# How to fix ImportError: cannot import name 'force_text' from 'django.utils.encoding'

`force_text` was renamed `force_str` in Django 3 and the old name removed in Django 4. In your code, replace `from django.utils.encoding import force_text` with `force_str`. If the traceback is inside a third-party package (graphene-django, django-elasticsearch-dsl, simplejwt...), upgrade that package instead of patching site-packages.

## The exact error

```text
ImportError: cannot import name 'force_text' from 'django.utils.encoding'
```

## Fix it

1. Find the culprit: `grep -rn "force_text" --include=*.py .` and check the traceback's file path.
   Expected: you know whether it is your code or a library

2. Your code: replace force_text with force_str (same behavior).
   Expected: import works on Django 4+

3. A library: `pip install -U [library]`.
   Expected: fixed upstream release resolves it

## When this applies

Django 4+ raises this from your code or a dependency

## When this does NOT apply

Django < 4 (force_text still exists there, deprecated)

## Versions

Django >= 4.0

## Why it happens

Django dropped the Python-2-era text/bytes naming; force_text -> force_str.

## Edge cases

smart_text -> smart_str and ugettext -> gettext were removed in the same cleanup; fix them together.