arrow/docs/source/python/install.rst

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Installing PyArrow
==================

System Compatibility
--------------------

PyArrow is regularly built and tested on Windows, macOS and various
Linux distributions. We strongly recommend using a 64-bit system.

Python Compatibility
--------------------

PyArrow is currently compatible with Python 3.11, 3.12, 3.13 and 3.14.

Using Conda
-----------

Install the latest version of PyArrow from
`conda-forge <https://conda-forge.org/>`_ using `Conda <https://conda.io>`_:

.. code-block:: bash

    conda install -c conda-forge pyarrow

.. note::

    While the ``pyarrow`` `conda-forge <https://conda-forge.org/>`_ package is
    the right choice for most users, both a minimal and maximal variant of the
    package exist, either of which may be better for your use case. See
    :ref:`python-conda-differences`.

Using Pip
---------

Install the latest version from `PyPI <https://pypi.org/>`_ (Windows, Linux,
and macOS):

.. code-block:: bash

   pip install pyarrow

If you encounter any importing issues of the pip wheels on Windows, you may
need to install the `latest Visual C++ Redistributable for Visual Studio
<https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/cpp/windows/latest-supported-vc-redist?view=msvc-170#latest-microsoft-visual-c-redistributable-version>`_.

.. warning::
   On Linux, you will need pip >= 19.0 to detect the prebuilt binary packages.

Installing nightly packages or from source
------------------------------------------

See :ref:`python-development`.

Dependencies
------------

Optional dependencies

* **NumPy 2.0** or higher.
* **pandas 2.2.2** or higher,
* **cffi**.

Additional packages PyArrow is compatible with are :ref:`fsspec <filesystem-fsspec>`
and **pytz**, **dateutil** or **tzdata** package for timezones.

tzdata on Windows
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

On Linux and macOS, Arrow uses the OS-provided timezone database. On Windows,
Arrow uses the Windows timezone database when built with MSVC or recent MinGW GCC
(version 13+), which covers most pre-built packages. No additional setup is needed
for these builds.

However, when PyArrow is built with Clang/libc++ on Windows, a user-provided
IANA timezone database is required. To download and extract the text version of
the IANA timezone database follow the instructions in the C++
:ref:`download-timezone-database` or use the (deprecated) pyarrow utility function
``pyarrow.util.download_tzdata_on_windows()``.

By default, the timezone database will be detected at ``%USERPROFILE%\Downloads\tzdata``.
If the database has been downloaded in a different location, you will need to set
a custom path to the database from Python using the (deprecated)
``pa.set_timezone_db_path("custom_path")`` function.

.. note::
   You may encounter problems writing datetime data to an ORC file if you install
   pyarrow with pip. One possible solution to fix this problem:

   1. Install tzdata with ``pip install tzdata``
   2. Set the environment variable ``TZDIR = path\to\.venv\Lib\site-packages\tzdata\``

   You can find where ``tzdata`` is installed with the following python command:

   .. code-block:: python

      import tzdata
      print(tzdata.__file__)  # path\to\.venv\Lib\site-packages\tzdata\__init__.py


.. _python-conda-differences:

Differences between conda-forge packages
----------------------------------------

On `conda-forge <https://conda-forge.org/>`_, PyArrow is published as three
separate packages, each providing varying levels of functionality. This is in
contrast to PyPi, where only a single PyArrow package is provided.

The purpose of this split is to minimize the size of the installed package for
most users (``pyarrow``), provide a smaller, minimal package for specialized use
cases (``pyarrow-core``), while still providing a complete package for users who
require it (``pyarrow-all``). What was historically ``pyarrow`` on
`conda-forge <https://conda-forge.org/>`_ is now ``pyarrow-all``, though most
users can continue using ``pyarrow``.

The ``pyarrow-core`` package includes the following functionality:

- :ref:`data`
- :ref:`compute` (i.e., ``pyarrow.compute``)
- :ref:`io`
- :ref:`ipc` (i.e., ``pyarrow.ipc``)
- :ref:`filesystem` (i.e., ``pyarrow.fs``. Note: It's planned to move cloud fileystems (i.e., :ref:`S3<filesystem-s3>`, :ref:`GCS<filesystem-gcs>`, etc) into ``pyarrow`` in a future release though :ref:`filesystem-localfs` will remain in ``pyarrow-core``.)
- File formats: :ref:`Arrow/Feather<feather>`, :ref:`JSON<json>`, :ref:`CSV<py-csv>`, :ref:`ORC<orc>` (but not Parquet)

The ``pyarrow`` package adds the following:

- Acero (i.e., ``pyarrow.acero``)
- :ref:`dataset` (i.e., ``pyarrow.dataset``)
- :ref:`Parquet<parquet>` (i.e., ``pyarrow.parquet``)
- Substrait (i.e., ``pyarrow.substrait``)

Finally, ``pyarrow-all`` adds:

- :ref:`flight` and Flight SQL (i.e., ``pyarrow.flight``)
- Gandiva  (i.e., ``pyarrow.gandiva``)

The following table lists the functionality provided by each package and may be
useful when deciding to use one package over another or when
:ref:`python-conda-custom-selection`.

+------------+---------------------+--------------+---------+-------------+
| Component  | Package             | pyarrow-core | pyarrow | pyarrow-all |
+------------+---------------------+--------------+---------+-------------+
| Core       | pyarrow-core        | ✓            | ✓       | ✓           |
+------------+---------------------+--------------+---------+-------------+
| Parquet    | libparquet          |              | ✓       | ✓           |
+------------+---------------------+--------------+---------+-------------+
| Dataset    | libarrow-dataset    |              | ✓       | ✓           |
+------------+---------------------+--------------+---------+-------------+
| Acero      | libarrow-acero      |              | ✓       | ✓           |
+------------+---------------------+--------------+---------+-------------+
| Substrait  | libarrow-substrait  |              | ✓       | ✓           |
+------------+---------------------+--------------+---------+-------------+
| Flight     | libarrow-flight     |              |         | ✓           |
+------------+---------------------+--------------+---------+-------------+
| Flight SQL | libarrow-flight-sql |              |         | ✓           |
+------------+---------------------+--------------+---------+-------------+
| Gandiva    | libarrow-gandiva    |              |         | ✓           |
+------------+---------------------+--------------+---------+-------------+

.. _python-conda-custom-selection:

Creating A Custom Selection
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

If you know which components you need and want to control what's installed, you
can create a custom selection of packages to include only the extra features you
need. For example, to install ``pyarrow-core`` and add support for reading and
writing Parquet, install ``libparquet`` alongside ``pyarrow-core``:

.. code-block:: shell

    conda install -c conda-forge pyarrow-core libparquet

Or if you wish to use ``pyarrow`` but need support for Flight RPC:

.. code-block:: shell

    conda install -c conda-forge pyarrow libarrow-flight