Accidentally deleted pip on my system when downgrading Python, now pip won’t install

I downgraded my Python from 3.9 to 3.8, but Pip was still installing to 3.9 after the downgrade so I uninstalled Pip. I tried to reinstalling pip using: python get-pip.py from pip’s documentation and pip install --upgrade --force pip, and both gives the same error:

ERROR: Exception:
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/Users/Dan/Library/Python/3.8/lib/python/site-packages/pip/_internal/cli/base_command.py", line 180, in _main
    status = self.run(options, args)
  File "/Users/Dan/Library/Python/3.8/lib/python/site-packages/pip/_internal/cli/req_command.py", line 204, in wrapper
    return func(self, options, args)
  File "/Users/Dan/Library/Python/3.8/lib/python/site-packages/pip/_internal/commands/install.py", line 449, in run
    self._handle_target_dir(
  File "/Users/Dan/Library/Python/3.8/lib/python/site-packages/pip/_internal/commands/install.py", line 503, in _handle_target_dir
    shutil.rmtree(target_item_dir)
  File "/usr/local/Cellar/python@3.8/3.8.10/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.8/lib/python3.8/shutil.py", line 718, in rmtree
    _rmtree_safe_fd(fd, path, onerror)
  File "/usr/local/Cellar/python@3.8/3.8.10/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.8/lib/python3.8/shutil.py", line 675, in _rmtree_safe_fd
    onerror(os.unlink, fullname, sys.exc_info())
  File "/usr/local/Cellar/python@3.8/3.8.10/Frameworks/Python.framework/Versions/3.8/lib/python3.8/shutil.py", line 673, in _rmtree_safe_fd
    os.unlink(entry.name, dir_fd=topfd)
PermissionError: [Errno 13] Permission denied: 'RECORD'

When I run pip in terminal, I get:

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/local/bin/pip", line 5, in <module>
    from pip._internal.cli.main import main
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'pip'

When I run which pip, I get:

/usr/local/bin/pip

Answer

The PermissionError you get makes me think you’re not running it as sudo, especially since it’s trying to use os.unlink. Try as sudo and see if it works then!

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Answer