The simplest beginner-friendly route is the official installer from Python.org. As of this guide’s review, Python 3.14.7 is a current maintenance release in the 3.14 series and the official macOS package supports macOS 10.15 and later.
Download the macOS installer from Python.org and run the package. After installation, open Terminal and verify the interpreter with python3 --version. Use python3 rather than assuming that python points to the version you installed. Then check the package manager with python3 -m pip --version.
Create a project folder and a virtual environment:Copy
mkdir hello-python
cd hello-python
python3 -m venv .venv
source .venv/bin/activate
python -m pip install --upgrade pipYour prompt should show the environment name. Install project packages only after activating the environment. This prevents one project’s dependencies from interfering with another.
Create hello.py with a print statement and run python hello.py. When finished, leave the environment with deactivate. If Terminal reports that a command is missing, check the installation path and use the official documentation rather than deleting system files. macOS includes system components that should not be replaced casually.