[python] How to remove pip package after deleting it manually

I deleted a pip package with rm -rf command thinking that the package will be removed. Now the package has been deleted but it still shows up in pip list and I'm unable to remove it with pip uninstall nor can I update with pip install --upgrade.

I'd like to remove it completely. Can anyone please tell me how?

EDIT

The package is psycopg2.

If I try to uninstall :

hammad@hammad-P5QL-E:~$ pip uninstall psycopg2
Can't uninstall 'psycopg2'. No files were found to uninstall.

This is the directory in which psycopg2 was located /usr/lib/python2.7/dist-packagesand I rm -rf 'd it from the same directory.

TIA

This question is related to python pip

The answer is


I'm sure there's a better way to achieve this and I would like to read about it, but a workaround I can think of is this:

  1. Install the package on a different machine.
  2. Copy the rm'ed directory to the original machine (ssh, ftp, whatever).
  3. pip uninstall the package (should work again then).

But, yes, I'd also love to hear about a decent solution for this situation.


  1. Go to the site-packages directory where pip is installing your packages.
  2. You should see the egg file that corresponds to the package you want to uninstall. Delete the egg file (or, to be on the safe side, move it to a different directory).
  3. Do the same with the package files for the package you want to delete (in this case, the psycopg2 directory).
  4. pip install YOUR-PACKAGE

I met the same issue while experimenting with my own Python library and what I've found out is that pip freeze will show you the library as installed if your current directory contains lib.egg-info folder. And pip uninstall <lib> will give you the same error message.

  1. Make sure your current directory doesn't have any egg-info folders
  2. Check pip show <lib-name> to see the details about the location of the library, so you can remove files manually.