How to Install Nvm on Windows

Nvm (node version manager) can be used to install different versions of Node.js and easily switch between them. When creating a Node.js project, different libraries require different versions of Node.js to work. In that case, we can easily switch to an older or newer version of Node.js using Nvm.

To install Nvm visit this GitHub link https://github.com/coreybutler/nvm-windows#readme and click on the download link.

Next download and install nvm-setup.exe

Once installed you can verify the installation using nvm -v which will display the current version of nvm installed, to see a list of nodejs versions installed use nvm list command, it also shows which version is active (* symbol on the left side of the version number). You can also see the current active version using the command nvm current . To see list of available node versions to install, run the command nvm list available .

C:\Users\codingissimple>nvm -v
1.1.11

C:\Users\codingissimple>nvm list

  * 18.16.0 (Currently using 64-bit executable)
    16.13.0

C:\Users\codingissimple>nvm current
v18.16.0

C:\Users\codingissimple>nvm list available

|   CURRENT    |     LTS      |  OLD STABLE  | OLD UNSTABLE |
|--------------|--------------|--------------|--------------|
|    21.1.0    |    20.9.0    |   0.12.18    |   0.11.16    |
|    21.0.0    |   18.18.2    |   0.12.17    |   0.11.15    |
|    20.8.1    |   18.18.1    |   0.12.16    |   0.11.14    |
|    20.8.0    |   18.18.0    |   0.12.15    |   0.11.13    |
|    20.7.0    |   18.17.1    |   0.12.14    |   0.11.12    |
|    20.6.1    |   18.17.0    |   0.12.13    |   0.11.11    |
|    20.6.0    |   18.16.1    |   0.12.12    |   0.11.10    |
|    20.5.1    |   18.16.0    |   0.12.11    |    0.11.9    |
|    20.5.0    |   18.15.0    |   0.12.10    |    0.11.8    |
|    20.4.0    |   18.14.2    |    0.12.9    |    0.11.7    |
|    20.3.1    |   18.14.1    |    0.12.8    |    0.11.6    |
|    20.3.0    |   18.14.0    |    0.12.7    |    0.11.5    |
|    20.2.0    |   18.13.0    |    0.12.6    |    0.11.4    |
|    20.1.0    |   18.12.1    |    0.12.5    |    0.11.3    |
|    20.0.0    |   18.12.0    |    0.12.4    |    0.11.2    |
|    19.9.0    |   16.20.2    |    0.12.3    |    0.11.1    |
|    19.8.1    |   16.20.1    |    0.12.2    |    0.11.0    |
|    19.8.0    |   16.20.0    |    0.12.1    |    0.9.12    |
|    19.7.0    |   16.19.1    |    0.12.0    |    0.9.11    |
|    19.6.1    |   16.19.0    |   0.10.48    |    0.9.10    |

This is a partial list. For a complete list, visit https://nodejs.org/en/download/releases

To install the node version you want, for example, the version 21.1.0 , you can run the command nvm install 21.1.0 . LTS (latest stable) version can be installed instead of the current version. LTS of node version 21.1.0 is mentioned 20.9.0 . To install the latest stable version use the command nvm install lts . You can optionally mention system arch 32 or 64 or all. For example, to install 32 bit you can run the command nvm install 21.1.0 32 , If you omit it, it will automatically install based on the default system architecture.

C:\Users\codingissimple>nvm install 21.1.0
Downloading node.js version 21.1.0 (64-bit)...
Extracting node and npm...
Complete
npm v10.2.0 installed successfully.


Installation complete. If you want to use this version, type

nvm use 21.1.0

C:\Users\codingissimple>nvm install lts
Downloading node.js version 20.9.0 (64-bit)...
Extracting node and npm...
Complete
npm v10.1.0 installed successfully.


Installation complete. If you want to use this version, type

nvm use 20.9.0

C:\Users\codingissimple>nvm list

    21.1.0
    20.9.0
  * 18.16.0 (Currently using 64-bit executable)
    16.13.0

Currently active nodejs version for me is 18.16.0 . To switch to different version, in my case it is 16.13.0 . I can run the command nvm use 16.13.0 . To switch back to nodejs version 18.16.0 , I can again run the command nvm use 18.16.0 .

C:\Users\codingissimple>nvm use 16.13.0
Now using node v16.13.0 (64-bit)

C:\Users\codingissimple>nvm list

    21.1.0
    20.9.0
    18.16.0
  * 16.13.0 (Currently using 64-bit executable)

C:\Users\codingissimple>nvm use 18.16.0
Now using node v18.16.0 (64-bit)

C:\Users\codingissimple>nvm list

    21.1.0
    20.9.0
  * 18.16.0 (Currently using 64-bit executable)
    16.13.0

To uninstall any node version, you can run the command nvm uninstall <version> . Replace <version> with nodejs version you want to uninstall , example: nvm uninstall 21.1.0 . Like install, you can optionally mention arch as well.

C:\Users\codingissimple>nvm uninstall 21.1.0
Uninstalling node v21.1.0... done

C:\Users\codingissimple>nvm list

    20.9.0
  * 18.16.0 (Currently using 64-bit executable)
    16.13.0

You can also enable or disable nvm by using the command nvm on and nvm off respectively.

I hope this blog has helped you in installing nvm and switching to different version of nodejs.