[Solved]-importerror: cannot import name force_text from django.utils.encoding

Consider exploring alternative packages that support Django 4. Simple JWT is one such option that is compatible with Django 4.

If you prefer not to switch to another package, you can update the existing package's codebase. This can be done by replacing occurrences of ugettext with gettext and force_text with force_str, as these have been updated in newer versions of Django.

To resolve the ImportError: cannot import name force_text from django.utils.encoding error, you can try the following steps:

1. Check your Django version compatibility. The force_text function was deprecated in Django 3.0 and removed in Django 4.0. If you are using Django 3.0 or later, replace force_text with force_str or str() as appropriate.
2. Review your codebase for any custom imports or dependencies that may be conflicting with the Django import. Ensure that there are no naming conflicts or overridden imports that could cause the force_text function to be unavailable.
3. If you are using third-party packages or libraries that rely on force_text, make sure to update them to versions compatible with Django 3.0 or later.
4. Check if there are any compatibility issues between your Django project and other dependencies. It's possible that another package or library is causing the import error.
5. Consider reviewing the Django release notes and migration guides for the versions you are upgrading between to identify any specific changes or deprecations related to the force_text function.

To address the error, start by identifying the package mentioned in the error message and updating it accordingly.

Generally, updating a package in Python can be done using the following command:

pip install <packagename> --upgrade

Replace packagename with the name of the package you need to update.

After updating the package, ensure that the import statement in your code is correct.

For example, for Django 3.0 and above, the import statement should be:

from django.utils.encoding import force_str

Make sure your import statements match the required format.

I encountered a similar issue where including "graphql_jwt.refresh_token.apps.RefreshTokenConfig" in INSTALLED_APPS resulted in the following import error:

ImportError: cannot import name 'force_text' from 'django.utils.encoding'

To address this, I added the following at the top of settings.py:

import django
from django.utils.encoding import force_str
django.utils.encoding.force_text = force_str

However, this led to another error:

ImportError: cannot import name 'ugettext' from 'django.utils.translation'

To resolve this new error, I added the following lines to the top of settings.py:

from django.utils.translation import gettext, gettext_lazy
django.utils.translation.ugettext = gettext
django.utils.translation.ugettext_lazy = gettext_lazy

While this resolved the previous errors, it introduced a new one:

TypeError: __init__() got an unexpected keyword argument 'providing_args'

This occurred on Django version 4.2.