How to uninstall pip opencv-python from Anaconda on Windows 10?

Question

I wanted to ask a specific question before I try anything else and possibly ruin my Anaconda distribution.

conda version: 4.7.11
anaconda version: 2019.07
python version: 3.7.3

I installed opencv-python per the instructions here :

(base) C:\Users\...>pip install opencv-python

I thought this had worked because I was able to run defs from import cv2 in my Spyder IDE, and conda list returned:

...
numpydoc                  0.9.1                      py_0
olefile                   0.46                     py37_0
opencv-python             4.1.1.26                 pypi_0    pypi
openpyxl                  2.6.2                      py_0
...

However, I quickly ran into problems when attempting the tutorial . Specifically, img = cv2.imread('messi5.jpg',0) would return a None object. I tried img = cv2.imread(r'C:\\path_to_my_image.jpg',0) with a local photo, and it correctly returned a 2D, grayscale object array. I'm confident I simply failed to install the photo library that comes with opencv.

I anticipated more problems and did some digging, where I found this answer shows that I probably did not install the correct version of cv. I attempted to uninstall using pip , but had a text file from the active directory open, and got a permission error!

(base) C:\Users\triton>pip uninstall opencv-python
Uninstalling opencv-python-4.1.1.26:
  Would remove:
    c:\users\triton\anaconda3\lib\site-packages\cv2\*
    c:\users\triton\anaconda3\lib\site-packages\opencv_python-4.1.1.26.dist-info\*
Proceed (y/n)? y
ERROR: Exception:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\triton\Anaconda3\lib\shutil.py", line 563, in move
    os.rename(src, real_dst)
PermissionError: [WinError 32] The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process: 'c:\\users\\triton\\anaconda3\\lib\\site-packages\\opencv_python-4.1.1.26.dist-info\\' -> 'c:\\users\\triton\\anaconda3\\lib\\site-packages\\~pencv_python-4.1.1.26.dist-info'

During handling of the above exception, another exception occurred:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "C:\Users\triton\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\pip\_internal\cli\base_command.py", line 178, in main
    status = self.run(options, args)
  File "C:\Users\triton\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\pip\_internal\commands\uninstall.py", line 75, in run
    auto_confirm=options.yes, verbose=self.verbosity > 0,
  File "C:\Users\triton\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\pip\_internal\req\req_install.py", line 823, in uninstall
    uninstalled_pathset.remove(auto_confirm, verbose)
  File "C:\Users\triton\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\pip\_internal\req\req_uninstall.py", line 388, in remove
    moved.stash(path)
  File "C:\Users\triton\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\pip\_internal\req\req_uninstall.py", line 277, in stash
    renames(path, new_path)
  File "C:\Users\triton\Anaconda3\lib\site-packages\pip\_internal\utils\misc.py", line 305, in renames
    shutil.move(old, new)
  File "C:\Users\triton\Anaconda3\lib\shutil.py", line 575, in move
    rmtree(src)
  File "C:\Users\triton\Anaconda3\lib\shutil.py", line 513, in rmtree
    return _rmtree_unsafe(path, onerror)
  File "C:\Users\triton\Anaconda3\lib\shutil.py", line 401, in _rmtree_unsafe
    onerror(os.rmdir, path, sys.exc_info())
  File "C:\Users\triton\Anaconda3\lib\shutil.py", line 399, in _rmtree_unsafe
    os.rmdir(path)
PermissionError: [WinError 32] The process cannot access the file because it is being used by another process: 'c:\\users\\triton\\anaconda3\\lib\\site-packages\\opencv_python-4.1.1.26.dist-info\\'

I closed the text file and tried to run pip uninstall opencv-python again, but now receive:

(base) C:\Users\triton>pip uninstall opencv-python
WARNING: Skipping opencv-python as it is not installed.

I do not know if this warning is accurate, because conda list still shows opencv-python as an available package:

...
olefile                   0.46                     py37_0
opencv-python             4.1.1.26                 pypi_0    pypi
openpyxl                  2.6.2                      py_0
openssl                   1.1.1c               he774522_1
...

i finally tried conda remove opencv-python but it says the packages aren't found?!

(base) C:\Users\triton>conda remove opencv-python
Collecting package metadata (repodata.json): done
Solving environment: failed

PackagesNotFoundError: The following packages are missing from the target environment:
  - opencv-python

I want to perform a clean opencv3 install via this method, but don't know if there will be some library conflicts or something. I am severely confused about what's happening here, and wanted to get advice before trying to alter my distribution any further. It's not the end of the world if I need to reinstall Anaconda entirely, but I thought i would share these problems in case someone else runs into them!

How can I be sure all opencv pip files are completely removed, without doing a clean reinstall of Anaconda?

Thanks in advance for your help!

Answer 1

Cause the package was installed by pip , you have to uninstall the package by pip uninstall .

The problem is that the uninstallation was interrupted cause some files are being taken by another process.

To solve this, reinstall the package. Then uninstall it.

pip install opencv-python -f
pip uninstall opencv-python

Answer 2

Note: that in an anaconda environment pip=pip3 unless you have both python 2&3 installed.

So if you only have one installed in the environment, then:

conda activate MyEnv
pip uninstall opencv-python