How to Install Python 3 on Ubuntu 14.04 and Switch Between Python 2 & 3

Earlier we covered installing Ubuntu 14.04; now we demonstrate a straightforward method to install Python 3 on that system and switch between Python 2 and Python 3.

1. Ubuntu ships with Python 2.7 pre‑installed; you can start it by running python2 in the terminal.

2. To install Python 3, execute sudo apt-get install python3.4. Replace 3.4 with 3.5 or 3.6 if you need those versions and the packages are available.

If Python 3.4 is already installed, the installation steps will be brief; otherwise you will see the full installation progress.

3. Older Ubuntu releases (e.g., 12.04) only provide older Python 3 packages such as Python 3.2, which you can install similarly.

Ubuntu 12.04 does not have packages for Python 3.4, so installation will fail.

4. Ubuntu 14.04 also lacks packages for Python 3.5 and 3.6, resulting in “package not found” errors.

To use newer Python 3 versions, upgrade to Ubuntu 16.04 or later.

5. After installing Python 3.4, run python3 to start the Python 3 interpreter.

6. The default python command still points to Python 2.7.

7. To switch to Python 3, use python3 or specify the version, e.g., python3.4.

This method is one of the simplest ways to install Python on Ubuntu; avoid removing the system‑provided Python 2, as other applications may depend on it.