How to clean node_modules folder of packages that are not in package.json?

I think you're looking for npm prune

npm prune [ [

See the docs: https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/prune

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

rm -rf node_modules/
npm install

This would erase all installed packages in the current folder and only install the dependencies from package.json. If the dependencies have been previously installed npm will try to use the cached version, avoiding downloading the dependency a second time.

Due to its folder nesting Windows can’t delete the folder as its name is too long. To solve this, install RimRaf:

npm install rimraf -g

rimraf node_modules

From version 6.5.0 npm supports the command clean-install (ci) to hard refresh all the packages.

Please, see the references:

npm 6.x: npm-ci | npm Docs.

npm 7.x: npm-ci | npm Docs.

npm Blog Archive: Introducing npm ci for faster, more reliable builds.

simple just run

rm -r node_modules

in fact, you can delete any folder with this.

like rm -r AnyFolderWhichIsNotDeletableFromShiftDeleteOrDelete.

just open the gitbash move to root of the folder and run this command

Hope this will help.

First globally install rimraf

npm install rimraf -g

go to the path using cmd where your node_modules folder and apply below command

rimraf node_modules

Just in-case somebody needs it, here's something I've done recently to resolve this:

npm ci - If you want to clean everything and install all packages from scratch:

-It does a clean install: if the node_modules folder exists, npm deletes it and installs a fresh one.

-It checks for consistency: if package-lock.json doesn’t exist or if it doesn’t match the contents of package.json, npm stops with an error.

https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/v6/commands/npm-ci

npm-dedupe - If you want to clean-up the current node_modules directory without deleting and re-installing all the packages

Searches the local package tree and attempts to simplify the overall structure by moving dependencies further up the tree, where they can be more effectively shared by multiple dependent packages.

https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/v6/commands/npm-dedupe

Have you tried npm prune?

it should uninstall everything not listed in your package file

https://npmjs.org/doc/cli/npm-prune.html

The best article I found about it is this one: https://trilon.io/blog/how-to-delete-all-nodemodules-recursively

All from the console and easy to execute from any folder point.

But as a summary of the article, this command to find the size for each node_module folder found in different projects.

find . -name "node_modules" -type d -prune -print | xargs du -chs

And to actually remove them:

find . -name 'node_modules' -type d -prune -print -exec rm -rf '{}' \;

The article contains also instructions for windows shell.

I have added few lines inside package.json:

"scripts": {
  ...
  "clean": "rmdir /s /q node_modules",
  "reinstall": "npm run clean && npm install",
  "rebuild": "npm run clean && npm install && rmdir /s /q dist && npm run build --prod",
  ...
}

If you want to clean only you can use this rimraf node_modules or rm -rf node_modules.

It works fine

For Windows User, alternative solution to remove such folder listed here: http://ask.osify.com/qa/567

Among them, a free tool: Long Path Fixer is good to try: http://corz.org/windows/software/accessories/Long-Path-Fixer-for-Windows.php

You can also use npx in combination with rimraf to remove all node modules with one command, so you don't have to install rimraf first.

So go to the path where your node_modules folder is located by using cmd (in case you are not there already) and run the following command

npx rimraf node_modules

rimraf is an package for simulate linux command [rm -rf] in windows. which is useful for cross platform support. for install its CLI:

npm install rimraf -g

For all of those who use Yarn, no need to rm -rf node_modules, you can just remove package from dependency list, and run yarn

Use following command instead of npm install

npm ci