PyTorch / Jupyter notebook: ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'torch'

This post is part of the #shortposts series where I publish my learnings in short ;)

Learning is a part and parcel of my journey. I started revisting Linear Algebra to explore the underpinnings of Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Computing. Linear Algebra is a good to have for AI and Quantum.

Recently, I picked PyTorch along with NumPy, SciPy, MatplotLib, and other Python libraries. Jupyter notebook is my go-to tool to learn AI, Data Science and other Python related topics.

Installing PyTorch

As a typical learner, I started with the below command to install PyTorch in Jupyter.

!pip install torch

The error

In the next cell, when I run

import torch
torch.__version__

I see an error
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'torch'

The fix

After some research, I found that this is a common error and I was asked to run the pip and python commands to check the versions and upgrade if required etc., but nothing worked. Until I bumped into a magic command

%pip install torch

You may have to restart your kernel after running this command

Now, when I re-run the PyTorch command