A Complete Guide to Node Version Manager (NVM) on macOS

Summary: in this tutorial, you will learn how to install and use Node Version Manager (NVM) on macOS.

Node Version Manager (NVM) allows you to install multiple versions of Node.js on your macOS and switch between them easily.

This can be helpful when you have different Node.js projects that require different versions of Node.js.

Install NVM

We’ll show you how to install NVM using Homebrew.

Step 1. Install Homebrew

If Homebrew is not available, you can install it by running the following command:

/bin/bash -c "$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/master/install.sh)"Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

Step 2. Install NVM

After installing Homebrew, you can install nvm by running the following command:

brew install nvm

Step 3. Add nvm to your shell profile.

To enable nvm every time you open a new terminal, you need to add the following line to your shell configuration files (~/.zshrc, ~/.bashrc, or ~/.bash_profile):

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
Code language: PHP (php)

Save the file and reload your shell configuration:

source ~/.zshrc

Install Node.js via nvm

Run the nvm install command to install a specific Node.js version on your macOS:

npm install <version>Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

Replace the <version> with the version number you want to install, for example:

nvm install 20.6.0Code language: CSS (css)

To install the latest Long-term support (LTS) version, you can use the following command:

nvm install --lts

If you want to install the latest Node.js, you can use the following command:

nvm instal node

List installed Node.js versions

Run the nvm list command to list out all the installed Node.js versions:

nvm listCode language: PHP (php)

The output looks like the following:

       v16.20.1
       v18.17.0
->     v20.16.0
default -> v16.20.1
node -> stable (-> v20.16.0) (default)
stable -> 20.16.0 (-> v20.16.0)
iojs -> N/A (default)
lts/* -> lts/hydrogen (-> v18.17.0)
lts/hydrogen -> v18.17.0Code language: JavaScript (javascript)

• -> v20.16.0: The arrow indicates the currently active version of Node.js.
• default -> v16.20.1: The default version that nvm will use when you open a new terminal session.
• node -> stable: Indicates that node points to the stable version, which in this case is v20.16.0.
• lts/*: Shows the versions associated with the Long-Term Support (LTS) releases. For example, lts/hydrogen points to v18.17.0.

Switch Node.js versions

To switch to a specific Node.js, you use the following command:

nvm use <version>Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

Replace <version> with a version number you want to switch to. For example:

nvm use 20.16.0Code language: CSS (css)

And you can verify the currently active Node.js version:

node -v

Output:

v20.16.0Code language: CSS (css)

Uninstall a Node.js version

To uninstall a specific Node.js version on your computer:

First, list out all the installed versions using the nvm list command:

nvm listCode language: PHP (php)

Second, run the uninstall command:

nvm uninstall <version>Code language: HTML, XML (xml)

Replace the <version> with the one you want to uninstall.

Summary

• Use Node Version Manager (NVM) to manage and switch between multiple versions of Node.js on your macOS.
• Use nvm install command to install a specific Node.js version.
• Use nvm list command to display a list of installed Node.js versions on your computer.
• Use nvm use command to switch to a specific Node.js version.
• Use node -v command to show the currently active Node.js version.
• Use nvm uninstall command to uninstall a specific Node.js version on your computer.