How to install Django in Windows10

Django | Python | Virtual Environment

˜”*°•.˜”*°• This article will guide you through installing Python 3.7 and Django on Windows. It also provides instructions for setting up a virtual environment, which makes it easier to work on Python projects. This is meant as a beginner’s guide for users working on Django projects and does not reflect how Django should be installed when developing patches for Django itself.
The steps in this guide have been tested with Windows 10. In other versions, the steps would be similar. You will need to be familiar with using the Windows command prompt. •°*”˜.•°*”˜

Install Python

Django is a Python web framework, thus requiring Python to be installed on your machine. At the time of writing, Python 3.7 is my current version.

To install Python on your machine go to https://python.org/downloads/. The website should offer you a download button for the latest Python version. Download the executable installer and run it. Check the boxes next to “Install launcher for all users (recommended)” then click “Install Now”.

After installation, open the command prompt and check that the Python version matches the version you installed by executing:

...\> py --version

Check Python Version

About pip

pip is a package manager for Python and is included by default with the Python installer. It helps to install and uninstall Python packages (such as Django!). For the rest of the installation, we’ll use pip to install Python packages from the command line.

Setting up a virtual environment

It is best practice to provide a dedicated environment for each Django project you create. There are many options to manage environments and packages within the Python ecosystem, some of which are recommended in the Python documentation. Python itself comes with venv for managing environments which we will use for this guide.

To create a virtual environment for your project, open a new command prompt, navigate to the folder where you want to create your project and then enter the following:

...\> py -m venv project-name

creating tweetme2 as a project name for virtual environment

This will create a folder called ‘project-name’ (tweetme2) if it does not already exist and setup the virtual environment. To activate the environment, run:

...\> project-name\Scripts\activate.bat

Activate the windows batch file for virtual environment

The virtual environment will be activated and you’ll see “(project-name)” (tweetme2) next to the command prompt to designate that. Each time you start a new command prompt, you’ll need to activate the environment again.

tweetme2 before Directory E

Install Django

Django can be installed easily using pip within your virtual environment.

In the command prompt, ensure your virtual environment is active, and execute the following command:

...\> py -m pip install Django

Django install in virtual environment

This will download and install the latest Django release.

After the installation has completed, you can verify your Django installation by executing django-admin --version in the command prompt.

django-admin

Common pitfalls

If django-admin only displays the help text no matter what arguments it is given, there is probably a problem with the file association in Windows. Check if there is more than one environment variable set for running Python scripts in PATH. This usually occurs when there is more than one Python version installed.

After installing the Django in virtual environment, you can start your project from your working directory.

start the project in current directory

You have successfully installed Django in Windows10.