How to Fix - ImportError: No module named 'django.core.urlresolvers'

The 'django.core.urlresolvers' was added to Django1.10. When working on an older version of Django and upgrading it to the latest version we may encounter this error.

This error occurs because the django.core.urlresolvers module was removed in Django 2.0. The functionality that this module provided was moved to django.urls in Django 2.0. If our project is using an older version of Django and we are upgrading to the latest version, we will need to update our imports accordingly.

In this article, we’ll explain the root cause of the error, how to fix it, and how to ensure compatibility with newer Django versions.

How to Fix the Error

To resolve this issue, we need to replace all instances of django.core.urlresolvers with django.urls and change the patterns of the urls accordingly. This is a simple fix but must be applied wherever we have used the old import in our codebase.

• Replace from django.core.urlresolvers import reverse with from django.urls import reverse
• Replace from django.core.urlresolvers import resolve with from django.urls import resolve

In our code, update the imports to use the new module. For example:

# Before
from django.core.urlresolvers import reverse

# After
from django.urls import reverse

Examples

Here are some examples to illustrate the changes:

urls.py

# Before
from django.core.urlresolvers import url

urlpatterns = [
    url(r'^admin/', admin.site.urls),
]

# After
from django.urls import path

urlpatterns = [
    path('admin/', admin.site.urls),
]

views.py

# Before
from django.core.urlresolvers import reverse

def my_view(request):
    return HttpResponseRedirect(reverse('my_url'))

# After
from django.urls import reverse

def my_view(request):
    return HttpResponseRedirect(reverse('my_url'))

When to Make This Change

We should make this change in the following cases:

1. Upgrading to Django latest version: If our project is moving to Django 2.x, 3.x, 4.x or 5.x from an earlier version, all instances of django.core.urlresolvers must be updated.
2. New Projects: For new Django projects, always use django.urls to avoid any compatibility issues in the future.
3. Third-Party Libraries: If we're using a third-party library that causes this import error, check if there’s an updated version of the library that is compatible with Django latest version. Most popular libraries have been updated to reflect this change.

Checking Other Deprecated Features

While addressing this issue, it’s a good idea to check for other deprecated features that might affect our project. We can consult the Django 2.0 release notes for a full list of changes and deprecated features that were removed in Django 2.0.

Conclusion

When we use newer versions of Django, we might see an error that says "ImportError: No module named 'django.core.urlresolvers'". This error happens because Django has changed. To fix it, we need to update our code. Instead of using "django.core.urlresolvers", use "django.urls" in our imports. That's it! we'll be able to continue building our Django application.