How to Install `opencv-python` in Python

v4.13.0.92 Data & Science Python >=3.6 Apache 2.0

Wrapper package for OpenCV python bindings.

Install pip install opencv-python

What is opencv-python?

Wrapper package for OpenCV python bindings.

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Pre-built CPU-only OpenCV packages for Python.

Documentation → PyPI page →

Quick Start

Minimal example to get started with opencv-python:

import cv2

print(cv2.__version__)

Installation

pip (standard)

pip install opencv-python

Virtual environment (recommended)

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

pip3

pip3 install opencv-python

conda

conda install -c conda-forge opencv-python

Poetry

poetry add opencv-python

Dependencies

Installing opencv-python will also install these packages:

numpy numpy

Verify the Installation

After installing, confirm the package is available:

python -c "import cv2; print(cv2.__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 opencv-python with pip.

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'cv2'

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

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

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'cv2' (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 opencv-python to install into the interpreter you are running.

ImportError: cannot import name 'X' from 'cv2'

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

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

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 opencv-python. 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 opencv-python

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 opencv-python

MemoryError when loading data

Cause: Dataset is too large to fit in RAM.

Fix: Read in chunks, filter columns on load, or consider Polars/Dask for out-of-core processing.

Recent Releases

Version	Released
`4.13.0.92` latest	2026-02-05
`4.13.0.90`	2026-01-18
`4.12.0.88`	2025-07-07
`4.11.0.86`	2025-01-16
`4.10.0.84`	2024-06-17

Full release history on PyPI →

Manage opencv-python

Upgrade to latest version

pip install --upgrade opencv-python

Install a specific version

pip install opencv-python==4.13.0.92

Uninstall

pip uninstall opencv-python

Check what is installed

pip show opencv-python

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

How to Install opencv-python in Python