ImportError: cannot import name 'url' from 'django.conf.urls'

How to fix ImportError: cannot import name 'url' from 'django.conf.urls'

Django 4 removed django.conf.urls.url(). Replace it: for regex patterns use from django.urls import re_path and swap url( for re_path(; for simple paths use path(). A find-and-replace across your urls.py files does most projects in one pass.

The exact error

ImportError: cannot import name 'url' from 'django.conf.urls'

Fix it

1. In urls.py change the import: from django.conf.urls import url -> from django.urls import re_path (or path).

Expected: no more django.conf.urls import

1. Replace url( calls with re_path( (regex) or rewrite as path( (simple routes).

Expected: python manage.py check passes

1. Large project? pip install django-upgrade and run it: it rewrites these automatically.

Expected: diff shows only url->re_path/path changes

When this applies

upgrading to Django 4+ and from django.conf.urls import url blows up

When this does NOT apply

you are on Django < 4 (it still works there, just deprecated) or the error is about a different name

Versions

Django >= 4.0

Why it happens

url() was deprecated since Django 3.1 and removed in 4.0; django.urls.path/re_path are the replacements.

Edge cases

Third-party packages can trigger this too; upgrade them rather than downgrading Django.