Hot to update all Python packages with pip

how-to-update-all-python-packages.md

How To Update All Python Packages

• List Outdated Packages
• Update All Python Packages
  • Windows
  • Linux
• Update Specific Packages On Windows Or Linux
• References

List Outdated Packages

pip list --outdated

Update All Python Packages

Windows

pip freeze | %{$.split('==')[0]} | %{pip install --upgrade $}

Linux

To upgrade all packages using pip with grep on Ubuntu Linux

pip3 list --outdated --format=freeze | grep -v '^\-e' | cut -d = -f 1 | xargs -n1 pip3 install -U

To upgrade all packages using pip with awk on Ubuntu Linux

pip3 list -o | cut -f1 -d' ' | tr " " "\n" | awk '{if(NR>=3)print}' | cut -d' ' -f1 | xargs -n1 pip3 install -U

Update Specific Packages On Windows Or Linux

1. Freeze packages

   pip freeze > requirements.txt
   

2. Edit requirements.txt (set the versions you need for your project)

3. Upgrade to the newer/older versions you've setted

   pip install -r requirements.txt --upgrade
   

References

https://www.activestate.com/resources/quick-reads/how-to-update-all-python-packages/

Format option freeze is not available on Mac in Python 3.13. The follow command is more convenient by using jq instead of regex or other fancy string manipulation.

$ pip3 list --outdated --format=json | jq -r '.[].name' | xargs -n1 pip3 install -U

Like @stefanos82 mentioned, it's also possible to ease the usage with the help of a subshell.

$ pip3 install --upgrade $(pip3 list --outdated --format=json | jq -r '.[].name')

If nothing can be upgraded, the command will fail with the following

ERROR: You must give at least one requirement to install (see "pip help install")

The jq is an added dependency on user's side; logically and probably AWK is installed on any UNIX and UNIX-like environments - one of them is Mac and I hope I'm not wrong - as there are many scripts that are being used by the system in various areas behind the scenes.

The alternative to jq command is the following (I will be using pip for both Python2 and Python3): pip install --upgrade $(pip list --outdated | awk 'NR>2 {print $1}')