How to update NPM and Node.js

⚠️ Note: I did this on MacOS. I have no idea if it will work on Windows or Linux.

In my previous post I covered how to get set up with Node.js and NPM. It's been a full 2 days since then, and in the meantime there's been an update that caused the Node app I cloned to fail.

The most straight forward solution I found was to use the n package in NPM to update Node.

Update NPM #

First make sure NPM (Node Package Manager) is up to date.

1. npm -v Check which version you've got installed.
2. npm install npm@latest -g Install the latest version.
3. npm -v Confirm that it was updated.

The version number might not change if you already had the latest version. This happened to me. No harm done.

Update Node.js #

Next focus on Node.js.

1. sudo npm cache clean -f Force NPM to clear its cache. The terminal will ask for your password since this command is using sudo.
2. sudo npm install -g n Install the "n" package, which lets us install and manage different versions of Node.
3. sudo n stable Install the latest stable version of Node.

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