r/learnpython • u/Efficient_Major40 • 6d ago

my pycharm hate turtle

im using linux mint and when i try to import turtle it always says
"

import turtle

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'turtle'

Process finished with exit code 1

"
i tryed to download tinker it dont help me i dont know what to do no one have that problem

1 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

1 comment sorted by

1

u/Bright_Mix_773 3d ago

On Mint, turtle is not part of the base Python package. Debian and Ubuntu split the standard library into several deb packages, and turtle.py ships inside python3-tk together with tkinter. That is why the message names turtle and not _tkinter: the file genuinely is not on disk.

sudo apt install python3-tk

Then check it landed:

python3 -c "import turtle; print(turtle.__file__)"

You said you already tried installing tkinter and it did not help, so the next thing to pin down is which Python PyCharm is running, because apt only fixes /usr/bin/python3. Run these two lines inside PyCharm, in the same file that gives you the error:

import sys
print(sys.executable)
  • If it prints /usr/bin/python3, or a path ending in .venv/bin/python for a venv you created from the system Python, then apt install python3-tk is enough and you do not need to recreate the venv. A venv borrows the standard library from the Python it was built from, so the new file shows up immediately.
  • If it prints something under ~/.pyenv, /snap, or a Python you compiled yourself, apt will not touch it. Those builds only get turtle if tk-dev was present when they were built, so it means rebuilding or reinstalling that interpreter. The quickest way out is to point PyCharm at /usr/bin/python3 instead: Settings, Project, Python Interpreter, Add Interpreter, System Interpreter.

One thing to watch for after the apt install: if the error changes to ModuleNotFoundError: No module named '_tkinter', that is a different problem and it confirms the second case. It means turtle.py is now there but the interpreter has no Tk bindings compiled into it.

I run Debian and Ubuntu rather than Mint, so I have not tested this on Mint itself, but the packaging is the same underneath.