How to fully uninstall Node.js on Mac

What Node.js leaves behind

Node.js scatters files across system directories depending on your installation method. The npm cache alone can grow to several GB, and globally installed packages persist in /usr/local/lib/node_modules/ even after removing the Node.js binary:

Uninstalling by installation method

First, determine how Node.js was installed by running which node in Terminal.

Pkg installer (/usr/local/bin/node)

If you installed Node.js from the official nodejs.org .pkg installer, you need to remove the binaries and directories manually:

1. 1. Remove Node.js binariesRun in Terminal: sudo rm /usr/local/bin/node /usr/local/bin/npm /usr/local/bin/npx
2. 2. Remove Node.js directoriesRun: sudo rm -rf /usr/local/lib/node_modules/ /usr/local/include/node/
3. 3. Remove additional filesRun: sudo rm -rf /usr/local/share/doc/node /usr/local/share/man/man1/node.1

Homebrew (/opt/homebrew/bin/node)

If you installed Node.js via Homebrew, removal is straightforward:

1. 1. Uninstall Node.jsRun in Terminal: brew uninstall node
2. 2. Clean up Homebrew cacheRun: brew cleanup

nvm (~/.nvm)

If you used Node Version Manager, all Node.js versions live inside ~/.nvm:

1. 1. Deactivate nvmRun in Terminal: nvm deactivate
2. 2. Remove the nvm directoryRun: rm -rf ~/.nvm
3. 3. Remove nvm config from shell profileEdit your ~/.zshrc or ~/.bash_profile and remove the lines that load nvm.

Cleaning up npm and global packages

Regardless of installation method, npm leaves behind cache and configuration files in your home directory:

1. 1. Delete the npm cacheThe ~/.npm/ directory stores cached packages and can grow to several GB. Run: rm -rf ~/.npm
2. 2. Delete node-gyp build cacheNative addon builds are cached in ~/.node-gyp/. Run: rm -rf ~/.node-gyp
3. 3. Remove global node_modulesIf you haven't already, remove /usr/local/lib/node_modules/. Run: sudo rm -rf /usr/local/lib/node_modules
4. 4. Remove npm/yarn config files (optional)Delete ~/.npmrc and ~/.yarnrc if they exist.

Verify complete removal

After completing the steps above, verify that Node.js and npm are fully removed by running these commands in Terminal:

All three commands should return "not found" or produce no output. If any command still returns a path, check that location and remove the remaining files. You may need to restart your Terminal or run hash -r to clear the shell's command cache.