title: Can't install matplotlib : fatal error C1083: Cannot open include file: 'ft2build.h': No such file or directory
body: <p>I'm trying to install the matplotlib module but when I try to do so I get an error, that being pretty big but it seems to be due to a missing file, ft2build.h</p>
  
  <p>What can I do to fix this? </p>
  
  <p>Here is the error code I get (I've had to remove part of the error message as it was too big, I removed the part where files were copied and some created):</p>
  
  <pre><code>ERROR: Command errored out with exit status 1:
       command: 'C:\Users\Maca\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38-32\python.exe' -u -c 'import sys, setuptools, tokenize; sys.argv[0] = '"'"'C:\\Users\\Maca\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\pip-install-8fraia6a\\matplotlib\\setup.py'"'"'; __file__='"'"'C:\\Users\\Maca\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\pip-install-8fraia6a\\matplotlib\\setup.py'"'"';f=getattr(tokenize, '"'"'open'"'"', open)(__file__);code=f.read().replace('"'"'\r\n'"'"', '"'"'\n'"'"');f.close();exec(compile(code, __file__, '"'"'exec'"'"'))' install --record 'C:\Users\Maca\AppData\Local\Temp\pip-record-1miy2gd_\install-record.txt' --single-version-externally-managed --compile
           cwd: C:\Users\Maca\AppData\Local\Temp\pip-install-8fraia6a\matplotlib\
      Complete output (505 lines):
      ================================================================================
      Edit setup.cfg to change the build options
  
      BUILDING MATPLOTLIB
        matplotlib: yes [3.1.1]
            python: yes [3.8.0 (tags/v3.8.0:fa919fd, Oct 14 2019, 19:21:23) [MSC
                        v.1916 32 bit (Intel)]]
          platform: yes [win32]
  
      OPTIONAL SUBPACKAGES
       sample_data: yes [installing]
             tests: no  [skipping due to configuration]
  
      OPTIONAL BACKEND EXTENSIONS
               agg: yes [installing]
             tkagg: yes [installing; run-time loading from Python Tcl/Tk]
            macosx: no  [Mac OS-X only]
  
      OPTIONAL PACKAGE DATA
              dlls: no  [skipping due to configuration]
  
  
      UPDATING build\lib.win32-3.8\matplotlib\_version.py
      set build\lib.win32-3.8\matplotlib\_version.py to '3.1.1'
      running build_ext
      building 'matplotlib.ft2font' extension
      creating build\temp.win32-3.8
      creating build\temp.win32-3.8\Release
      creating build\temp.win32-3.8\Release\src
      D:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.15.26726\bin\HostX86\x86\cl.exe /c /nologo /Ox /W3 /GL /DNDEBUG /MD -DFREETYPE_BUILD_TYPE=system -DPY_ARRAY_UNIQUE_SYMBOL=MPL_matplotlib_ft2font_ARRAY_API -DNPY_NO_DEPRECATED_API=NPY_1_7_API_VERSION -D__STDC_FORMAT_MACROS=1 -Iextern/agg24-svn/include -IC:\Users\Maca\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38-32\lib\site-packages\numpy\core\include -IC:\Users\Maca\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38-32\include -IC:\Users\Maca\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38-32\include "-ID:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.15.26726\ATLMFC\include" "-ID:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio\VC\Tools\MSVC\14.15.26726\include" "-IC:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\NETFXSDK\4.6.1\include\um" "-IC:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\include\10.0.17134.0\ucrt" "-IC:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\include\10.0.17134.0\shared" "-IC:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\include\10.0.17134.0\um" "-IC:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\include\10.0.17134.0\winrt" "-IC:\Program Files (x86)\Windows Kits\10\include\10.0.17134.0\cppwinrt" /Tcsrc/checkdep_freetype2.c /Fobuild\temp.win32-3.8\Release\src/checkdep_freetype2.obj
      checkdep_freetype2.c
      src/checkdep_freetype2.c(1): fatal error C1083: Cannot open include file: 'ft2build.h': No such file or directory
      error: command 'D:\\Program Files\\Microsoft Visual Studio\\VC\\Tools\\MSVC\\14.15.26726\\bin\\HostX86\\x86\\cl.exe' failed with exit status 2
      ----------------------------------------
  ERROR: Command errored out with exit status 1: 'C:\Users\Maca\AppData\Local\Programs\Python\Python38-32\python.exe' -u -c 'import sys, setuptools, tokenize; sys.argv[0] = '"'"'C:\\Users\\Maca\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\pip-install-8fraia6a\\matplotlib\\setup.py'"'"'; __file__='"'"'C:\\Users\\Maca\\AppData\\Local\\Temp\\pip-install-8fraia6a\\matplotlib\\setup.py'"'"';f=getattr(tokenize, '"'"'open'"'"', open)(__file__);code=f.read().replace('"'"'\r\n'"'"', '"'"'\n'"'"');f.close();exec(compile(code, __file__, '"'"'exec'"'"'))' install --record 'C:\Users\Maca\AppData\Local\Temp\pip-record-1miy2gd_\install-record.txt' --single-version-externally-managed --compile Check the logs for full command output.
  </code></pre>