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Python | How to upgrade all Python packages with pip?

Last Updated : April 20, 2025

While using Python as a programming language, it's a very common scenario to use a virtual environment and PIP, a package manager for python.

Things to do before upgrading all Python packages

It's a common practice to use a text file, named as "requirement.txt", which would be populated with the list of libraries used in the given application.

Generally, the developers maintain the version of the libraries in the "requirement.txt", as shown in the below example,

(venv) XXX:src XXX$ more requirements.txt 
numpy==1.17.2
requirements.txt (END)

Upgrading all Python packages with pip

Upgrading every library is a monotonous task, and hence the following commands can be used to upgrade all the packages in the venv (virtual environment) using PIP. We could either follow the below as a two-step process or also combine it to be a single line command.

Approach 1: Upgrade all Python packages with pip

1. Freeze all the libraries to a file called 'requirements.txt' (file name could be anything)

   pip freeze > installed_library_list.txt
   

2. Update all the libraries available in the file

   pip install -r installed_library_list.txt –upgrade
   

Approach 2: Upgrade all Python packages with pip

pip freeze --local | grep -v '^\-e' | cut -d = -f 1  | xargs -n1 pip install -U

The grep is to skip editable ("-e") package definitions, and the -n1 flag for xargs prevents stopping everything if updating one package fails.

Python Upgrade All Packages Exercise

Select the correct option to complete each statement about upgrading Python packages.

1. The command to upgrade all installed Python packages using pip is ___. --Select-- pip install --upgrade pip update --all pip upgrade all
2. The command to list all installed Python packages is ___. --Select-- pip list pip show pip freeze
3. The ___ option allows you to upgrade a specific package in Python. --Select-- --upgrade --force --install
4. To upgrade all Python packages, you must first ___ all outdated packages. --Select-- check list identify

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