	2023-09-28
`2.9.7`	2023-08-05

Full release history on PyPI →

Manage psycopg2-binary

Upgrade to latest version

pip install --upgrade psycopg2-binary

Install a specific version

pip install psycopg2-binary==2.9.11

Uninstall

pip uninstall psycopg2-binary

Check what is installed

pip show psycopg2-binary

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

How to Install psycopg2-binary in Python