Cannot install any packages with pip I got this error ImportError: cannot import name 'appdirs'

Question

When I try install any packages with pip or use pip I got the following error:

ImportError: cannot import name 'appdirs'

an Example:

!pip install tweepy
Traceback (most recent call last): 
    File "/Users/user_name/anaconda3/bin/pip", line 6, 
    in <module> from pip._internal.cli.main import main
    File "/Users/user_name/anaconda3/lib/python3.6/site- 
    packages/pip/_internal/cli/main.py", line 10, in <module>
    from pip._internal.cli.autocompletion import autocomplete
    File "/Users/user_name/anaconda3/lib/python3.6/site- 
    packages/pip/_internal/cli/autocompletion.py", line 9, in <module>
    from pip._internal.cli.main_parser import create_main_parser
    File "/Users/user_name/anaconda3/lib/python3.6/site- 
    packages/pip/_internal/cli/main_parser.py", line 7, in <module>
    from pip._internal.cli import cmdoptions
    File "/Users/user_name/anaconda3/lib/python3.6/site- 
    packages/pip/_internal/cli/cmdoptions.py", line 25, in <module>
    from pip._internal.locations import USER_CACHE_DIR, get_src_prefix
    File "/Users/user_name/anaconda3/lib/python3.6/site- 
    packages/pip/_internal/locations.py", line 19, in <module>
    from pip._internal.utils import appdirs
    File "/Users/user_name/anaconda3/lib/python3.6/site- 
    packages/pip/_internal/utils/appdirs.py", line 13, in <module>
    from pip._vendor import appdirs as _appdirs
    ImportError: cannot import name 'appdirs''''

Another example:

   `pip --version 
    Traceback (most recent call last):
    File "/Users/user_name/anaconda3/bin/pip", line 6, in <module>
from pip._internal.cli.main import main
   File "/Users/user_name/anaconda3/lib/python3.6/site-packages/pip/_internal/cli/main.py", line 10, in <module>
    from pip._internal.cli.autocompletion import autocomplete
    File "/Users/user_name/anaconda3/lib/python3.6/site-packages/pip/_internal/cli/autocompletion.py", line 9, in <module>
    from pip._internal.cli.main_parser import create_main_parser
    File "/Users/user_name/anaconda3/lib/python3.6/site
    packages/pip/_internal/cli/main_parser.py", line 7, in <module>
    from pip._internal.cli import cmdoptions
    File "/Users/user_name/anaconda3/lib/python3.6/site-packages/pip/_internal/cli/cmdoptions.py", line 25, in <module>
from pip._internal.locations import USER_CACHE_DIR, get_src_prefix
    File "/Users/user_name/anaconda3/lib/python3.6/site-packages/pip/_internal/locations.py", line 19, in <module>
from pip._internal.utils import appdirs
    File "/Users/user_name/anaconda3/lib/python3.6/site-packages/pip/_internal/utils/appdirs.py", line 13, in <module>
from pip._vendor import appdirs as _appdirs
    ImportError: cannot import name 'appdirs'

How could I fix it? Thank you

Answer 1

I also get the same error when using ubuntu. You have to install pip installation first by typing the below command on your terminal.

sudo apt install python3-pip

After installation, you can now install your requirements.txt file.