How to Check Python Version

To check the Python version on the command line, run:

python --version

Alternatively, you can run python -V or python -VV.

To obtain your Python version in a script, you can use the sys module:

import sys

print(sys.version)

Or the platform module:

import platform

print(platform.python_version())

How to Check Your Python Version Overview

The clearest way to figure out the Python version is running python --version on a command-line application. But there are other commands too.

Alternatively, you can use python -V too. This is just a shorthand for python --version.

To get more specific version information of Python3, run python3 -VV:

$ python3 -VV
Python 3.9.0 (default, Oct 27 2020, 14:15:17) 
[Clang 12.0.0 (clang-1200.0.32.21)]

This command gives you more detailed version information.

Notice, however, that this option was added to Python 3.6+. Running -VV on < Python 3.6 does not show the additional info.

Check Python Version in a Python Script

Now you know how to check your Python version on a command-line tool. But what if you want to check the version from a script directly?

No problem. There are four ways you can do it.

Use the Sys Module

To get the basic version information directly from a Python script, use the built-in sys module:

import sys

print(sys.version)

Output (example):

3.9.0 (default, Oct 27 2020, 14:15:17) 
[Clang 12.0.0 (clang-1200.0.32.21)]

Or if you want to get this info as a tuple, access the version_info property:

import sys

print(sys.version_info)

Output (example):

sys.version_info(major=3, minor=9, micro=0, releaselevel='final', serial=0)

Use the Platform Module

Another way to access the version information on a Python script is by using the platform module.

For example:

import platform

print(platform.python_version())

Output (example):

3.9.0

Or if you want to get the version info as a tuple:

import platform

print(platform.python_version_tuple())

Output (example):

('3', '9', '0')

Now you know all the ways you can get the version info about Python.

Next, let’s see system-specific guides on how to use command-line tools to get the version info.