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I want to downgrade my Node version from the latest to v6.10.3.

But nothing has worked so far. Tried NVM and it gives an error as well by saying that the make command is not found. How can I downgrade Node?

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2
  • 1
    it looks like your package has been installed, but not added to the PATH. add path to your package and all will work fine Commented Jun 17, 2019 at 7:20
  • github.com/facebook/create-react-app/issues/11562 has the details, why to downgrade NodeJs to v16.13.0 Commented Dec 21, 2021 at 8:35

24 Answers 24

Reset to default
726

Warning: This answer does not support Windows OS

You can use n for node's version management. There is a simple intro for n.

$ npm install -g n
$ n 6.10.3

this is very easy to use.

then you can show your node version:

$ node -v
v6.10.3

For windows nvm is a well-received tool.

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18 Comments

In this article recommend to clean the npm cache first, but it works fine as above for me on mac. Command sudo npm cache clean -f
For Windows use this: github.com/coreybutler/nvm-windows to setup nvm and control Node version via it.
@ofer2980, to make it work finally I did sudo n lts to demote to the last LTS and it fixed my issue. In general n <version> does the job
How do you change the active version? I installed it fine but cant change the active version
@GrantSingleton Same. This solution for Mac will install the version you specify but it will not automatically make it the active version. OP should update the answer
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198

For windows:

Steps

  1. Go to Control panel> program and features>Node.js then uninstall

  2. Go to website: https://nodejs.org/en/ and download the version and install.

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3 Comments

For those looking for an older version, these are found here, nodejs.org/dist
There was a somewhat long list of download options, like .zip folders, .msi and .gz files and I wasn't sure which one to download. I have a Windows 64 bit device, installing the file ending in "x64.msi" and running it worked for me.
I'm like 💔 for this answer.
186

Determining your Node version

node -v  // or node --version
npm -v   // npm version or long npm --version

Ensure that you have n installed

sudo npm install -g n // -g for global installation

Upgrading to the latest stable version

sudo n stable

Changing to a specific version

sudo n 10.16.0

Answer inspired by this article.

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7 Comments

After this I had to close the terminal and restart the Mac. Thank you, it was very helpful.
Don't need to restart - just exit and open a new terminal session.
sudo: n: command not found
You need to download n first, using command mentioned within the answer: sudo npm install -g n // -g for global installation
in case of sudo: n: command not found use this sudo -E env "PATH=$PATH" n e.g: sudo -E env "PATH=$PATH" n stable askubuntu.com/questions/608661/…
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71

In Mac there is a fast method with brew:

brew search node

You see some version, for example: node@10 node@12 ... Then

brew unlink node

And now select a before version for example node@12

brew link --overwrite --force node@12

Ready, you have downgraded you node version.

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4 Comments

I've gotten Error: No such keg: /usr/local/Cellar/node@12
The error means node@12 has been installed yet. brew install node@12 and then do run the link command.
Interesting that node@12 existed when running brew search node, but couldn't link until after running brew install node@12 as @Fanchen Bao mentioned.
Warning: No available formula with the name "node@12". Just install it from here nodejs.org/en/download
54

This may be due to version incompatibility between your code and the version you have installed.

In my case I was using v8.12.0 for development (locally) and installed latest version v13.7.0 on the server.

So using nvm I switched the node version to v8.12.0 with the below command:

> nvm install 8.12.0 // to install the version I wanted

> nvm use 8.12.0  // use the installed version

NOTE: You need to install nvm on your system to use nvm.

You should try this solution before trying solutions like installing build-essentials or uninstalling the current node version because you could switch between versions easily than reverting all the installations/uninstallations that you've done.

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1 Comment

IMO, this is the easiest way to manage different versions of Node.js in the same system. Installing nvm (and most other programming software) becomes fun if you have chocolaty installed in your Windows machine e.g. to install nvm, all you need is to use the command, choco install nvm.
30

For windows 10,

  • Uninstalling the node from the "Add or remove programs"
  • Installing the required version from https://nodejs.org/en/

worked for me.

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3 Comments

How do you install from that page? I found a lot of different files listed, like .zip and .7z files and a folder win-x64 with .exe and .zip files. Do I need to download the zip and extract and then run something, or just download and run the .exe?
running .exe should do fine.
I actually downloaded the .msi file and that worked for me. I guess it is the file extension for installers. Thanks anyways
24 
 curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/creationix/nvm/v0.33.11/install.sh | bash
 sudo npm install -g n
 sudo n 10.15
 npm install
 npm audit fix
 npm start
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20

If you're on Windows I suggest manually uninstalling node and installing chocolatey to handle your node installation. choco is a great CLI for provisioning a ton of popular software.

Then you can just do,

choco install nodejs --version $VersionNumber

and if you already have it installed via chocolatey you can do,

choco uninstall nodejs 
choco install nodejs --version $VersionNumber

For example,

choco uninstall nodejs
choco install nodejs --version 12.9.1
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1 Comment

If you want to stick always to the Node LTS version (which might be the reason for the desired downgrade), then use the Chocolatey nodejs-lts package instead. This offers the advantage to keep up-to-date with the latest supported LTS version.
17

If you are on macOS and are not using NVM, the simplest way is to run the installer that comes from node.js web site. It it clever enough to manage substitution of your current installation with the new one, even if it is an older one. At least this worked for me.

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1 Comment

Here is the official link with all node versions ever nodejs.org/dist You can use CTRL+F (CMD+F on Mac) to find exactly the version You need. Download the .pkg file if You are using a Mac and You are ready to go! :)
16

Try using the following commands

//For make issues 
sudo apt-get install build-essential

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/creationix/nvm/v0.33.4/install.sh | bash

//To uninstall a node version 
nvm uninstall <current version>

nvm install 6.10.3

nvm use 6.10.3

//check with 
node -v
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1 Comment

notice: this installs nvm - a service that lets you have multiple node versions installed on you computer, and to set a node version for each project/folder
11

For windows users, you guys can downgrade using following commands.

npm uninstall -g node

npm install -g node@version

@version is your specified version, example : 12.22.3(little old)

Can find node releases here https://nodejs.org/en/download/releases/

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10

Steps to downgrade to node8

brew install node@8
brew link node@8 --force

if warning remove the folder and files as indicated in the warning then again the command : 

brew link node@8 --force
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2 Comments

Worked for me perfectly - also the advantage is - you then have proper updates through brew but only for the selected release. You could have issues during the 'link' stage if you have leftovers from previous installations but you will be pointed where so it is easy to clean.
brew link node@8 --force --overwrite solved the problem
9

I have used brew in mac to downgrade the node

follow the steps you will have the result:

  1. brew search node (here you can see the version eg: node@10, node@12, node@14)
  2. brew unlink node
  3. brew install < node version > (eg: node@12)
  4. brew link --overwrite node@12
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9

Here is a simple solution

  1. Go to this link and download & install the suitable nvm setup on your computer https://github.com/coreybutler/nvm-windows

  2. Type nvm list to get list of installed node versions

  3. Type nvm install <node-version>

  4. Type nvm use <version>

here we go you got node version you want.

Browse here to find node versions => https://nodejs.org/en/download/releases/

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8

If you are using nvm, following are the ways -

1. nvm install node_version
2. nvm use --delete-prefix node_version

For more insights, see this image - enter image description here

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5

In case of windows, one of the options you have is to uninstall current version of Node. Then, go to the node website and download the desired version and install this last one instead.

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5

Ubuntu:

nvm list
nvm use <version>

nvm list // Shows all the versions on your machine. Of course have your version installed.

nvm use // Use this version

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4

it seems to be a compatibility issue, run

sudo n 14

then npm install or yarn install again. It will work

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3

WINDOWS: Best way that you can do it and to not lose time.

  1. Go to control panel
  2. Uninstall Program
  3. Uninstall node
  4. Then go and find the version that you want to install, install it from the beginning.

Link with node versions: https://nodejs.org/uk/blog/release/

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1 Comment

Hi, your answer probably is acceptable, but other solutions make possible to pick a different version from time to time, without uninstalling anything
1

The Node.js team suggests to use the following Node.js version managers to switch between different versions of Node:

OSX or Linux:

Windows:

I personally made good experiences using "nvm-windows" on Windows 11.

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1

I had to downgrade node to v10.16.0

sudo n 10.16.0

nvm use v10.16.0

this solved the problem for me

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1

I too wanted to downgrade my node version (v18.13.0) to a stable version(v16.10.0). So I followed these steps in my windows OS:

  1. First I installed nvm to my computer, cause I hadn't installed it. Go through this link. And I downloaded nvm-setup.exe one. Choose your suitable version. After downloading the setup file, launch the installation wizard and follow the on-screen directions to install nvm.
  2. Then add the nvm installation directory to your system's PATH environment variable. Like: C:\Users\damik\AppData\Roaming\nvm
  3. Next you can type nvm in your cmd and you can clarify the installation of nvm.
  4. Then uninstall the current version of Node.js. i.e.: nvm uninstall v18.13.0. First check your node.js and add relevant version here.
  5. Now Node.js has been uninstalled, you can install the version you want using this command: nvm install v16.10.0 . Please install the relevant version here.
  6. After the installation is complete, run the following command to make the version you just loaded the default Node.js version. nvm use v16.10.0
  7. This command will make the present shell session's version the default. You can use the nvm alias default v16.10.0 to make this version the default for all new shell sessions:
  8. Check your node version by node -v. And now it's all ok ;)
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3 Comments

This doesn't appear to add anything new to the existing answers. When answering a question that is 6 years old, consider whether your answer gives any new information.
@miken32 he said his solution is for windows and the accepted solution was for linux
@EfeOmoregieElijah And there are 20 other answers besides the accepted one.
1

Answer for Mac: The answer is using the 'HomeBrew'

  1. Open terminal and write command brew search node (results like: node@16, node@20, etc)

  2. brew unlink node

  3. brew link node@20 (you can use other version which is already installed in you system or install required version)

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-1

use nvm from this link and install it. then use nvm install <version name> of your desired node version to install it. Finally write nvm use <version name> on your terminal to switch to your desired version number.

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