NotImplementedError: A UTF-8 locale is required. Got ANSI_X3.4-1968

[loboere]

Sometimes when I execute a cell this error appears, I must restart the execution environment to eliminate the error.

---

NotImplementedError Traceback (most recent call last)
in
----> 1 get_ipython().system('pip install ffmpeg-python')

2 frames
/usr/local/lib/python3.8/dist-packages/google/colab/_system_commands.py in _run_command(cmd, clear_streamed_output)
161 locale_encoding = locale.getpreferredencoding()
162 if locale_encoding != _ENCODING:
--> 163 raise NotImplementedError(
164 'A UTF-8 locale is required. Got {}'.format(locale_encoding))
165

NotImplementedError: A UTF-8 locale is required. Got ANSI_X3.4-1968

[metrizable]

@loboere Thanks for reporting the issue and thanks for using Colab. Can you provide a minimal reproducible notebook?

[mlp2501]

I got the same error .... any solution to this yet?

[dracifer]

the commands triggered this error for me

!pip install youtube-dl
!youtube-dl https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ll8TgCZ0plk -f 22 -o video.mp4
!ffmpeg -i video.mp4 -t 00:00:06 -c:v copy video-clip.mp4

[karray]

I faced the same exception in pyannote.

I solved it by overriding locale.getpreferredencoding:

import locale
locale.getpreferredencoding = lambda: "UTF-8"

Here is a notebook with the workaround.

Update: While many people have found this workaround helpful, it is important to note that it should be regarded as a temporary solution and not considered a permanent fix.

[wahid028]

@karray this solution works for me. Thanks a lot

[cperry-goog]

Thanks!

[Dannynis]

I also get this error randomly, If i have to guess its after alot of outputs that been written to the output screen

[victormurcia]

@karray this worked for me as well! Thanks!

[karray]

In my opinion, this issue shouldn't be closed yet. While the workaround offered may serve as a temporary solution, it doesn't actually address the underlying problem.

[TheWizier]

I agree with @karray This is not fixed and should be reopened. Encountered it just now myself.

[liujuncn]

I also get this error randomly these two days.

[xdevfaheem]

I didn't Encountered this Before. But these Week, These Happens Randomly Every now and Then...

[orhansonmeztr]

import locale
locale.getpreferredencoding = lambda: "UTF-8"

I got this error when I tried to install fasttext library in colab.
Your solution worked.
Thanks @karray

[anmorgan24]

I got this error when I tried to install torchvision in Colab. Thanks @karray solution worked perfectly!

[noobmldude]

The solution from @karray worked for me! Thanks!

[alonj]

The same problem appears when trying to install sentencepiece. The solution from @karray works (thanks!), but breaks other dependencies in the code (such as importing the Transformers library).

[libTorrentUser]

Got this error just now. Only went away after resetting the runtime.

[IIskel]

Thanks a lot it works for me.

[sef43]

I am encountering this error still. The posted workaround works for me.

[uddaloksarkar]

!pip install gmpy2 triggered the same error for me.
The solution worked. Thanks @karray

[Vasanthdata]

I faced the same exception in pyannote.

I solved it by overriding locale.getpreferredencoding:

import locale
locale.getpreferredencoding = lambda: "UTF-8"

Here is a notebook with the workaround.

Update: While many people have found this workaround helpful, it is important to note that it should be regarded as a temporary solution and not considered a permanent fix.

It worked. Thank you!!

[mkmohangb]

I encountered this issue today. There is a SO issue on this from 2019.
https://stackoverflow.com/questions/56081324/why-are-google-colab-shell-commands-not-working

[contractorwolf]

I faced the same exception in pyannote.

I solved it by overriding locale.getpreferredencoding:

import locale
locale.getpreferredencoding = lambda: "UTF-8"

Here is a notebook with the workaround.

Update: While many people have found this workaround helpful, it is important to note that it should be regarded as a temporary solution and not considered a permanent fix.

this worked for me, thx @teddybear082

[Wb-az]

I also got the same issue today after completing the training of yolov8 in Google Colab.

[javadr]

I encountered the same problem while attempting to download Mozilla Common Voice using wget.
Thanks to @karray, his solution also resolved my issue!

[vx6122035]

I also got the same issue today after completing the training of yolov8 in Google Colab.

Same here. After a quite simple YOLOv8 training. Same issue.

from ultralytics import YOLO
model = YOLO('path/to/my/model.pt')
model.train(data='path/to/my/data.yaml', epochs=100, batch=16)

Besides, thank you so much @karray, your solution also resolved my issue!

[zelucena]

it happened all of a sudden for me... in an environment that had been been working for days. I can't even tell the steps to reproduce it
!pip install llama-index transformers accelerate bitsandbytes

[apandy02]

Is anyone trying to actively solve this?

[scalemailted]

I faced the same exception in pyannote.

I solved it by overriding locale.getpreferredencoding:

import locale
locale.getpreferredencoding = lambda: "UTF-8"

Here is a notebook with the workaround.

Update: While many people have found this workaround helpful, it is important to note that it should be regarded as a temporary solution and not considered a permanent fix.

I just faced the same issue, and this temporary solution solved my problem.

[ashioyajotham]

I faced the same exception in pyannote.

I solved it by overriding locale.getpreferredencoding:

import locale
locale.getpreferredencoding = lambda: "UTF-8"

Here is a notebook with the workaround.

Update: While many people have found this workaround helpful, it is important to note that it should be regarded as a temporary solution and not considered a permanent fix.

Thank you so much pal!

[SinaRanjkeshzade]

I faced the same exception in pyannote.

I solved it by overriding locale.getpreferredencoding:

import locale
locale.getpreferredencoding = lambda: "UTF-8"

Here is a notebook with the workaround.

Update: While many people have found this workaround helpful, it is important to note that it should be regarded as a temporary solution and not considered a permanent fix.

This code worked for me, Thanks!

[AlvinKimata]

I faced the same exception in pyannote.

I solved it by overriding locale.getpreferredencoding:

import locale
locale.getpreferredencoding = lambda: "UTF-8"

Here is a notebook with the workaround.

Update: While many people have found this workaround helpful, it is important to note that it should be regarded as a temporary solution and not considered a permanent fix.

This worked for me. Thanks!

[CNielsen94]

I faced the same exception in pyannote.

I solved it by overriding locale.getpreferredencoding:

import locale
locale.getpreferredencoding = lambda: "UTF-8"

Here is a notebook with the workaround.

Update: While many people have found this workaround helpful, it is important to note that it should be regarded as a temporary solution and not considered a permanent fix.

Had the same encoding issue with a few notebooks.

This temporary fix worked. Thanks alot @karray!

[aycaecemgul]

I got this error as well, temporary fix solved it, but it's been a long time, shouldn't it be solved by now?

[petewarden]

Just another +1 to solving this error, since I'm also encountering it seemingly-randomly.

[dtch1997]

+1 to solving this, I can never tell when this is going to trigger and spoil my workflow.

[dtch1997]

I resolved this for myself in Python 3.10 with a small edit to @karray 's solution:

import locale
locale.getpreferredencoding = lambda _: "UTF-8"

The difference being that my library required local.get_preferredencoding to accept a boolean parameter.

[amian98]

I faced the same exception in pyannote.
I solved it by overriding locale.getpreferredencoding:

import locale
locale.getpreferredencoding = lambda: "UTF-8"

Here is a notebook with the workaround.
Update: While many people have found this workaround helpful, it is important to note that it should be regarded as a temporary solution and not considered a permanent fix.

got another error saying something like : lambda() takes 0 positional arguments, 1 was given.

which changing code to

import locale
locale.getpreferredencoding = lambda x: "UTF-8"

fixed it

Thx a lot, it works for me

[marcospgp]

Just ran into this issue as well! Are there any plans for a fix?

[amian98]

Just ran into this issue as well! Are there any plans for a fix?

Check the latest comments in this thread, there are a couple of variants of the solution for that error depending on the use case. It worked for me

[mikemhenry]

It would be great if this could get fixed since I've got a notebook that needs both fixes locale.getpreferredencoding = lambda: "UTF-8" and locale.getpreferredencoding = lambda _: "UTF-8" depending on the cell 🙃

[pooyaEst]

It would be great if this could get fixed since I've got a notebook that needs both fixes locale.getpreferredencoding = lambda: "UTF-8" and locale.getpreferredencoding = lambda _: "UTF-8" depending on the cell 🙃

def return_utf_8(input=None):
    return "UTF-8"
locale.getpreferredencoding = return_utf_8

[alexfritsch10]

@karray Not all heroes wear capes!

[jernland0279]

I faced the same exception in pyannote.

I solved it by overriding locale.getpreferredencoding:

import locale
locale.getpreferredencoding = lambda: "UTF-8"

Here is a notebook with the workaround.

Update: While many people have found this workaround helpful, it is important to note that it should be regarded as a temporary solution and not considered a permanent fix.

The code from @pooyaEst works also for me.

[WawanFirgiawan]

I faced the same exception in pyannote.

I solved it by overriding locale.getpreferredencoding:

import locale
locale.getpreferredencoding = lambda: "UTF-8"

Here is a notebook with the workaround.

Update: While many people have found this workaround helpful, it is important to note that it should be regarded as a temporary solution and not considered a permanent fix.

Thank you mr. I think this best solution this probel

[mischa-robots]

It's 2025 and the same error happens for me when I install Ultralytics Yolo:

!pip install -q ultralytics
from ultralytics import YOLO

Creating new Ultralytics Settings v0.0.6 file ✅
View Ultralytics Settings with 'yolo settings' or at '/root/.config/Ultralytics/settings.json'
Update Settings with 'yolo settings key=value', i.e. 'yolo settings runs_dir=path/to/dir'. For help see https://docs.ultralytics.com/quickstart/#ultralytics-settings.
Downloading https://github.com/ultralytics/assets/releases/download/v8.3.0/yolo11m.pt to 'yolo11m.pt'...
100%|██████████| 38.8M/38.8M [00:00<00:00, 41.4MB/s]
Ultralytics 8.3.72 🚀 Python-3.11.11 torch-2.5.1+cu124 CUDA:0 (Tesla T4, 15095MiB)
engine/trainer: task=detect, ...
Downloading https://ultralytics.com/assets/Arial.ttf to '/root/.config/Ultralytics/Arial.ttf'...

The workaround helps 👍