Skip to main content

​
Installation

Get python-pptx installed and ready to use in your Python environment.

​
Requirements

Before installing python-pptx, ensure you have a compatible Python version:
Python 3.8 or later is required. python-pptx is tested against Python 3.8, 3.9, 3.10, 3.11, and 3.12.

​
Install python-pptx

python-pptx is hosted on PyPI and can be installed using your preferred package manager. 
pip install python-pptx
The package manager will automatically install all required dependencies for you.

​
Dependencies

python-pptx depends on the following packages, which are automatically installed:
  • lxml (>=3.1.0) - XML processing library
  • Pillow (>=3.3.2) - Python Imaging Library for image handling
  • XlsxWriter (>=0.5.7) - Required for charting features
  • typing_extensions (>=4.9.0) - Backport of typing features
You don’t need to install these dependencies manually. Your package manager handles this automatically.

​
Installation steps

1

Check your Python version

Verify you have Python 3.8 or later installed:
python --version
You should see output like Python 3.8.0 or higher.
2

Install python-pptx

Use pip to install python-pptx from PyPI:
pip install python-pptx
This will download and install python-pptx along with all required dependencies.
3

Verify the installation

Test that python-pptx is installed correctly:
python -c "import pptx; print(pptx.__version__)"
This should print the version number (e.g., 1.0.2) without any errors.

​
Virtual environments

It’s recommended to install python-pptx in a virtual environment to avoid conflicts with other projects. 
# Create a virtual environment
python -m venv myenv

# Activate it (Linux/macOS)
source myenv/bin/activate

# Activate it (Windows)
myenv\Scripts\activate

# Install python-pptx
pip install python-pptx

​
Verify installation

Once installed, you can verify everything is working by creating a simple test: 
from pptx import Presentation

# Create a new presentation
prs = Presentation()
print(f"Successfully imported python-pptx!")
print(f"New presentation has {len(prs.slides)} slides")
print(f"Available layouts: {len(prs.slide_layouts)}")
Run this script: 
python test_import.py
You should see output confirming the import was successful: 
Successfully imported python-pptx!
New presentation has 0 slides
Available layouts: 11

​
Troubleshooting

This means python-pptx is not installed in the current environment. Ensure you:
  1. Activated the correct virtual environment (if using one)
  2. Installed python-pptx using pip install python-pptx
  3. Are running Python from the same environment where you installed the package
The lxml library requires some system dependencies. Install them first:macOS:
brew install libxml2 libxslt
pip install python-pptx
Ubuntu/Debian:
sudo apt-get install libxml2-dev libxslt1-dev
pip install python-pptx
RHEL/CentOS:
sudo yum install libxml2-devel libxslt-devel
pip install python-pptx
Pillow may require additional system libraries for image processing:macOS:
brew install libjpeg libpng
pip install python-pptx
Ubuntu/Debian:
sudo apt-get install libjpeg-dev libpng-dev
pip install python-pptx
If you get permission errors during installation, either:
  1. Use a virtual environment (recommended)
  2. Install for your user only: pip install --user python-pptx
  3. Use sudo (not recommended): sudo pip install python-pptx

​
Upgrading python-pptx

To upgrade to the latest version of python-pptx: 
pip install --upgrade python-pptx

​
Next steps

Now that you have python-pptx installed, you’re ready to create your first presentation!

Quickstart tutorial

Follow the quickstart guide to create your first PowerPoint presentation with python-pptx

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get started for freeTalk to us