How to clean up node modules?
Tags: node, javascript, npm
Published: 2021-07-01 11:39:06

---
title: How to clean up node modules?
published: true
date: 2021-03-20 00:00:00 UTC
tags: node, javascript, npm
canonical_url: https://www.mariokandut.com/how-to-clean-up-node-modules-npm/
---

When building a Node.js application you install a various amount of npm modules, the `package.json` and node-modules folder grow. It is best practice minimizing the code you have to maintain, and this is also true for npm packages.

## [<svg aria-hidden="true" focusable="false" height="16" version="1.1" viewbox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></path></svg>](#clean-up-node_modules-folder)Clean up node\_modules/ folder

There are two ways to clean up the node\_modules folder:

- Delete the folder and reinstall
- Use `npm prune` (starting with npm version 6)

### [<svg aria-hidden="true" focusable="false" height="16" version="1.1" viewbox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></path></svg>](#manually-remove-and-reinstall)Manually remove and reinstall

You could remove your `node_modules/` folder and then reinstall the dependencies from package.json.

Remove all your packages (for Windows users: you can use **Git Bash** to run this command):

```
rm -r node_modules/
```

Install packages:

```
npm install
```

### [<svg aria-hidden="true" focusable="false" height="16" version="1.1" viewbox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></path></svg>](#remove-extraneous-packages-with-npm-prune)Remove extraneous packages with NPM prune

Synopsis: `npm prune [[<@scope>/]<pkg>...] [--production] [--dry-run] [--json]`

`npm prune` removes **extraneous** packages. If a package name is provided, then only packages matching one of the supplied names are removed. Extraneous packages are those present in the `node_modules` folder, but not listed as any package's dependency list.

You can provide the following flags:

- `--production` - If the --production flag is specified, or the NODE\_ENV environment variable is set to production, the packages specified in your `devDependencies` will be removed.
- `--no-production` will negate NODE\_ENV being set to production.
- `--dry-run` indicates that you don't want npm to make any changes and that it should only report what it would have done.
- `--json` changes that npm prune made or would have made with `--dry-run` are printed as a JSON object.

Extraneous modules are pruned automatically (normal operations), hence this command is only needed with the `--production` flag. Though, operation is not always normal as it should be and crashes and mistakes happen. The command `npm prune` can help clean up resulting garbage of crashes.

## [<svg aria-hidden="true" focusable="false" height="16" version="1.1" viewbox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></path></svg>](#tldr)TL;DR

- `npm prune` removes not listed packages in the `node_modules` folder.
- The flag `--dry-run` is useful to see what would be removed.
- When crashes or mistakes happen, `npm prune` can help clean up any resulting garbage.

Thanks for reading and if you have any **questions** , use the **comment** function or **send me a message** **[@mariokandut](https://www.twitter.com/mariokandut)**.

If you want to know more about **[Node](https://www.mariokandut.com/tags/node)**, have a look at these [Node Tutorials](https://www.mariokandut.com/tags/node).

### [<svg aria-hidden="true" focusable="false" height="16" version="1.1" viewbox="0 0 16 16" width="16"><path fill-rule="evenodd" d="M4 9h1v1H4c-1.5 0-3-1.69-3-3.5S2.55 3 4 3h4c1.45 0 3 1.69 3 3.5 0 1.41-.91 2.72-2 3.25V8.59c.58-.45 1-1.27 1-2.09C10 5.22 8.98 4 8 4H4c-.98 0-2 1.22-2 2.5S3 9 4 9zm9-3h-1v1h1c1 0 2 1.22 2 2.5S13.98 12 13 12H9c-.98 0-2-1.22-2-2.5 0-.83.42-1.64 1-2.09V6.25c-1.09.53-2 1.84-2 3.25C6 11.31 7.55 13 9 13h4c1.45 0 3-1.69 3-3.5S14.5 6 13 6z"></path></svg>](#references-and-big-thanks)References (and Big thanks):

[NPM prune](https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/v7/commands/npm-prune)