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If you have multiple Python versions installed on your Ubuntu system, you can configure which one is used by default.

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Set the Default Python Version

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Find installed Python versions
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First, check the installed Python versions on your system and copy the path to the version you want to set as default.
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# copy the path to your python version
whereis python3.13 # replace your version with the one you want to set as default
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Register the version with update-alternatives
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Use the update-alternatives command to register your Python version. The higher the priority value, the higher the priority of that version.
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sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/python3 python3 <replace-your-path> <priority-value>
# example
sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/python3 python3 /usr/bin/python3.13 1
sudo update-alternatives --config python3 # select the version you want to set as default
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You will see output similar to this — enter the selection number for the version you want:
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There are 2 choices for the alternative python3 (providing /usr/bin/python3).

  Selection    Path                       Priority   Status
------------------------------------------------------------
* 0            /usr/local/bin/python3.12   2         auto mode
  1            /usr/bin/python3.13         1         manual mode
  2            /usr/local/bin/python3.12   2         manual mode

Press <enter> to keep the current choice[*], or type selection number: 1
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Verify the default version
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python3 --version
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(Optional) Set default for the python command
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sudo update-alternatives --install /usr/bin/python python /usr/bin/python3.13 1
sudo update-alternatives --config python
python --version

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