matplotlib error - no module named tkinter

I tried to use the matplotlib package via Pycharm IDE on windows 10. when I run this code:

from matplotlib import pyplot 

I get the following error:

ImportError: No module named 'tkinter' 

I know that in python 2.x it was called Tkinter, but that is not the problem - I just installed a brand new python 3.5.1.

EDIT: in addition, I also tried to import 'tkinter' and 'Tkinter' - neither of these worked (both returned the error message I mentioned).

19 Answers

For Linux

Debian based distros:

sudo apt-get install python3-tk 

RPM based distros:

sudo yum install python3-tkinter 

For windows:

For Windows, I think the problem is you didn't install complete Python package. Since Tkinter should be shipped with Python out of box. See: . Good python distributions for Windows can be found by the companies Anaconda or ActiveState.

Test the python module

python -c "import tkinter" 

p.s. I suggest installing ipython, which provides powerful shell and necessary packages as well.

you can use

import matplotlib matplotlib.use('agg') import matplotlib.pyplot as plt 

if you dont want to use tkinter at all.

Also dont forget to use %matplotlib inline at the top of your notebook if using one.

EDIT: agg is a different backend like tkinter for matplotlib.

For Windows users, there's no need to download the installer again. Just do the following:

1. Go to start menu, type Apps & features,
2. Search for "python" in the search box,
3. Select the Python version (e.g. Python 3.8.3rc1(32-bit)) and click Modify,
4. On the Modify Setup page click Modify,
5. Tick td/tk and IDLE checkbox (which installs tkinter) and click next.

Wait for installation and you're done.

On Centos, the package names and commands are different. You'll need to do:

sudo yum install tkinter 

To fix the problem.

Almost all answers I searched for this issue say that Python on Windows comes with tkinter and tcl already installed, and I had no luck trying to download or install them using pip, or actviestate.com site. I eventually found that when I was installing python using the binary installer, I had unchecked the module related to TCL and tkinter. So, I ran the binary installer again and chose to modify my python version by this time selecting this option. No need to do anything manually then. If you go to your python terminal, then the following commands should show you version of tkinter installed with your Python:

import tkinter import _tkinter tkinter._test() 

If you are using fedora then first install tkinter

sudo dnf install python3-tkinter 

I don't think you need to import tkinter afterwards I also suggest you to use virtualenv

$ python3 -m venv myvenv $ source myvenv/bin/activate 

And add the necessary packages using pip

On CentOS 7 and Python 3.4, the command is sudo yum install python34-tkinter

On Redhat 7.4 with Python 3.6, the command is sudo yum install rh-python36-python-tkinter

For windows users, re-run the installer. Select Modify. Check the box for tcl/tk and IDLE. The description for this says "Installs tkinter"

On Ubuntu, early 2018, there is no python3.6-tk on ubuntu's (xenial/16.04) normal distributions, so even if you have earlier versions of python-tk this won't work.

My solution was to use set everything up with python 3.5:

 sudo apt install python3.5-tk virtualenv --python=`which python3.5` python-env source python-env/bin/activate pip install -r requirements.txt 

And now matplotlib can find tkinter.

EDIT:

I just needed 3.6 afterall, and the trick was to:

sudo apt install tk-dev 

and then rebuild python3.6, after tk-dev, eg:

./configure make make install 

If you are using python 3.6, this worked for me:

sudo apt-get install python3.6-tk 

instead of

sudo apt-get install python3-tk 

Which works for other versions of python3

For the poor guys like me using python 3.7. You need the python3.7-tk package.

sudo apt install python3.7-tk

$ python Python 3.7.4 (default, Sep 2 2019, 20:44:09) [GCC 5.4.0 20160609] on linux Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information. >>> import tkinter Traceback (most recent call last): File "<stdin>", line 1, in <module> ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'tkinter' >>> exit() 

Note. python3-tk is installed. But not python3.7-tk.

$ sudo apt install python3.7-tk Reading package lists... Done Building dependency tree Reading state information... Done Suggested packages: tix python3.7-tk-dbg The following NEW packages will be installed: python3.7-tk 0 upgraded, 1 newly installed, 0 to remove and 34 not upgraded. Need to get 143 kB of archives. After this operation, 534 kB of additional disk space will be used. Get:1 xenial/main amd64 python3.7-tk amd64 3.7.4-1+xenial2 [143 kB] Fetched 143 kB in 0s (364 kB/s) Selecting previously unselected package python3.7-tk:amd64. (Reading database ... 256375 files and directories currently installed.) Preparing to unpack .../python3.7-tk_3.7.4-1+xenial2_amd64.deb ... Unpacking python3.7-tk:amd64 (3.7.4-1+xenial2) ... Setting up python3.7-tk:amd64 (3.7.4-1+xenial2) ... 

After installing it, all good.

$ python3 Python 3.7.4 (default, Sep 2 2019, 20:44:09) [GCC 5.4.0 20160609] on linux Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information. >>> import tkinter >>> exit() 

On CentOS 6.5 with python 2.7 I needed to do: yum install python27-tkinter

Sometimes (for example in osgeo4w distribution) tkinter is removed.

Try changing matplotlib backend editing matplotlibrc file located in [python install dir]/matplotlib/mpl-data/matplotlibrc changing The backend parameter from backend: TkAgg to something other like backend: Qt4Aggas described here:

Since I'm using Python 3.7 on Ubuntu I had to use:

sudo apt-get install python3.7-tk 

Maybe you installed python from source. In this case, you can recompile python with tcl/tk supported.

1. Complie and install tcl/tk from , I'll suppose you installed python at /home/xxx/local/tcl-tk/.

# install tcl wget -c tar -xvzf tcl8.6.9-src.tar.gz cd tcl8.6.9 ./configure --prefix=/home/xxx/local/tcl-tk/ make make install # install tk wget -c tar -xvzf tk8.6.9.1-src.tar.gz cd tk8.6.9.1 ./configure --prefix=/home/xxx/local/tcl-tk/ make make install 

2. Recompile python with tcl/tk supported, for example:

# download the source code of python and decompress it first. cd <your-python-src-dir> ./configure --prefix=/home/xxx/local/python \ --with-tcltk-includes=/home/xxx/local/tcl-tk/include \ --with-tcltk-libs=/home/xxx/local/tcl-tk/lib make make install 

I had the same issue on Win x86/64 because my custom Python3.7 installation did not include Tcl packages, so just modify or re-install your python

Download Python Setup file and click modify then tick the tcl/tk and install.

After installation is complete go to folder where python is installed ( Default is C:\Users*Your username*\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python39\Lib) .

Copy the tkinter folder and paste it in the lib folder of your pycharm project.

Error should be resolved

Follow these steps to easily install Tkinter on your PyCharm IDE:

First go to the File:

Second is go to New Project Setup > Settings for new projects:

And then click the Settings for new projects and you'll get redirected in here:

Please click the + symbol in there:

after that install future and there you go...

If you’re having pip(which you probably do), open up cmd or powershell on Windows or a terminal window on OS X or Linux and try this(make sure python is in the system path if you’re on Windows):

pip install tkinter 

It should take a while to install tkinter, and then try to execute this code block:

from tkinter import * root = Tk() # Your code goes here root.mainloop() 

Hope that this helps! Thank you!