How to Install `python-dotenv` in Python

v1.2.2 CLI & Utilities Python >=3.10 BSD-3-Clause

Read key-value pairs from a .env file and set them as environment variables

Install pip install python-dotenv

What is python-dotenv?

Read key-value pairs from a .env file and set them as environment variables

python-dotenv reads key-value pairs from a file and can set them as environment variables. It helps in the development of applications following the 12-factor principles.

- Getting Started - Other Use Cases - Load configuration without altering the environment - Parse configuration as a stream - Load .env files in IPython - Command-line Interface - File format - Multiline values - Variable expansion - Related Projects - Acknowledgements

If your application takes its configuration from environment variables, like a 12-factor application, launching it in development is not very practical because you have to set those environment variables yourself.

PyPI page → Author: Saurabh Kumar <me+github@saurabh-kumar.com>

Quick Start

Minimal example to get started with python-dotenv:

from dotenv import load_dotenv
import os

load_dotenv()  # reads .env file in current directory

api_key = os.environ.get("API_KEY")
print(api_key)

# .env file contents:
# API_KEY=your-secret-key
# DEBUG=true

Installation

pip (standard)

pip install python-dotenv

Virtual environment (recommended)

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

pip3

pip3 install python-dotenv

conda

conda install -c conda-forge python-dotenv

Poetry

poetry add python-dotenv

Verify the Installation

After installing, confirm the package is available:

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

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'dotenv'

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 python-dotenv. 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 python-dotenv

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 python-dotenv

Recent Releases

Version	Released
`1.2.2` latest	2026-03-01
`1.2.0`	2025-10-26
`1.2.1`	2025-10-26
`1.1.1`	2025-06-24
`1.1.0`	2025-03-25

Full release history on PyPI →

Manage python-dotenv

Upgrade to latest version

pip install --upgrade python-dotenv

Install a specific version

pip install python-dotenv==1.2.2

Uninstall

pip uninstall python-dotenv

Check what is installed

pip show python-dotenv

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

How to Install python-dotenv in Python