Upgrade Node.js to the latest version on Mac OS - macos

Question

Currently I am using Node.js v0.6.16 on Mac OS X 10.7.4. Now I want to upgrade it to the latest Node.js v0.8.1. But after downloading and installing the latest package file from nodejs.org, I found that system is still using v0.6.16 instead of v0.8.1 when I typed "node -v" in a terminal. Is there any step that I have missed? Or, should I thoroughly uninstall the old version before installing the latest one?
BTW, I know that nvm can help to manage the nodejs package
https://github.com/creationix/nvm/
Is there any way to upgrade the Node.js without using it?
I have googled this problem, but it seems to me that there is no very clear answer to this question for the latest Node.js.

Answer 1

Here's how I successfully upgraded from v0.8.18 to v0.10.20 without any other requirements like brew etc, (type these commands in the terminal):
sudo npm cache clean -f (force) clear you npm cache
sudo npm install -g n install n (this might take a while)
sudo n stable upgrade to the current stable version
Note that sudo might prompt your password.
Additional note regarding step 3: stable can be exchanged for latest, lts (long term support) or any specific version number such as 0.10.20.
If the version number doesn't show up when typing node -v, you might have to reboot.
These instructions are found here as well: davidwalsh.name/upgrade-nodejs
More info about the n package found here: npmjs.com/package/n
More info about Node.js' release schedule: github.com/nodejs/Release

Answer 2

If you initially installed Node.js with Homebrew, run:
brew update
brew upgrade node
npm install -g npm
Or as a one-liner:
brew update && brew upgrade node && npm install -g npm
A convenient way to change versions is to use n:
brew install n
To install the latest version of Node.js with n:
n latest
Or, to install the latest LTS version with n:
n lts
Alternatively, you could use nvm instead of n:
brew install nvm
To install the latest version of Node.js with nvm:
nvm install node
If you installed via a package, then download the latest version from nodejs.org.
See Installing Node.js and updating npm.

Answer 3

Because this seems to be at the top of Google when searching for how to upgrade nodejs on mac I will offer my tip for anyone coming along in the future despite its age.
Upgrading via NPM
You can use the method described by #Mathias above or choose the following simpler method via the terminal.
sudo npm cache clean -f
sudo npm install -g n
sudo n stable
After which you may opt to confirm the upgrade
node -v
Your nodejs should have upgraded to the latest version. If you wish to upgrade to a specific one say v0.8.19 then instead of
sudo n stable
use
sudo n 0.8.19
EDIT
Avoid using sudo unless you need to. Refer to comment by Steve in the comments

Answer 4

Go to http://nodejs.org and download and run the installer.
It works now - for me at least.

Answer 5

You could install nvm and have multiple versions of Node.js installed.
curl https://raw.github.com/creationix/nvm/master/install.sh | sh
source ~/.nvm/nvm.sh
and then run:
nvm install 0.8.22 #(or whatever version of Node.js you want)
you can see what versions you have installed with :
nvm list
and you can change between versions with:
nvm use 0.8.22
The great thing about using NVM is that you can test different versions alongside one another. If different apps require different versions of Node.js, you can run them both.

Answer 6

I use Node version manager (called n) for it.
npm install -g n
then
n latest
OR
n stable

Answer 7

Simply go to node JS Website and install the latest version.
Do install latest version instead of the recommended stable version. It will give you freedom to use latest ES6 Features on node.
Can be Found here Node JS.
also to update npm, you will have to use this command.
sudo npm i -g npm#latest
All your projects will work fine.
Update: 2020 another good option is to use nvm for node which can then support multiple versions.
use nvm install --lts to always be able to update to latest node version use nvm ls-remote command to to check new versions of node.
Other option for mac :: brew update && brew install node && npm -g npm

Answer 8

Upgrade the version of node without installing any package, not even nvm itself:
sudo npx n stable
Explanations:
This approach is similar to Johan Dettmar's answer. The only difference is here the package n is not installed glabally in the local machine.

Answer 9

On macOS the homebrew recommended way is to run
brew install node
npm install -g npm#latest

Answer 10

I am able to upgrade the node using following command
nvm install node --reinstall-packages-from=node

Answer 11

There are five different ways (and counting?) to update Node.js on Mac:
Install the newer binary by downloading from nodejs.org
Update Node.js through Homebrew
Command: brew update && brew upgrade node
Update Node.js using Node Version Manager (NVM)
Command: nvm install {version} && nvm use {version}
Update Node.js using n package manager
Command: sudo n latest
Update Node.js through MacPorts
Command (same version update): sudo port selfupdate && sudo port upgrade {version}
If you are still using older MacOS version, it may be better to use lightweight, special-purpose package manager like n or nvm. You can refer to this sample use case for updating Node.js on old Mac (High Sierra).

Answer 12

Now this works for me:
sudo npm install -g n
sudo n latest
Happy code!

Answer 13

sadly, n doesn't worked for me. I use node version manager or nvm and it works like a charm. heres the link on how to install nvm: https://github.com/creationix/nvm#installation
nvm i 8.11.2 upgrade to latest LTS
nvm use 8.11.2 use it
node -v check your latest version

Answer 14

Go to the website nodejs.org and download the latest pkg then install.
it works for me
I used brew to upgrade my node. It has installed but it located in /usr/local/Cellar/node/5.5.0 and there is a default node in /usr/local/bin/node which bothers me. I don't want to make soft link because I don't really know how brew is organized.
So I download the pkg file, installed and I got this info:
Node.js was installed at
/usr/local/bin/node
npm was installed at
/usr/local/bin/npm
Make sure that /usr/local/bin is in your $PATH.
Now the upgrade is completed

Answer 15

Pretty Simple.
sudo npm i -g n
Then you can specify the version you want.
sudo n 12.8.0
Cheers!!

Answer 16

You can run but you can't hide... At the end you will be using NVM anyways.

Answer 17

You can just go to nodejs.org and download the newest package. It will update appropriately for you. NPM will be updated as well.

Answer 18

I think the simplest way to use the newest version of Node.js is to get the newest Node.js pkg file in the website https://nodejs.org/en/download/current/
if you want to use different version of Node.js you can use nvm or n to manage it.

Answer 19

sudo npm install -g n
and then
sudo n latest for linux/mac users
For Windows please reinstall node.

Answer 20

These 2 methods I tried are not working:
Use npm
sudo npm cache clean -f
sudo npm install -g n
sudo n stable
Manual install node from official website (https://nodejs.org/en/)
After trying, node -v still shows the old version of node.
Below method works for me:
Step 1: Install nvm (for more details: https://github.com/creationix/nvm#installation)
Open terminal and type this command:
curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/creationix/nvm/v0.33.11/install.sh | bash
Close terminal and reopen it.
Type this command to check if nvm is installed:
command -v nvm
Step 2: To download, compile, and install the latest release of node, type this:
nvm install node ("node" is an alias for the latest version)
To check if node gets the latest version (v10.11.0).
Installing the latest node also installs the latest npm.
Check if npm gets the latest version (6.4.1).

Answer 21

Easy nad Safe Steps
Step 1: Install NVM
brew install nvm
Step 2: Create a directory for NVM
mkdir ~/.nvm/
Step 3: Configure your environmental variables
nano ~/.bash_profile
PASTE BELOW CODE
export NVM_DIR=~/.nvm
source $(brew --prefix nvm)/nvm.sh
source ~/.bash_profile
Step 4: Double check your work
nvm ls
Step 5: Install Node
nvm install 9.x.x
Step6: Upgrade
nvm ls-remote
v10.16.2 (LTS: Dubnium)
v10.16.3 (Latest LTS: Dubnium) ..........
nvm install v10.16.3
Troubleshooting
Error Example #1
rm -rf /usr/local/lib/node_modules
brew uninstall node
brew install node --without-npm
echo prefix=~/.npm-packages >> ~/.npmrc
curl -L https://www.npmjs.com/install.sh | sh
https://www.chrisjmendez.com/2018/02/07/install/

Answer 22

Nvm
Nvm is a script-based node version manager. You can install it easily with a curl and bash one-liner as described in the documentation. It's also available on Homebrew.
Assuming you have successfully installed nvm. The following will install the latest version of node.
nvm install node --reinstall-packages-from=node
The last option installs all global npm packages over to your new version. This way packages like mocha and node-inspector keep working.
N
N is an npm-based node version manager. You can install it by installing first some version of node and then running npm install -g n.
Assuming you have successfully installed n. The following will install the latest version of node.
sudo n latest
Homebrew
Homebrew is one of the two popular package managers for Mac. Assuming you have previously installed node with brew install node. You can get up-to-date with formulae and upgrade to the latest Node.js version with the following.
1 brew update
2 brew upgrade node
MacPorts
MacPorts is the another package manager for Mac. The following will update the local ports tree to get access to updated versions. Then it will install the latest version of Node.js. This works even if you have previous version of the package installed.
1 sudo port selfupdate
2 sudo port install nodejs-devel

Answer 23

for latest release:
nvm install node
specific version:
nvm install 6.14.4
https://github.com/creationix/nvm

Answer 24

Use nvm to upgrade node as per the project requirement..
install nvm through homebrew..
brew update
brew install nvm
mkdir ~/.nvm
nano ~/.bash_profile
In your .bash_profile file (you may be using an other file, according to your shell), add the following :
export NVM_DIR=~/.nvm
source $(brew --prefix nvm)/nvm.sh
source ~/.bash_profile
echo $NVM_DIR

Answer 25

You can directly use curl to upgrade node to the latest version. Run the following command:
curl "https://nodejs.org/dist/latest/node-${VERSION:-$(wget -qO- https://nodejs.org/dist/latest/ | sed -nE 's|.*>node-(.*)\.pkg</a>.*|\1|p')}.pkg" > "$HOME/Downloads/node-latest.pkg" && sudo installer -store -pkg "$HOME/Downloads/node-latest.pkg" -target "/"
Reference: https://nodejs.org/en/download/package-manager/#macos

Answer 26

First install nvm with this command:
curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.39.1/install.sh | bash
credirts to #Saviah Kao
Then install node:
nvm install node --reinstall-packages-from=node
credits to #Elad

Answer 27

I had the same problem. This is what worked for me because I downloaded and installed node.js globally from the node.js website.
What I did was Give NVM (Node Version Manager) a try. Please do the commands in the following order in your terminal
curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/creationix/nvm/v0.33.11/install.sh | bash
command -v nvm
nvm install node
node -v (to confirm the update)

Answer 28

This is just to add some info for people who didn't have Node installed with Homebrew but getting that very error when trying to install packages with npm on Mac OS X.
I found this good article explaining how to completely remove Node whichever the way you originally installed it.
After node, npm and n were completely removed from my machine, I just reinstalled Node.js using the official .pckg installer from Node website and everything just went back to normal.
Hope this helps out someone.

Answer 29

An easy way is go straight to the website
https://nodejs.org/en/download/
Click download the latest version and install pkg file.
After that you will get the latest node and npm version

Answer 30

I'm using a Mac Mini M1. I just removed my very old packages of node.js and npm and decided to install them using homebrew. I found out that now brew install node also installs npm. FYI