ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'scrapy'

Scrapy is not installed in the Python that is running. Run python -m pip install scrapy and both the import and the scrapy CLI start working. If it still fails, your pip and your python belong to different installations, so always spell it python -m pip.

The error

ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'scrapy'

Fix it

1. Install Scrapy with the running interpreter's pip

python -m pip install scrapy

Expected: Successfully installed scrapy-... plus its dependencies.

1. Confirm the import and the CLI

python -c "import scrapy; print(scrapy.__version__)"
scrapy version

Expected: both print a version like 2.11.0.

1. If the import still fails, find the interpreter mismatch

python --version
pip --version

Expected: the paths in the two outputs match. If they do not, the install went to a different Python. Redo step 1 exactly as written.

When this applies

• import scrapy or scrapy crawl/scrapy version fails naming scrapy
• a new machine, container, or venv
• the tutorial said pip install scrapy but your shell has several Pythons

When it does NOT apply

• No module named 'twisted' means Scrapy is there but Twisted is not
• No module named 'win32api' is the Windows pywin32 gap
• an ImportError inside scrapy's own modules is a broken install, reinstall with --force-reinstall

Compatibility

All Scrapy 2.x. Needs Python 3.8+. On Windows the installer also wants pywin32 (see the win32api skill).

Why it happens

Nothing more exotic than a missing install, but Scrapy is big enough that people often install it into one Python (say the system one) while their project runs under another (a venv, conda env, or IDE-managed interpreter). python -m pip removes the ambiguity by tying the installer to the interpreter.

Edge cases

• Portia and other Scrapy-based tools hit this when their bundled env is not activated. Activate the env first, then check.
• On Debian/Ubuntu, pip install scrapy may try building Twisted from source on old Pythons. Prefer a newer Python with wheels.
• scrapy command not found after install means the Scripts/bin dir is not on PATH. python -m scrapy works as a fallback.