CODEWITHSUNDEEP
pythonpython-3.xpython-3.8
Christopher B.
Christopher B.

Reputation: 71

how to fix "import pyodbc" which fails with error

I am new to Python and am trying to setup environment so I can use MS SQL. My simple python code fails on: import pyodbc with following error:

ImportError: DLL load failed while importing pyodbc: The specified module could not be found.

Background: I installed Python 3.8.1 for windows 64-bit. Installed pyodbc (pip install pyodbc) with no issue. Installed Microsoft ODBC Driver 17 for SQL Server for Windows 64-bit

TRACE:

Python 3.8.1 (tags/v3.8.1:1b293b6, Dec 18 2019, 23:11:46) [MSC v.1916 64 bit (AMD64)] on win32
Type "help", "copyright", "credits" or "license" for more information.
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "dbtest.py", line 10, in <module>
    import pyodbc
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 991, in _find_and_load
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 975, in _find_and_load_unlocked
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 657, in _load_unlocked
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 556, in module_from_spec
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap_external>", line 1101, in create_module
  File "<frozen importlib._bootstrap>", line 219, in _call_with_frames_removed
ImportError: DLL load failed while importing pyodbc: The specified module could not be found.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 17512

Answers (2)

Jason Geiger
Jason Geiger

Reputation: 2129

The root cause could be because your IDE (VS Code in many cases) has the wrong installation of Python installed. You may have to use some of the other fixes like deleting temp files, uninstalling/reinstalling PYODBC or downgrading.

If none of those work, you may have the wrong installation of Python selected in VS Code.

To change, go to VS Code and hit "Ctrl+Shift+P" then type "Python: S" Select Python Interpreter

Select the python interpreter line and a the options will change to show you all the registered versions of Python installed. In my case I wanted the version I manually installed from Python in the root of my C drive. Selecting this version allowed my installation of PYODBC to be found and imported without further tweaking.

VS Code Python Selection

Upvotes: 1

Christopher B.
Christopher B.

Reputation: 71

I fixed my issue by downgrading pyodbc package from 4.0.28 to 4.0.27 and now it works. (It's frustrating when newest packages don't work together) I used a following command: pip install --upgrade pyodbc==4.0.27

Upvotes: 5

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