Full Uninstall Of Node.js 

 

Mac Instructions

Windows Instructions

Mac Instructions

 


Step 1:  

Open terminal and change to the root directory by typing... 

   cd /   

Then change the directory to following by typing... 

   cd /usr/local/lib    

 


Step 2 

Type the following to list files and folders in the directory... 

   ls    

Then look in the list of files/folders for one that is named “node” or “node_modules”.

 


Step 3:  

First open up the permissions to allow deleting all the files

   chmod -R 777 /usr/local/lib/node_modules    

Type the following based on what is present in the list... 

   sudo rm –r node    

Or  

   sudo rm –r node_modules    

 


Step 4:  

Type the following to return to your root directory... 

   cd /    

Then change the directory to following by typing... 

   cd /usr/local/include    

 


Step 5:  

Type the following to list files and folders in the directory... 

   ls    

Look through the files/folders for one that is named “node” or “node_modules”.

 


Step 6:  

Type the following based on what is present in the list... 

   sudo rm –r node    

Or 

   sudo rm –r node_modules    

 


Step 7 

Type the following to return to your root directory... 

   cd /    

Then change the directory to following by typing... 

   cd /usr/local/share/man/man1    

 


Step 8:  

Let's remove anything related to node by typing... 

   sudo rm node*    

Then let’s remove anything related to npm by typing.... 

   sudo rm npm*    

 


Step 9 

Change to the root directory by typing... 

   cd /    

Then change the directory to following by typing... 

   cd /usr/local/share/systemtap/tapset/    

 


Step 10 

Remove the node.stp file by typing the following... 

sudo rm node.stp

 


Step 11 

Change to the root directory by typing... 

   cd /    

Then change the directory to following by typing... 

   cd /usr/local/share/doc    

 


Step 12 

Remove the node folder here by typing... 

   sudo rm –r node    

 


Step 13 

Change to the root directory by typing... 

   cd /    

Then change the directory to following by typing... 

   cd /usr/local/bin    

 


Step 14 

Let remove the important existing node files by typing to following... 

   sudo rm node npm npx node-debug node-gyp    

 


Step 15 

Change to the root directory by typing... 

   cd /    

Then change the directory to following by typing... 

   cd /usr/local/lib/dtrace    

Step 16 

Remove the node.d file by typing the following... 

   sudo rm node.d    

 


Step 17:  

   cd $HOME    

   sudo rm -R .npm    

This will delete the local (non-global) npm files in your user account home directory.


Step 18:  

If you type... 

   node –v    

The node command will not be found by the OS. This confirms that node was removed from the system.

 


Advanced:  

If after a re-installation of node one still receives errors then try the following (advanced users only):

   sudo chmod -R 777 /usr/local/lib/node_modules    
   sudo chmod -R 777 /usr/local/bin    

   cd $HOME    
   for package in `ls node_modules`; do npm uninstall $package; done;   
   sudo rm -Rf .npm    
   sudo rm -rf .node-gyp    
   sudo rm -f package-lock.json    
   sudo rm -f package.json    
   cd /usr/local/lib    
   for package in `ls node_modules`; do npm uninstall $package; done;   
   sudo rm -rf /usr/local/bin/npm /usr/local/bin/node    

   sudo rm -rf /usr/local/share/man/man1/node* /usr/local/lib/dtrace/node.d ~/.npm ~/.node-gyp    
   sudo rm -rf /opt/local/bin/node /opt/local/include/node /opt/local/lib/node_modules    
   sudo rm -rf /usr/local/bin/npm /usr/local/share/man/man1/node.1 /usr/local/lib/dtrace/node.d    
   lsbom -f -l -s -pf /var/db/receipts/org.nodejs.pkg.bom | while read f; do  sudo rm /${f}; done    
   sudo rm -rf /usr/local/lib/node /usr/local/lib/node_modules /var/db/receipts/org.nodejs.*    
   sudo rm -rf /usr/local/n    

This should remove all remnants of the node installation.

Windows Instructions

 


Step 1:  

In your windows search bar look for “cmd. 

Then right click it and run as administrator.

 


Step 2:  

In the command prompt type, the following... 

   npm cache clean --force    

 


Step 3:  

In the windows search look for “add or remove programs”. 

Then search “node” in the search bar and click uninstall. 

 


Step 4:  

Reboot your PC to stop any possible node processes still running. 

 


Step 5:  

In your file explorer search for the path... 

C:\Program Files (x86)  

If there is a folder named “Nodejs”, delete it.

 


Step 6: 

In your file explorer search for the path... 

C:\Program Files 

If there is a folder named “Nodejs”, delete it.

 


Step 7: 

In your file explorer search for the path... 

C:\Users\yourUser\AppData\Roaming 

If there is a folder named “npm” or “npm-cache” delete them.

 


Step 8:  

In your file explorer search for the path... 

C:\Users\yourUser\.npmrc 

If there is a file named “.npmrc” delete it.

 


Step 9: 

In your file explorer search for the path... 

C:\Users\{User}\AppData\Local\Temp 

If there are any folders named with “npm-” delete them.

 


Step 10: 

In the windows search bar look for “edit environment variables”. 

Click on the “path” variables.

 


Step 11:  

Remove any variable that contains “Nodejs” or “npm”. 

When done click the ok button.

 


Step 12:  

Reboot the PC for good measure.

 


Step 13:  

Open the command prompt and type the following... 

   node –v    

If you get an error where node is not recognized, then Node.js is uninstalled.