# How to check the current Python version

> Learn how to check the current Python version at runtime using the sys module and sys.version_info, comparing the tuple to require 3.7 or higher.

Author: [Flavio Copes](https://flaviocopes.com/about/) | Published: 2021-02-17 | Topics: [Python](https://flaviocopes.com/tags/python/) | Canonical: https://flaviocopes.com/python-check-version/

You can check the version of [Python](https://flaviocopes.com/python-introduction/) that is running a program, at runtime.

First you need to import the `sys` module from the standard library:

```python
import sys
```

Then check the content of the `sys.version_info` property.

This property returns the Python version as a tuple.

```python
>>> sys.version_info
sys.version_info(major=3, minor=9, micro=0, releaselevel='final', serial=0)
```

Python lets you compare tuples, so you can check for example if the current Python version is 3.7.0 or higher:

```python
sys.version_info >= (3, 7)
```

You can add this check in a conditional then, to quit the program when a Python version is too old:

```python
if sys.version_info < (3, 7):
    print('Please upgrade your Python version to 3.7.0 or higher')
    sys.exit()
```