How to update Node.js

Node.js can be installed in multiple ways on a system, and the upgrade instructions depend on how you first installed it.

If you installed Node using the official package

The easiest way to install Node is to download the official package from the Node.js website.

The official package contains an installer that will detect the existing version of Node.js and it will overwrite it with the new one.

Pick the LTS version unless you have a reason to run the newest one. As I update this post (September 2026), the Active LTS is Node 24 (codename Krypton) and Current is Node 26. Check nodejs.org for the latest numbers.

If you installed Node using Homebrew (on macOS)

Homebrew is a very popular way to install Node.js on a Mac.

If you did use Homebrew, upgrading Node is as simple as running

brew update #makes sure Homebrew is up to date
brew upgrade node

Homebrew might ask you to upgrade your xCode version to compile the package.

If you use nvm

nvm is a popular way to run Node. It allows you to easily switch the Node version, and install new versions to try and easily rollback if something breaks, for example.

It is also very useful to test your code with old Node versions.

When you use nvm, you can check the current version you are running by typing nvm current, which will give you the same result as node -v.

To list all the installed versions, run nvm ls.

You can install a new Node release (or any old Node release, too) using nvm install <VERSION>. You don’t need the full version number, a major is enough and nvm picks the latest release in that line:

nvm install 24

To install whatever the current LTS is, without looking up the number:

nvm install --lts

Once installed, you can switch to that Node.js version by typing

nvm use 24

That switches the current shell only. To make it the default for new shells, run nvm alias default 24.

If you use fnm or n

Two lighter alternatives to nvm work the same way.

fnm is written in Rust and is fast to load in a new shell. Install it with brew install fnm, then:

fnm install --lts
fnm use 24
fnm default 24

n is a tiny Node version manager you install with npm install -g n. It switches the system-wide Node, there is no per-shell version:

n lts

That downloads the latest LTS and activates it. n latest gets the newest Current release, n 24 the latest 24.x, and n ls lists what you have installed.

Not sure if you even need to update? I built a free Node versions tool that shows which feature landed in which Node.js version.

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