ImportError: cannot import name 'storage' from 'google.cloud'

TL;DR: The google.cloud namespace is shadowed, almost always by the ancient google-cloud meta-package or a duplicate install. Uninstall google-cloud (the meta-package), force-reinstall google-cloud-storage, and the import works.

ImportError: cannot import name 'storage' from 'google.cloud'

Fix it

1. Check for the legacy meta-package: pip show google-cloud. If present, remove it: pip uninstall google-cloud. Expected: gone.
2. Reinstall the real thing: pip install --force-reinstall google-cloud-storage. Expected: clean install.
3. Verify: python -c "from google.cloud import storage; print(storage.version)". Expected: a version, no traceback.
4. If it still fails, check python -c "import google.cloud; print(google.cloud.path)" for a stray directory and make sure pip and python are the same interpreter (python -m pip).

When this applies

• from google.cloud import storage fails but pip shows google-cloud-storage installed.

When it doesn't

• pip does not show google-cloud-storage: install it.
• The import works but calls fail with 403: that is IAM permissions, not this.

Compatibility

• google-cloud-storage >= 1.30; Python 3.8+.

Why it happens

google-cloud-* packages share the google.cloud namespace. The retired google-cloud meta-package and hand-copied installs break namespace resolution, so Python finds google.cloud but not the storage submodule inside it.

Edge cases

• google-cloud-bigquery, pubsub, etc. hit the identical failure mode with their own submodule names; the fix is the same.
• Vendored or zipped deployments must include the namespace .pth/dist-info files.