How can I completely uninstall nodejs, npm and node in Ubuntu

The Question is similar to https://stackoverflow.com/questions/11177954/how-do-i-completely-uninstall-node-js-and-reinstall-from-beginning-mac-os-x but for Ubuntu, and just for uninstalling.

Installation was done by: sudo apt-get install node

How do I completely remove npm along with all libraries, packages and any other files installed by npm on my system, via e.g. npm install -g @vue/cli?

I do plan to reinstall npm afterwards.

sudo apt-get remove nodejs
sudo apt-get remove npm

Then go to /etc/apt/sources.list.d and remove any node list if you have. Then do a

sudo apt-get update

Check for any .npm or .node folder in your home folder and delete those.

If you type

which node

you can see the location of the node. Try which nodejs and which npm too.

I would recommend installing node using Node Version Manager(NVM). That saved a lot of headache for me. You can install nodejs and npm without sudo using nvm.

It is better to remove NodeJS and its modules manually because installation leaves a lot of files, links and modules behind and later this creates problems when we reconfigure another version of NodeJS and its modules.

To remove the files, run the following commands:

sudo rm -rf /usr/local/bin/npm 
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/share/man/man1/node* 
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/lib/dtrace/node.d
rm -rf ~/.npm
rm -rf ~/.node-gyp
sudo rm -rf /opt/local/bin/node
sudo rm -rf /opt/local/include/node
sudo rm -rf /opt/local/lib/node_modules
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/lib/node*
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/include/node*
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/bin/node*

I have posted a step by step guide with commands on my blog: AMCOS IT Support For Windows and Linux: To completely uninstall node js from Ubuntu.

Note: This will completely remove nodejs from your system; then you can make a fresh install from the below commands.

Removing Nodejs and Npm

sudo apt-get remove nodejs npm node
sudo apt-get purge nodejs

Now remove .node and .npm folders from your system

sudo rm -rf /usr/local/bin/npm 
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/share/man/man1/node* 
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/lib/dtrace/node.d 
sudo rm -rf ~/.npm 
sudo rm -rf ~/.node-gyp 
sudo rm -rf /opt/local/bin/node 
sudo rm -rf opt/local/include/node 
sudo rm -rf /opt/local/lib/node_modules  

sudo rm -rf /usr/local/lib/node*
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/include/node*
sudo rm -rf /usr/local/bin/node*

Go to home directory and remove any node or node_modules directory, if exists.

You can verify your uninstallation by these commands; they should not output anything.

which node
which nodejs
which npm

Installing NVM (Node Version Manager) by downloading and running a script

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/creationix/nvm/v0.34.0/install.sh | bash

The command above will clone the NVM repository from Github to the ~/.nvm directory:

Close and reopen your terminal to start using nvm or run the following to use it now:

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

As the output above says, you should either close and reopen the terminal or run the commands to add the path to nvm script to the current shell session. You can do whatever is easier for you.

Once the script is in your PATH, verify that nvm was properly installed by typing:

nvm --version

which should give this output:

0.34.0

Installing Node.js and npm

nvm install node
nvm install --lts

Once the installation is completed, verify it by printing the Node.js version:

node --version

should give this output:

v12.8.1

Npm should also be installed with node, verify it using

npm -v

should give:

6.13.4

Extra - [Optional] You can also use two different versions of node using nvm easily

nvm install 8.10.0 # just put the node version number Now switch between node versions

$ nvm ls
->     v12.14.1
        v13.7.0
default -> lts/* (-> v12.14.1)
node -> stable (-> v13.7.0) (default)
stable -> 13.7 (-> v13.7.0) (default)
iojs -> N/A (default)
unstable -> N/A (default)
lts/* -> lts/erbium (-> v12.14.1)
lts/argon -> v4.9.1 (-> N/A)
lts/boron -> v6.17.1 (-> N/A)
lts/carbon -> v8.17.0 (-> N/A)
lts/dubnium -> v10.18.1 (-> N/A)

In my case v12.14.1 and v13.7.0 both are installed, to switch I have to just use

nvm use 12.14.1

Configuring npm for global installations In your home directory, create a directory for global installations:

mkdir ~/.npm-global

Configure npm to use the new directory path:

npm config set prefix '~/.npm-global'

In your preferred text editor, open or create a ~/.profile file if does not exist and add this line:

PATH="$HOME/.npm-global/bin:$PATH"

On the command line, update your system variables:

source ~/.profile

That's all

> It bothered me too much while updating node version from 8.1.0 to > 10.14.0

Here is what worked for me:

1. Open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T).

2. Type which node, which will give a path something like /usr/local/bin/node

3. Run the command sudo rm /usr/local/bin/node to remove the binary (adjust the path according to what you found in step 2). Now node -v shows you have no node version

4. Download a script and run it to set up the environment:

   curl -sL https://deb.nodesource.com/setup_10.x | sudo -E bash -
   

5. Install using sudo apt-get install nodejs

   Note: If you are getting error like

   node /usr/bin/env: node: No such file or directory
   

   just run

   ln -s /usr/bin/nodejs /usr/bin/node
   

   Source

6. Now node -v will give v10.14.0

Worked for me.

I was crazy to delete node and npm and nodejs from my Ubuntu 14.04 but with this steps you will remove it:

sudo apt-get uninstall nodejs npm node
sudo apt-get remove nodejs npm node

If you uninstall correctly and it is still there, check these links:

• Stack Overflow answer with more information
• Remove npm - Official website
• Stack Overflow answer for uninstalling if you installed via git repository
• Try purging nodejs npm and node

You can also try using find:

find / -name "node"

Although since that is likely to take a long time and return a lot of confusing false positives, you may want to search only PATH locations:

find $(echo $PATH | sed 's/:/ /g') -name "node"

It would probably be in /usr/bin/node or /usr/local/bin. After finding it, you can delete it using the correct path, eg:

sudo rm /usr/bin/node

Those who installed node.js via the package manager can just run:

sudo apt-get purge nodejs

Optionally if you have installed it by adding the official NodeSource repository as stated in Installing Node.js via package manager, do:

sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nodesource.list

If you want to clean up npm cache as well:

rm -rf ~/.npm

---

It is bad practice to try to remove things manually, as it can mess up the package manager, and the operating system itself. This answer is completely safe to follow

Try the following commands:

$ sudo apt-get install nodejs
$ sudo apt-get install aptitude
$ sudo aptitude install npm