ImportError: cannot import name 'foo' from 'numpy'

7 Dec 2025

1 min read

ImportError: cannot import name

$ python -c "from numpy import foo"
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "<string>", line 1, in <module>
ImportError: cannot import name 'foo' from 'numpy' (/usr/lib/python3/dist-packages/numpy/__init__.py)

Why this happens

The name you’re trying to import doesn’t exist in the package’s public API, or it lives in a different submodule. Sometimes the symbol was removed, renamed, or you mistyped it.

Fix

Import the correct symbol from the correct submodule, check the NumPy documentation for the right name, or update NumPy if you rely on a newly-introduced API.

Wrong code

from numpy import foo

# using foo()

Fixed code

# If the symbol lives in numpy.random:
from numpy.random import default_rng
rng = default_rng()

# Or import the correct function you intended, e.g. from numpy import mean
import numpy as np
print(np.mean([1, 2, 3]))