Installation - Node.js

Installation methods

Node.js can be installed using several methods depending on your operating system and requirements. Choose the method that best fits your needs:

Official installer

Recommended for most users. Download pre-built binaries from nodejs.org.

Version manager

Recommended for developers. Easily switch between Node.js versions.

Package manager

Install via your OS package manager (apt, brew, winget).

Build from source

Advanced users who need custom builds or unsupported platforms.

Windows installation

Method 1: Official installer

Download the installer

Visit nodejs.org/download and download the Windows Installer (.msi) for your architecture:

64-bit: Recommended for most modern Windows systems
ARM64: For Windows on ARM devices

Download the LTS (Long Term Support) version for production applications.

Run the installer

Double-click the downloaded .msi file
Follow the installation wizard
Accept the license agreement
Choose the installation directory (default: C:\Program Files\nodejs\)
Select components to install (keep defaults)

Verify installation

Open Command Prompt or PowerShell and run:

node --version
npm --version

You should see version numbers for both Node.js and npm.

Method 2: Windows Package Manager (winget)

# Install latest LTS version
winget install OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS

# Or install current version
winget install OpenJS.NodeJS

Method 3: Version manager (nvm-windows)

Download nvm-windows

Download the installer from github.com/coreybutler/nvm-windows/releases

Install nvm-windows

Run the installer and follow the setup wizard.

Install Node.js

# List available versions
nvm list available

# Install latest LTS
nvm install lts

# Install specific version
nvm install 20.11.0

# Use installed version
nvm use 20.11.0

# List installed versions
nvm list

Developer Mode requirementOn Windows, creating symlinks requires Developer Mode to be enabled or running as Administrator. Some tests may fail without proper permissions.

macOS installation

Method 1: Official installer

Download the installer

Visit nodejs.org/download and download the macOS Installer (.pkg):

x64: For Intel-based Macs
ARM64: For Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3) Macs

Run the installer

Double-click the .pkg file
Follow the installation wizard
You may need to enter your password

Verify installation

node --version
npm --version

Method 2: Homebrew

# Install Homebrew if you haven't already
/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)"

# Install Node.js LTS
brew install node@20

# Or install current version
brew install node

# Link the installed version
brew link node@20

Method 3: Version manager (nvm)

Install nvm

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.0/install.sh | bash

Or using wget:

wget -qO- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.0/install.sh | bash

Load nvm

Add to your shell profile (~/.zshrc, ~/.bashrc, or ~/.bash_profile):

export NVM_DIR="$HOME/.nvm"
[ -s "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh" ] && \. "$NVM_DIR/nvm.sh"
[ -s "$NVM_DIR/bash_completion" ] && \. "$NVM_DIR/bash_completion"

Reload your shell:

source ~/.zshrc  # or ~/.bashrc

Install Node.js

# Install latest LTS
nvm install --lts

# Install specific version
nvm install 20.11.0

# Use installed version
nvm use 20.11.0

# Set default version
nvm alias default 20.11.0

# List installed versions
nvm ls

Method 4: Version manager (n)

# Install n globally using npm (requires Node.js to be installed first)
npm install -g n

# Or install n without Node.js
curl -L https://bit.ly/n-install | bash

# Install LTS version
n lts

# Install latest version
n latest

# Install specific version
n 20.11.0

# List installed versions
n ls

Linux installation

Method 1: Package manager (Ubuntu/Debian)

Update package index

sudo apt update

Install Node.js from NodeSource

# Download and run NodeSource setup script for Node.js 20.x
curl -fsSL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo -E bash -

# Install Node.js
sudo apt install -y nodejs

Verify installation

node --version
npm --version

Method 2: Package manager (Fedora/RHEL/CentOS)

# Download and run NodeSource setup script
curl -fsSL https://rpm.nodesource.com/setup_20.x | sudo bash -

# Install Node.js
sudo dnf install -y nodejs

# Or for older systems using yum
sudo yum install -y nodejs

Method 3: Package manager (Arch Linux)

sudo pacman -S nodejs npm

Method 4: Version manager (nvm)

Install build dependencies

sudo apt install -y curl build-essential libssl-dev

Install nvm

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.0/install.sh | bash

Load nvm and install Node.js

# Reload shell configuration
source ~/.bashrc

# Install latest LTS
nvm install --lts

# Verify installation
node --version
npm --version

Building from source

For advanced users who need custom builds or work on unsupported platforms.

Prerequisites

Before building Node.js from source, ensure you have the required dependencies:

# Install Xcode Command Line Tools
xcode-select --install

# Install required tools
brew install python3 gcc make

System requirements:

Python 3.x (for building and testing)
GCC >= 12.2 or Clang >= 19.1
GNU Make >= 3.81
At least 8GB RAM for compilation

Build steps

Clone the repository

git clone https://github.com/nodejs/node.git
cd node

Checkout desired version

# List available versions
git tag

# Checkout specific version (e.g., v20.11.0)
git checkout v20.11.0

# Or use latest from main branch
git checkout main

Configure the build

# Basic configuration
./configure

# Or with custom options
./configure --prefix=/usr/local/node

Run ./configure --help to see all available configuration options.

Compile Node.js

# Build with 4 parallel jobs
make -j4

Building Node.js can take 15-30 minutes depending on your system. The -j4 flag runs 4 parallel jobs to speed up compilation.

Test the build (optional)

# Run test suite
make test-only

# Or run full test suite (includes linting)
make test

Install Node.js

sudo make install

Build configuration options

Common configuration options for custom builds:

# Install to custom directory
./configure --prefix=/opt/nodejs

# Build with debug symbols
./configure --debug

# Build without internationalization support
./configure --without-intl

# Build with small ICU (English only)
./configure --with-intl=small-icu

# Build without OpenSSL assembly optimization
./configure --openssl-no-asm

# Enable Address Sanitizer for debugging
./configure --enable-asan

Version managers comparison

Choosing the right version manager:

Feature	nvm	n	nvm-windows
Platform	macOS, Linux	macOS, Linux	Windows
Installation	Shell script	npm or script	Installer
Speed	Fast	Very fast	Fast
Shell integration	Excellent	Good	Good
Active development	Yes	Yes	Yes
Use case	Most flexible	Simplest	Windows only

Recommended choices:

Windows: nvm-windows
macOS/Linux: nvm (most popular) or n (simpler)

Verifying your installation

After installation, verify everything is working correctly:

Check versions

# Node.js version
node --version
# Output: v20.11.0

# npm version
npm --version
# Output: 10.2.4

# Check installation paths
which node
which npm

Run a test script

node -e "console.log('Node.js is working!')"
# Output: Node.js is working!

Check available binaries

Node.js installation includes several binaries:

# Interactive REPL
node

# Package manager
npm

# Alternative package manager (included with Node.js)
npx

Updating Node.js

Using version managers

# Install latest LTS
nvm install --lts

# Switch to new version
nvm use --lts

# Set as default
nvm alias default lts/*

Using package managers

winget upgrade OpenJS.NodeJS.LTS

Uninstalling Node.js

Windows

# Using winget
winget uninstall OpenJS.NodeJS

# Or use Windows Settings
# Settings > Apps > Installed apps > Node.js > Uninstall

macOS

# If installed via Homebrew
brew uninstall node

# If installed via official installer
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/{lib/node{,/.npm,_modules},bin,share/man}/{npm*,node*,man1/node*}

Linux

# Ubuntu/Debian
sudo apt remove nodejs npm

# Fedora/RHEL
sudo dnf remove nodejs npm

Troubleshooting

Permission errors

If you encounter permission errors when installing global packages:

# Don't use sudo with npm!
# Instead, configure npm to use a different directory
mkdir ~/.npm-global
npm config set prefix '~/.npm-global'

# Add to your shell profile
export PATH=~/.npm-global/bin:$PATH

Path issues

If node or npm commands are not found:

# macOS/Linux: Add to ~/.zshrc or ~/.bashrc
export PATH="/usr/local/bin:$PATH"

# Windows: Add to PATH environment variable
# C:\Program Files\nodejs\

Multiple Node.js installations

If you have conflicts from multiple installations:

# Check all node installations
which -a node

# Check current node path
which node

# Use version manager to manage installations

Next steps

Now that you have Node.js installed, you’re ready to start building:

Quickstart

Create your first Node.js application

Introduction

Learn about Node.js architecture and features

API reference

Explore Node.js built-in modules

Best practices

Learn Node.js development best practices

Getting Started

Core Concepts

Guides

Advanced

​Installation methods

Official installer

Version manager

Package manager

Build from source

​Windows installation

​Method 1: Official installer

​Method 2: Windows Package Manager (winget)

​Method 3: Version manager (nvm-windows)

​macOS installation

​Method 1: Official installer

​Method 2: Homebrew

​Method 3: Version manager (nvm)

​Method 4: Version manager (n)

​Linux installation

​Method 1: Package manager (Ubuntu/Debian)

​Method 2: Package manager (Fedora/RHEL/CentOS)

​Method 3: Package manager (Arch Linux)

​Method 4: Version manager (nvm)

​Building from source

​Prerequisites

​Build steps

​Build configuration options

​Version managers comparison

​Verifying your installation

​Check versions

​Run a test script

​Check available binaries

​Updating Node.js

​Using version managers

​Using package managers

​Uninstalling Node.js

​Windows

​macOS

​Linux

​Troubleshooting

​Permission errors

​Path issues

​Multiple Node.js installations

​Next steps

Quickstart

Introduction

API reference

Best practices

​Additional resources

Installation methods

Windows installation

Method 1: Official installer

Method 2: Windows Package Manager (winget)

Method 3: Version manager (nvm-windows)

macOS installation

Method 1: Official installer

Method 2: Homebrew

Method 3: Version manager (nvm)

Method 4: Version manager (n)

Linux installation

Method 1: Package manager (Ubuntu/Debian)

Method 2: Package manager (Fedora/RHEL/CentOS)

Method 3: Package manager (Arch Linux)

Method 4: Version manager (nvm)

Building from source

Prerequisites

Build steps

Build configuration options

Version managers comparison

Verifying your installation

Check versions

Run a test script

Check available binaries

Updating Node.js

Using version managers

Using package managers

Uninstalling Node.js

Windows

macOS

Linux

Troubleshooting

Permission errors

Path issues

Multiple Node.js installations

Next steps

Additional resources