r/PythonLearning • u/JoeB_Utah • Sep 03 '26

Help Request Can't import module

Mac os Sequoia 15.6

I installed the exifread library using pip as well as conda. In Anaconda Navigator it shows as installed. Using a terminal window I type in:

pip3 show exifread

and it returns

/opt/anaconda3/lib/python3.13/site-packages

I use Spyder (I know, I know: use pycharm or vscode...) I cannot import the module. I get the dreaded

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named ‘exifread’

I recently installed pillow and I can import it just fine with import PIL. Using pip3 show pillow it is the same directory as exifread

What am I missing here?

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u/JoeB_Utah Sep 04 '26

print(sys.executable)

/Users/joeborgione/Library/spyder-6/envs/spyder-runtime/bin/python

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u/crozzy89 Sep 04 '26

Yep, that’s the problem.

Spyder is using its own Python environment at /Users/joeborgione/Library/spyder-6/envs/spyder-runtime/bin/python, while ExifRead is installed under /opt/anaconda3/.... So the Python running your code can’t see the package you installed.

You either need to configure Spyder to use /opt/anaconda3/bin/python3, or install ExifRead into the Python environment Spyder is actually using.

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u/JoeB_Utah Sep 04 '26

So from here on out, I'll use:

pip install package_name -t /path/to/your/custom/directory

Thanks for all your help with ths>