Troubleshooting

RuntimeError: tkinter is not available

The function was called but tkinter is not installed in this Python.

• Debian/Ubuntu: sudo apt install python3-tk
• Fedora: sudo dnf install python3-tkinter
• Windows/macOS: reinstall Python from python.org, which bundles Tk.

Check it directly:

python -c "import tkinter; tkinter.Tk().destroy(); print('ok')"

The dialog opens but I cannot see it

It is probably behind the terminal or application window. pyfilechoose already sets the always-on-top attribute, but some window managers ignore it. Alt-Tab to the dialog, or move the front window aside.

FileNotFoundError: No file was selected

This is intended behaviour, not a bug: it means the dialog was closed or cancelled without choosing a file. Wrap the call if cancelling is a valid path through your program:

try:
    path = file_choose()
except FileNotFoundError:
    path = None

Nothing happens on a remote or headless machine

A graphical dialog needs a display. Over plain SSH, in a container, or on a CI runner there is no display, so Tk cannot draw the window. There is no way around this; the file must be chosen on a machine with a screen, or selected programmatically instead of through a dialog.

The dialog hangs or crashes in a thread

tkinter expects the main thread. Calling file_choose() from a worker thread can hang or raise. Move the call to the main thread. See How it works.

Paths look wrong on Windows

The returned path is absolute and uses native separators (\ on Windows). If you need symlinks resolved or ~ expanded, apply os.path.realpath or os.path.expanduser yourself; pyfilechoose only runs os.path.abspath.