Important

If you are using a Python from any current python.orgPython installer for macOS (3.9.0+, 3.8.0+, or 3.7.2+),no further action is needed to use IDLE or tkinter.A built-in version of Tcl/Tk 8.6 will be used.

1. The first version of Mac OS X was Mac OS X Server 1.0.Mac OS X Server 1.0 – 1.2v3 were based on Rhapsody, a hybrid of OPENSTEP from NeXT Computer and Mac OS 8.5.1.The GUI looked like a mixture of Mac OS 8's Platinum appearance with OPENSTEP's NeXT-based interface.
2. Note: The headings on this list indicate the Macintosh System bundle names; the bullet points indicate the version of the System File included in that bundle. This is to make it clearer for people searching for specific bundle versions as opposed to System File versions. Finder File versions are not indicated. 1 Classic Mac OS 1.1 Macintosh System Software (0 - 0.3) 1.1.1 System File 1 1.1.2.

Mac OS X 10.8 comes with Python 2.7 pre-installed by Apple. If you wish, you are invited to install the most recent version of Python 3 from the Python website ( ). A current “universal binary” build of Python, which runs natively on the Mac’s new Intel and legacy PPC CPU’s, is available there. As of Python 3.7.0, 3.6.8, and 2.7.16, all current Python installers for macOS downloadable from python.org supply their own private copies of Tcl/Tk 8.6.8. They do not look for or use any third-party or system copies of Tcl/Tk. This is an Aqua Cocoa Tk. VueScan is the easiest way to get your scanner working on macOS Big Sur, Windows 10 and more. VueScan includes a driver for your scanner even though it isn't support anymore.

Mac Os 8.6 Update Download

If you are using macOS 10.6 or later, the Apple-suppliedTcl/Tk 8.5 has serious bugs that can cause application crashes.If you wish to use IDLE or Tkinter, do not use the Apple-suppliedPythons. Instead, install and use a newer version of Pythonfrom python.org or a third-party distributor that supplies orlinks with a newer version of Tcl/Tk.

Python's integrated development environment,IDLE, and thetkinter GUI toolkitit uses, depend on the Tk GUI toolkit which isnot part of Python itself. For best results, it is important that theproper release of Tcl/Tk is installed on your machine.For recent Python installers for macOS downloadable from this website,here is a summary of current recommendations followed by more detailedinformation.

There are currently three major variants of Tk in common use on macOS:

Aqua Cocoa Tk

A newer native implementation availableas a universal 64-bit and 32-bit binary. This variant is the standard nativemacOS variant in Tk 8.6 and as of Tk 8.5.13. Aqua Cocoa support wasbackported to Tk 8.5 (prior to 8.5.13) and released by Apple starting with macOS 10.6and by ActiveState starting with their 8.5.9.1 release.

Aqua Carbon Tk

Because it is implemented with older macOS Carbon interfaces, it isonly available as a 32-bit binary (usually for Intel and PowerPCprocessors). Aqua Carbon Tk 8.4 is included with macOS releases 10.4through 10.14 and is also available from ActiveState. Aqua Carbon variantsof Tk 8.5 had been available as an ActiveState Community Download priorto ActiveTcl 8.5.9. As of 8.5.13, the Tk project no longer supportsCarbon builds of Tk 8.5. 32-bit-only Python installers downloadablefrom this website for older Python releases were linked with Aqua CarbonTk 8.4.

X11 Tk

The traditional platform-independent UNIX Tk implementation whichrequires an X11 server, such as the Apple X11.app available as anoptional component in older macOS releases or from third-partydistributors. 64-bit and32-bit binaries can be built. While the Python installers downloadablefrom this website do not support X11 Tk, other distributors ofPython for macOS may do so.

built-in 8.6.8

As of Python 3.7.0, 3.6.8, and 2.7.16, all current Python installers for macOSdownloadable from python.org supplytheir own private copies of Tcl/Tk 8.6.8. They do not look for or use anythird-party or system copies of Tcl/Tk. This is an Aqua Cocoa Tk.

ActiveTcl 8.5.18.0

ActiveState provides binary distributions of Tcl/Tk which are upward compatiblewith and generally more up-to-date than those provided by Apple in macOSreleases. This version of Tcl/Tk includes fixes for some critical problemsthat you may encounter using tkinter or IDLE (see Apple 8.5.9 below).You can download an installer for this release fromthe ActiveState web site.Note that ActiveState Community Edition binaries are not open source andare covered by an ActiveState license. You should read the licensebefore downloading to verify that your usage complies with its terms of use.As of Python 3.7.0, 3.6.8, and 2.7.16, no current Python installers for macOSdownloadable from python.org make use of this or any other external versionof Tcl/Tk.

This is an Aqua Cocoa Tk.

Apple 8.5.9

This release is included in macOS 10.7 through at least macOS 10.14.As of this writing,there are at least two known issues with Tk 8.5.9 thatare present in Apple 8.5.9 Tk but fixed in more recent upstream 8.5 releases.The more serious problem is an immediate crash in Tkwhen entering a composition character, like Option-u on a US keyboard.(This problem is documented asTk bug 2907388.)There is also the more general problem of input manager support for compositecharacters(Tk bug 3205153)which has also been fixed in more recent Tcl/Tk 8.5 releases.You can avoid these problems by using a current python.org installeror by using a third-partydistribution of Python that does not use Apple 8.5.9 Tk.This is an Aqua Cocoa Tk.

Apple 8.5.7

Mac Os 8.6 Download Free

This release is included in macOS 10.6. IDLE is known to hang or crashwhen used with the Apple 8.5.7 included in all versions of macOS 10.6.x.Because of this,we strongly recommend that you do not attempt to use Tkinter or IDLE withthe Apple-supplied Python 2.6.1 in 10.6. Instead, install a newer version ofPython that supports a newer version of Tk.This is an Aqua Cocoa Tk.

Note

While Tcl and Tk areseparate frameworks and libraries, they are closely related and arenormally installed or updated simultaneously. You should notattempt to mix-and-match Tcl and Tk versions. References toa specific version of Tk assume the corresponding version ofTcl is installed as well.

The Python for macOS installers downloaded from this website dynamicallylink at runtime to Tcl/Tk macOS frameworks. The Tcl/Tk major version isdetermined when the installer is created and cannot be overridden.All current python.org installers for Python 3.7.x, 3.6.x,and 2.7.x link to their own built-in Tcl/Tk 8.6 frameworks and do not useexternal Tcl/Tk frameworks so the rest of this section only applies tonon-current releases and, as such, no longer supported.

The Python 64-bit/32-bit macOS installers for Python 3.6.x andand 2.7.x dynamically link to Tcl/Tk 8.5 frameworks.The dynamically linking occurs when tkinter (Python 3)or Tkinter (Python 2) is first imported (specifically, the internal_tkinter C extension module). By default, the macOS dynamic linkerlooks first in /Library/Frameworks for Tcl and Tk frameworks withthe proper major version. This is the standard location for third-partyor built from source frameworks, including the ActiveTcl releases.If frameworks of the proper major version are not found there,the dynamic linker looks for the same version in/System/Library/Frameworks, the location for Apple-suppliedframeworks shipped with macOS. (Note, you should normally not modifyor delete files in /System/Library.)

As is common on macOS, the installed Pythons and the Tcl and Tkframeworks are built to run on multiple CPU architectures (universalbinaries) and across multiple macOS levels (minimum deploymenttarget). For Python to be able to dynamically link with a particularTcl and Tk version, the available architectures in the Tcl/Tk frameworksmust include the architecture that Python is running in and theirminimum deployment target should be no greater than that of Python.

• 2020-10-05 - updated for 3.9.0 and 3.8.6, remove 2.7
• 2020-08-17 - updated for 3.7.9
• 2020-07-20 - updated for 3.8.5
• 2020-06-27 - updated for 3.7.8
• 2020-05-14 - updated for 3.8.3
• 2020-03-10 - updated for 3.8.2 and 3.7.7
• 2019-12-19 - updated for 3.8.1, 3.7.6, and 2.7.17
• 2019-10-15 - updated for 3.8.0, 3.7.5, and macOS 10.15
• 2019-07-08 - updated for 3.7.4; 3.6.x is now security-fix-only
• 2019-03-25 - updated for 3.7.3
• 2019-03-03 - updated for 2.7.16
• 2018-12-24 - updated for 3.7.2 and 3.6.8
• 2018-10-20 - updated for 3.7.1, 3.6.7, and macOS 10.14
• 2018-06-27 - updated for 3.7.0 and 3.6.6
• 2018-05-30 - updated for 3.7.0b5
• 2018-05-02 - updated for 3.7.0b4 and 2.7.15; removed 32-bit-only refs
• 2018-03-29 - updated for 3.7.0b3 and 3.6.5
• 2018-02-28 - updated for 3.7.0b2
• 2018-01-31 - updated for 3.7.0b1 and 3.6.4
• 2017-10-03 - updated for 3.6.3 and macOS 10.13
• 2017-09-16 - updated for 2.7.14; removed 3.5.x
• 2017-07-17 - updated for 3.6.2
• 2017-03-21 - updated for 3.6.1 and (belatedly) 3.5.3
• 2016-12-23 - updated for 3.6.0
• 2016-12-17 - updated for 2.7.13
• 2016-09-23 - updated for macOS 10.12
• 2016-07-31 - updated for 3.5.2 and 2.7.12; removed 3.4.x
• 2015-12-20 - updated for 3.4.4
• 2015-12-06 - updated for 3.5.1, 2.7.11, and macOS 10.11
• 2015-09-13 - updated for 3.5.0
• 2015-05-23 - updated for 2.7.10 and ActiveTcl 8.5.18.0
• 2015-02-23 - updated for 3.4.3
• 2014-12-10 - updated for 2.7.9 and ActiveTcl 8.5.17.0
• 2014-10-16 - updated for macOS 10.10
• 2014-10-06 - updated for 3.4.2 and ActiveTcl 8.5.16.0
• 2014-09-22 - updated for 3.4.2rc1
• 2014-07-01 - updated for 2.7.8
• 2014-06-01 - updated for 2.7.7; removed 2.7.6 and 3.3.5
• 2014-05-18 - updated for 3.4.1 and 2.7.7rc1
• 2014-03-16 - updated for 3.4.0 and 3.3.5
• 2014-02-10 - updated for 3.3.4 and 3.4.0rc1
• 2014-01-05 - updated for 3.4.0b2
• 2013-11-24 - clarify that the ActiveState website still refers to 8.5.15.0
• 2013-11-24 - removed built-in for 3.4.0b1, removed 3.3.2 and 2.7.5
• 2013-11-10 - ActiveTcl 8.5.15.1; removed built-in for 3.3.3rc2 and 2.7.6.
• 2013-10-27 - updated for 3.3.3rc1 and 2.7.6rc1 and their built-in 8.5.15.
• 2013-10-24 - updated for macOS 10.9 and ActiveTcl 8.5.15, removed 3.2.5.
• 2013-10-20 - updated for 3.4.0a4 and its built-in 8.5.15.
• 2013-09-29 - updated for 3.4.0a3
• 2013-09-09 - updated for 3.4.0a2 and its built-in 8.5.14.
• 2013-08-03 - updated for 3.4.0a1 and ActiveTcl 8.4.20
• 2013-05-18 - updated for ActiveTcl 8.5.14
• 2013-05-15 - updated for 3.3.2, 2.7.5, and 3.2.5
• 2013-04-06 - updated for 3.3.1, 2.7.4, and 3.2.4
• 2012-12-26 - updated for ActiveTcl 8.5.13 and Issue 15853 patch installer
• 2012-09-29 - updated for 3.3.0 final and reverted to ActiveTcl 8.5.11.1
• 2012-08-02 - updated for ActiveTcl 8.5.12
• 2012-07-28 - updated for macOS 10.8
• 2012-04-11 - updated for 3.2.3 final and 2.7.3 final
• 2012-03-18 - updated for 3.2.3rc2 and 2.7.3rc2
• 2012-03-04 - updated for ActiveTcl 8.5.11.1, 3.2.3rc1, 2.7.3rc1, removed 3.1.4
• 2011-11-12 - updated for ActiveTcl 8.5.11
• 2011-09-04 - updated for 3.2.2 final
• 2011-07-21 - updated for macOS 10.7 and ActiveTcl 8.5.10.1
• 2011-07-09 - updated for 3.2.1 final and ActiveTcl 8.5.10
• 2011-06-12 - updated for 2.7.2 final and 3.1.4 final
• 2011-05-30 - updated for 3.2.1rc, 2.7.2rc, and 3.1.4rc
• 2011-03-08 - add warnings and include details on how Python links with Tcl/Tk releases
• 2011-02-20 - updated for 3.2 final
• 2011-01-31 draft 1 - preliminary info for 3.2rc2
• 2011-01-14 draft 0