How to Find the Version of Installed NPM Version?

Introduction to the Installed NPM Version

NPM, short for Node Package Manager, is a package manager for JavaScript programming language, one of the world’s biggest software registries. It is commonly used with Node.js– a runtime environment for executing JavaScript code outside a web browser. 

NPM installs packages and offers a user interface to work interactively. It allows developers to easily manage and install packages or libraries that extend the functionality of their JavaScript projects. 

In this article, we will take you through the installed version of NPM and how to check NPM version on Windows and MAC. 

Overview of NPM

NPM enables version management, allowing developers to specify the desired versions of packages for their projects. NPM has a large and active community, which contributes to creating and maintaining packages and provides support in various forms. It is continuously updated with new features, bug fixes, and performance improvements, and it is recommended to keep it up to date.

NPM is effortless to use as you are only required to type npm install async to install your preferred module in the current directory under /node modules/. 

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Importance of Knowing Installed NPM Version

• Scalability: NPM helps businesses and startups to expand with time. It allows developers to easily manage dependencies, share and reuse code, and leverage a vast ecosystem of modules and libraries.  
• Compatibility: Different versions of NPM may have varying levels of compatibility with specific packages, libraries, or frameworks. Knowing the installed NPM version helps ensure your packages are compatible and function correctly with your development environment. 
• Bug Fixes and Security Updates: Each NPM version may include bug fixes and security patches. Staying up to date with the latest NPM version ensures that you have access to these fixes, which can help improve the stability and security of your projects.  
• Package Management: The NPM version may differ in handling package installation, dependency resolution, and other package management tasks. Being aware of the installed NPM version helps you understand the behaviour and capabilities of the package manager, allowing you to manage your project dependencies effectively.

Using the Comand-Line Interface (CLI) to inspect NPM Version

Let’s go through a few steps to inspect the installed NPM version using the command-line interface (CLI).

1. Open your command-line interface (such as Terminal Command Prompt).
2. Writer the given command and press Enter: npm –version
3. The command will display the version number of NPM installed on your system. For example, if the output is 7.22.0, you have NPM version 7.22.0 installed.

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Finding NPM Version Using the NPM-V Command

One of the most simple ways to find the version of NPM installed on your device is by using the ‘npm -v’ command. Simply open your terminal or command prompt and enter the following command:

npm -v

Executing this command will display the version number of NPM installed on your system, allowing you to determine your version quickly. 

Version Control Using NPM

Version control is essential to managing JavaScript projects, and NPM provides mechanisms to handle versioning effectively. In an NPM project, you can specify dependencies in the ‘package.json’ file, including version ranges or specific versions. 

NPM ensures the correct versions are fetched when installing dependencies and tracks the installed versions. Moreover, NPM offers commands like ‘npm outdated’ and ‘npm update’ to manage package versions efficiently.

Checking Installed NPM Version on Windows

Here are some of the steps you can follow on how to check NPM version:

1. Open the command prompt by clicking the Windows key + R, typing ‘cmd’, and clicking Enter. 
2. In the Command prompt, type the following command and press Enter:

npm –version or npm -v 

Note: Keep the double hyphen in the first command. Ensure the Node is installed on your system before running the command, as it will not show the results otherwise. 

Checking Installed NPM Version Using the Node.js console

Here are the steps by which you will be able to check NPM version on your computer:

• Type the command npm -v or npm –version in your command prompt to see the given output.

$ npm -v

8.1.0

# or

$ npm –version

8.1.0

• If the screen shows this output, you have successfully installed Node.js in your system.
• To check whether you have installed the NPM package, navigate to your project’s root directory and run the ‘npm list’ command. This should be in your command prompt.

$ npm list

n-app@1.0.0 /Users/filename/Desktop/DEV/n-app

├── cors@2.8.5

├── express@4.18.1

├── gulp@3.9.1

├── jest@28.1.0

├── mocha@10.0.0

└── vue@2.6.14

• For the previous NPM version, see the following list of installed modules. 

$ npm list

n-app@1.0.0 /Users/filename/Desktop/DEV/n-app

├─┬ cors@2.8.5

│ ├── object-assign@4.1.1

│ └── vary@1.1.2

├─┬ express@4.18.1

│ ├─┬ accepts@1.3.8

│ │ ├─┬ mime-types@2.1.35

│ │ │ └── mime-db@1.52.0

│ │ └── negotiator@0.6.3

│ ├── array-flatten@1.1.1

# …

When using the ‘npm list’ command, the displayed output may contain dependency packages installed for the modules present in your device. For instance, it may show packages like ‘object-assign’ and ‘vary’ as dependencies of the ‘cors’ package.

You can add the ‘–depth=0’ option to the npm list command to limit the output to only top-level modules. This will ensure that only the direct dependencies of your project are shown in the output without including nested dependencies.

$ npm list –depth=0

n-app@1.0.0 /Users/filename/Desktop/DEV/n-app

├── cors@2.8.5

├── express@4.18.1

├── gulp@3.9.1

├── jest@28.1.0

├── mocha@10.0.0

└── vue@2.6.14

Checking NPM Version with Packaging.json File

If a project has a package.json file, running npm install will install everything the project requires in the node_modules folder. 

To check NPM version specified in the package.json file, you can open the file in a text editor and locate the ‘npm’ section within the ‘engines’ object. The value next to ‘npm’ represents the desired NPM version specified in the project’s configuration.

Checking NPM Version Using a Code Editor

To check the npm version using a code editor, you only need to execute JavaScript code in the Node.js environment. Here are a few easy steps you can follow:

1. Open your preferred editors like Visual Studio Code, Atom, or Sublime Text.
2. Create a new JavaScript file with a .js extension.
3. In the JavaScript file, add the following: 

const { execSync } = require(‘child_process’);

const npmVersion = execSync(‘npm –version’).toString().trim();

console.log(`NPM version: ${npmVersion}`);

1. Save the file and open a terminal or integrated terminal in your editor. 
2. Run the JavaScript file using Node.js by executing the following command:

node checkNpmVersion.js

The terminal will now display the NPM version installed on your system. 

Common Errors While Checking NPM Version

Broken NPM Installation

• Broken NPM on Mac or Linux– reinstall NPM
• On Windows: Reinstall the Node from the official installer.

Random Errors

• Run commands like npm cache clean and try again. If you are having trouble with the npm install, use -verbose option for more details. 

(For an outdated version, update the latest and stable npm).

Permissions Errors

The error ‘Error: ENONENT, stat ‘c:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\npm’ on Windows 7 is caused by joyent/node#8141, an issue with Node installer on Windows. Ensure that c:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\npm exists and is editable with a normal user account. 

No Space

npm ERR! Error: ENOSPC, write

There is an issue with the installation process because either the user drive for installation has insufficient storage space or you need the necessary permissions to write to that drive. In this scenario:

• Empty some disk space for the packages
• Set the tmp folder for more space
• Build the Node yourself or install it somewhere with an abundance of space.

Conclusion and Recommendations

This concludes our list of different ways how you can find the version of NPM installed on your system. Staying up to date with the latest NPM version enables developers to ensure compatibility with diverse frameworks, avoid bugs from older versions and reap benefits offered under fresh versions, optimising overall performance. Therefore, knowing the right NPM version is the key to better development practices.

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