Why Developers Are Switching to UV and How to Install It

🧑‍💻 Why Developers Are Switching to UV and How to Install It

A practical overview of UV’s growing popularity, and a step-by-step guide to install it quickly and safely.

UV is becoming the go-to tool for Python developers who want faster, modern workflows. This post explores why UV is gaining traction in the dev community and gives you a detailed step-by-step guide to installing it — no matter your OS or toolchain.

🚀 Why Are Developers Switching to UV?

Here’s the scoop — UV isn’t just another Python tool. It’s a blazing fast, Rust-powered CLI that makes Python tooling feel modern again. Think pip, pipx, venv, and even poetry-level workflows — but unified and faster. Here’s why developers are jumping ship to UV:

• Speed: Thanks to Rust under the hood, UV installs and resolves dependencies faster than pip or Poetry.
• All-in-one: It combines features of pip, venv, pipx, and virtualenv into a single tool.
• Isolated environments by default: No more manually setting up venv. UV handles it out of the box.
• Cross-platform support: macOS, Linux, and Windows-friendly.
• Modern UX: Cleaner CLI with better defaults and built-in shell autocompletion.

Whether you’re managing Python projects, testing across environments, or just tired of juggling pip, venv, and other tools, UV simplifies it all.

🔧 How to Install UV (Multiple Ways)

Let’s get into how you can install UV — based on what’s best for your system or preference.

🔹 1. Standalone Installer (Recommended)

The fastest way to get started. Just run one of the following:

Using curl:

# macOS/Linux
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

# Windows
powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -c "irm https://astral.sh/uv/install.ps1 | iex"

Using wget:

wget -qO- https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

Install a specific version:

# macOS/Linux
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/0.6.14/install.sh | sh

# Windows
powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -c "irm https://astral.sh/uv/0.6.14/install.ps1 | iex"

🔹 2. PyPI / pipx

Install via pipx to keep UV isolated:

pipx install uv

Or via pip (you might need Rust toolchain if no wheel is available):

pip install uv

🔹 3. Cargo (Rust)

Ideal if you’re already using Rust:

cargo install --git https://github.com/astral-sh/uv uv

🔹 4. Homebrew (macOS/Linux)

brew install uv

🔹 5. WinGet (Windows)

winget install --id=astral-sh.uv -e

🔹 6. Scoop (Windows)

scoop install main/uv

🔁 How to Upgrade UV

If installed via the standalone installer:

uv self update

To avoid shell profile modifications:

export INSTALLER_NO_MODIFY_PATH=1

If using pip:

pip install --upgrade uv

⚙️ Add Shell Autocompletion (Optional but Nice)

For Bash

echo 'eval "$(uv generate-shell-completion bash)"' >> ~/.bashrc

Then reload your terminal.

🧼 Uninstalling UV

Clean up data:

uv cache clean
rm -r "$(uv python dir)"
rm -r "$(uv tool dir)"

Remove binaries:

# macOS/Linux
rm ~/.local/bin/uv ~/.local/bin/uvx

# Windows
rm $HOME\.local\bin\uv.exe
rm $HOME\.local\bin\uvx.exe

Conclusion

UV is more than a tool — it’s a productivity booster for modern Python development. With one binary and a blazing-fast core, it simplifies your dev setup, saves time, and makes switching projects effortless. If you haven’t tried it yet, now’s the perfect time.