How can I update npm on Windows?

Question

I tried this:

sudo npm cache clean -f
sudo npm install -g n
sudo n stable

...but it didn't work.

How do I do this on Windows?

Answer 1

Note: The question is specifically asking how to upgrade npm, not Node.js. If you want to update Node.js over a CLI on windows, I recommend running winget upgrade -q NodeJS or use chocolatey for that.

What method should I choose to update NPM?

• Node.js v16 or higher?
  • npm install -g npm
• Node.js v14 or below?
  • Consider updating to latest LTS release of Node.js
  • npm-windows-upgrade

Upgrade with npm-windows-upgrade

Run PowerShell as Administrator

Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Scope CurrentUser -Force
npm install -g npm-windows-upgrade
npm-windows-upgrade

Note: if you run the Node.js installer, it will replace the Node.js version.

• Upgrades npm in-place, where Node.js installed it.
• Does not modify the default path.
• Does not change the default global package location.
• Allows easy upgrades and downgrades and to install a specific version.
• A list of versions matched between NPM and Node.js (https://nodejs.org/en/download/releases/) - but you will need to download the Node.js installer and run that to update Node.js (https://nodejs.org/en/)

Upgrade with npm

npm install -g npm

Note: some users still report issues updating npm with npm, but I haven't had that experience with v16+.

Answer 2

Download and run the latest MSI. The MSI will update your installed node and npm.

Answer 3

To update NPM, this worked for me:

• Navigate in your shell to your node installation directory, eg C:\Program Files (x86)\nodejs
• run npm install npm (no -g option)

Answer 4

Like some people, I needed to combine multiple answers, and I also needed to set a proxy.

This should work for anyone. I have zero desire to run an EXE file or MSI file .. uninstall/ reinstall, or manually delete files and folders. That is so 1999 :P

1. Run this to update NPM:

   Run PowerShell as administrator

   npm i -g npm    // This works
   

   I am not thinking this code actually upgrades your npm version below

   Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Scope CurrentUser -Force
   npm install -g npm-windows-upgrade
   npm-windows-upgrade
   
   (courtesy of "Robert" answer)
   

Run this to update Node.js:

wget https://nodejs.org/download/release/latest/win-x64/node.exe -OutFile 'C:\Program Files (x86)\nodejs\node.exe'    (courtesy of BrunoLM answer)

If you get `wget : Could not find a part of the path .... "**, see below ...scroll down. Reading Web Response... It's at least punching through the firewall /proxy (if you have one or have already ran the code get through ...

Otherwise

You might need to set your proxy

npm config set proxy "http://proxy.yourcorp.com:811"    (yes, use quotes)

2 possible errors

1. It cannot find path of the path solution "where.exe node" (courtesy of Lonnie Best Answer)

   E.g. if Node.js is NOT living in "Program Files (x86)" perhaps with where.exe, it is living in 'C:\Program Files\nodejs\node.exe'.

   wget https://nodejs.org/download/release/latest/win-x64/node.exe -OutFile 'C:\Program Files\nodejs\node.exe'
   

2. Now perhaps it tries to upgrade but you get another error, "node.exe is being used by another process."

   • Close /shutdown other consoles .. command prompts and PowerShell windows, etc. Even if you're using npm in a command prompt, close it.

npm -v (3.10.8)

node -v ( v6.6.0)

DONE. I'm at the version that I want.

Answer 5

You can update your npm to the latest stable version with the following command:

 npm install npm@latest -g

Use PowerShell to run it. This command doesn't need windows administrator privileges and you can verify the result with npm -v

Answer 6

You can use Chocolatey which is a package manager for windows (like apt-get for Debian Linux).

Install fresh (you might need to uninstall previously installed versions)

> choco install nodejs

Update to the latest version

> choco update nodejs

and for npm

> choco update npm

Answer 7

The previous answers will work installing a new version of Node.js (probably the best option), but if you have a dependency on a specific Node.js version then the following will work: "npm install npm -g". Verify by running npm -v before and after the command.

Answer 8

This works fine for me to update npm on Windows 7 x64:

• Windows start
• All Programs
• Node.js
• Node.js command prompt (alternative click)

• Run as administrator

  $ npm -g install npm

• remove C:\Program Files\nodejs\npm.cmd the new npm will be at C:\Users\username\appdata\roaming\npm\npm.cmd

Hope this helps.

Answer 9

Open PowerShell as administrator.

To install a first time you can use this small script to download the latest msi and run it

$nodeLatest=((curl https://nodejs.org/download/release/latest/).Content | findstr x64.msi) -replace "<(.*?)>", "" -replace "\s+.+", "";
wget "https://nodejs.org/download/release/latest/$nodeLatest" -OutFile (join-path $env:TEMP node.msi); Start-Process (join-path $env:TEMP node.msi)

On future upgrades you can download just node.exe and update npm with

wget https://nodejs.org/download/release/latest/win-x64/node.exe -OutFile 'C:\Program Files\nodejs\node.exe'
npm i -g npm

You should now have the latest node and npm.

---

I went a little further and decided to implement a nvm for Windows.

https://github.com/brunolm/nvm

Install-Module -Name power-nvm

nvm install latest
nvm default latest

Answer 10

1. Installing latest npm version

npm install –g npm@latest 

(You can type "npm –version" to check that)

2. Installing Node

a. Install node new version via following URL: https://nodejs.org/en/download/current/ Follow the default choices
b. Remove C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming\NPM
c. Remove C:\Users\\AppData\Roaming\npm-cache

Optionally:

d. (Delete node_modules folder in your current project folder)
e. npm cache verify
f. npm install

Answer 11

Use Upgrade npm on Windows

This is the official document for a user to upgrade npm on Windows!

Here is my screenshot!

Answer 12

For what it's worth, I had to combine several answers...

1. Uninstall Node.js in control panel Add/remove programs.
2. Delete directories, both C:\Program Files (x86)\nodejs\ and C:\Program Files\nodejs\ if they exist.
3. Install the latest version, http://nodejs.org/download/

Answer 13

this is best tool to maintain version of NODE.Js i NVM

Node Version Manager (nvm) for Windows but for Windows, with an installer. Download Now! This has always been a node version manager, not an io.js manager, so there is no back-support for io.js. However, node 4+ is supported.

Answer 14

How to Update Node.js:

1. Uninstall Node.js. Click the Start menu, type "Change or Remove a Program", click on the item shown, find Node.js in the list and uninstall it.

2. Delete directories, both C:\Program Files (x86)\nodejs\ and C:\Program Files\nodejs\ if they exist.

3. Install the latest, https://nodejs.org/en/download

    The uninstall/delete/install seems unnecessary, but it often is and this will save your time.     These instructions come from Microsoft.

How to Update NPM:

    https://www.npmjs.com/package/npm-windows-upgrade

    This is the official documentation for upgrading npm on windows.

All was tested and working on Windows 10 (2017).

Answer 15

For me, after totally uninstalling node 10.29, and then installing node 4.2.2, there remained a 10.29 node.exe file in my c:\windows folder.

I found this by using the following command:

where.exe node

The command returned:

C:\Windows\node.exe
C:\Program Files\nodejs\node.exe

So even though I had successfully installed version 4.2.2 via the msi executable, the command node -v would continue to report I was running version 10.29.

I resolved the problem by deleting this file:

C:\Windows\node.exe

Thereafter, node -v reported the upgraded version instead of the unwanted remnants of the prior version.

Answer 16

To install the updates, just download the installer from the Nodejs.org site and run it again. The new version of Node.js and NPM will replace the older versions.

Answer 17

For NodeJS

Download required node version msi from here and install

for Npm

Run PowerShell as Administrator

Set-ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted -Scope CurrentUser -Force
npm install -g npm-windows-upgrade
npm-windows-upgrade

Answer 18

This works fine for me

1. Run Command Prompt as Administrator

2. Navigate to the folder containing nodejs (eg. C:\Program Files\nodejs)

3. Run Powershell -ExecutionPolicy Unrestricted

4. Run npm-windows-upgrade

5. This will show list of versions available to install. Just select your desired version by moving up/down key & Press Enter.
   
   This'll update your npm
6. To check the current version of npm

   Run npm --version

Command Prompt Screenshot

Answer 19

I was also facing similar issues. I followed below mentioned steps and it worked for me:

• go to Windows > Start > Node.js

  • right click on Node.js command prompt
  • click on Run as administrator

• ping registry.npmjs.org

• npm view npm version

• cd %ProgramFiles%\nodejs

• npm install npm@latest

and npm updated successfully. Earlier I was trying for CMD and that was throwing error. may be some path issue that got resolved by running NodeJs Command Prompt. hope it'll work for you. try this.

Answer 20

OK guys, I read (tried on Windows) all the previous stuff and all of these answers have their own disadvantages.

For the best way to update Node.js (at least for me), go to https://nodejs.org/en/ Then download the last version and install it in same folder you installed the previous version in - 1 min and it's done. You don't need to remove any old files.

Then update npm typing in cmd: npm install --save latest-version

Answer 21

The easiest way I found so far to update Node.js is using Chocolatey. Use Chocolatey to install or update the latest version of Node.js on Windows:

Step 1: First, ensure that you already have Chocolatey installed. If not, use an administrative shell to install chocolatey through cmd.exe or PowerShell.exe. For more information, visit: https://chocolatey.org/docs/installation

Step 2: Install with cmd.exe. Run the following command:

@"%SystemRoot%\System32\WindowsPowerShell\v1.0\powershell.exe" -NoProfile -InputFormat None -ExecutionPolicy Bypass -Command "iex ((New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadString('https://chocolatey.org/install.ps1'))" && SET "PATH=%PATH%;%ALLUSERSPROFILE%\chocolatey\bin"

To install with PowerShell.exe, visit: https://chocolatey.org/docs/installation

Step 3: Install or Update with following commands on cmd.exe (on administrative mode)

To Install Node.js: cinst nodejs.install

To Update Node.js: cup nodejs.install

Answer 22

follow these steps for window 10 or window 8

• press WIN + R and type cmd and enter
• npm i -g npm@next
• npm i -g npm@next OR npm i -g node@{version}
• Remove environment path C:\Program Files\nodejs from envrionment variable PATH.
• type refreshenv in cmd

Now you will have your new version which you installed.

Note: If you don't remove path. You will see the previous version of node.

Answer 23

PowerShell does not execute npm directly, so I suggest using

.\npm install -g npm-windows-upgrade
.\npm-windows-upgrade

And it failed with:

You wanted to install npm 6.1.0, but the installed version is 3.10.10.

A common reason is an attempted "npm install npm" or "npm upgrade npm". As of today, the only solution is to completely uninstall and then reinstall Node.js. For a small tutorial, please see http://aka.ms/fix-npm-upgrade (dead link).

Please consider reporting your trouble to npm-windows-upgrade.

Answer 24

I followed josh3737 and installed the latest MSI from the Node.js homepage.

But I had the additional problem that I still had the old version of Node.js and npm on the command line. The problem was caused by the new installation, and that it was installed into

C:\Program Files (x86)\nodejs\

instead of the previous installation in

C:\Program Files\nodejs\

The new installation added the new directory into my path variable after the old one. So the old installation was still the active one in the path. After removing C:\Program Files\nodejs\ from system path and C:\Users\...\AppData\Roaming\npm from user path and restarting the command line the new installation was active.

Maybe the least path was a local problem that has nothing to do with the new installation. I had two links to AppData\Roaming\npm in it. And maybe this can also be fixed by first uninstalling Node.js and installing the new version afterwards.

Answer 25

You can use these commands:

npm cache clean
npm update -g [package....]

If you are upgrading from a previous version of node, then you will want to update all existing global packages. You can also specify the package name to be updated.

Answer 26

This might help someone. Neither "npm-windows-upgrade" nor the installer alone did it for me. Powershell was still using an older version of node and npm.

So this is what I did (worked for me): 1. Download the latest installer from nodejs.org. Install node. It will update your node; everywhere (Powershell, cmd etc.). 2. Install the npm-windows-upgrade package (npm install -g npm-windows-upgrade) and run npm-windows-upgrade.

I didn't uninstall anything and didn't set any paths.

Answer 27

In my case, I discovered that I had two copies of Node.js installed. One under "C:\Program Files\nodejs" and another under "C:\Program Files (x86)\nodejs".

Answer 28

This is what worked for me.

1. Open a local folder other than the one in which nodejs is installed.
2. Install npm in that folder with command npm install npm
3. Navigate to the folder containing node js. (C:\Program Files\nodejs\node_modules)
4. Delete the npm folder and replace it with the npm and bin folders in the local folder.
5. Run npm -v. Now you would get updated version for npm.

Note: I tried installing npm directly in "C:\Program Files\nodejs\node_modules" but it created errors.

Answer 29

1. Start
2. Search for windows powershell
3. Right click and run as administrator
4. Type: where.exe node (returns the path of node.exe in your system. Copy this)
5. wget https://nodejs.org/download/release/latest/win-x64/node.exe -OutFile 'PATH-OF-NODE.EXE_WHICH_YOU_COPIED_JUST_NOW'
6. To check if it has worked, go to your Git bash/Normal command prompt and type: node -v
7. Here you can find the current version of node: https://nodejs.org/en/blog/release/