Conda defaulting to user installation because normal site-packages is not writeable

On: March 11, 2022 Views: 2k Author: tptutoria

• Where does it come from?
• How do you fix the error Defaulting to user installation because normal site-packages is not writeable Python?
  • Solution 1: The python need be Reinstalled
  • Solution 2: Modify the download the python’s location
  • Solution 3: Make sure to update the Python version
  • Solution 4: Operate python version when you install the package
  • Solution 5: Install the Virtual Environment
• In conclusion

When you set up any package and find the warning message in Python, it shows “Defaulting to user installation because normal site-packages is not writeable” text. Do you check the python version or location? If you would like to understand this issue, let’s consider our recommendation here. Below simple suggestions would be a great explanation that you have ever found.

Where does it come from?

Python is used for software development, web development (server-side), mathematics and system scripting. Python is a popular programming language so error for installing any package is common.

Let search what is your trouble when you are struggling to install the package. You have been having several permission problems. VSCode can’t find Jupyter Notebook, pip installs packages at ~/Library/Python/3.7/site-packages.When you use which python3 you get usr/bin/python3. When you apply pip3 install <package>.Then, you get this warning message:

Defaulting to user installation because normal site-packages is not writeable

Thus, it shows that this is a permission issue, pip can not install to the python of “base” , & python can not find what you have installed into ~/Library/Python/3.7/site-packages.

Don’t worry too much and find the best solution for your problem as below

How do you fix the error Defaulting to user installation because normal site-packages is not writeable Python?

To correct Defaulting to user installation because normal site-packages is not writeable Python you should follow our recommnedation and the passage “Defaulting to user installation because normal site-packages is not writeable” does not pop up and the function looks to work just fine.

Solution 1: The python need be Reinstalled

At the beginning, just removed and reinstalled the python. Your system is well-functioning and the text “Defaulting to user installation because normal site-packages is not writeable” doesn’t appear anymore.

Solution 2: Modify the download the python’s location

1. Just try to adjust the download python’s location
2. Run cmd as admin. Or change the download python’s location and run cmd as without admin. Try both ways

Solution 3: Make sure to update the Python version

Check the python version is up –to-date, if it is not, just update the new version.

Solution 4: Operate python version when you install the package

When you are installing a package, you should apply Python version.

Python 3:

python3 -m pip install [package_name]

Python 3.7:

python3.7 -m pip install [package_name]

Python 2:

python -m pip install [package_name]

Solution 5: Install the Virtual Environment

• In Python, install Virtual Environment Module 

• Verify if the Virtual environment is installed properly by checking its version

• Create a new virtual environment for your project

After that, a directory named my_name will be created. This directory includes all executables needed to run the programs that an Python project might require. This is the location where Python packages are installed.

• Specify the Python interpreter

$ virtualenv -p /usr/bin/python3 virtualenv_name

• Activate the Virtual Environment

$ source virtualenv_name/bin/activate

In conclusion

We hope you enjoyed our article about Python as showed. With this knowledge, we comprehend that you can correct the “Defaulting to user installation because normal site-packages is not writeable” error simply by our brilliant approaches. If you have other good ideas or concerns,  please send us your comments in the box below.