How to Update and Downgrade Node.js on Mac and Windows: A Complete Node.js Tutorial

Updating and downgrading Node.js on Mac and Windows is a common task for developers, as new versions of Node.js are released frequently with bug fixes, performance improvements, and new features. In this tutorial, we will walk you through the process of updating and downgrading Node.js on both Mac and Windows operating systems.

Updating Node.js on Mac:

1. First, check the current version of Node.js installed on your Mac by opening a terminal and running the following command:

node -v

This will display the current version of Node.js installed on your system.

2. To update Node.js on Mac, the easiest way is to use a package manager like Homebrew. If you don’t have Homebrew installed, you can do so by running the following command in your terminal:

/bin/bash -c “$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)”

3. Once Homebrew is installed, you can update Node.js by running the following commands in your terminal:

brew update
brew upgrade node

This will update Node.js to the latest version available in the Homebrew repository.

4. After the update is complete, you can verify the new version of Node.js by running the following command:

node -v

If the update was successful, the new version of Node.js will be displayed.

Downgrading Node.js on Mac:

1. If you need to downgrade Node.js to a previous version on Mac, you can do so using Homebrew as well. First, check the available versions of Node.js that can be installed by running the following command:

brew search node

2. To install a specific version of Node.js, run the following command in your terminal, replacing with the desired version number:

brew install node@

3. After the installation is complete, you can switch to the desired version of Node.js using the following command:

brew switch node

4. Finally, you can verify the version of Node.js by running the following command:

node -v

Updating Node.js on Windows:

1. To update Node.js on Windows, the process is quite simple. First, download the latest version of Node.js from the official website (https://nodejs.org/en/download/).

2. Once the download is complete, run the installer and follow the on-screen instructions to update Node.js on your Windows system.

3. After the installation is complete, you can verify the new version of Node.js by opening a command prompt and running the following command:

node -v

If the update was successful, the new version of Node.js will be displayed.

Downgrading Node.js on Windows:

1. If you need to downgrade Node.js to a previous version on Windows, you can do so by first uninstalling the current version of Node.js from your system.

2. To uninstall Node.js on Windows, go to Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features, find Node.js in the list of installed programs, right-click on it, and select Uninstall.

3. Once Node.js is uninstalled, you can download the desired version of Node.js from the official website (https://nodejs.org/en/download/) and follow the same installation process as mentioned in the “Updating Node.js on Windows” section.

4. After the installation is complete, you can verify the new version of Node.js by opening a command prompt and running the following command:

node -v

That’s it! You have successfully updated or downgraded Node.js on both Mac and Windows operating systems. Keep in mind that it’s always a good practice to backup your projects before making any changes to Node.js versions to avoid any compatibility issues.