CODEWITHSUNDEEP
node.jswindows-7npm
leoh
leoh

Reputation: 10608

How to Delete node_modules - Deep Nested Folder in Windows

Upon trying to remove the node_modules directory created by npm install:

The source file name(s) are larger than is supported by the file system. Try moving to a location which has a shorter path name, or try renaming to shorter name(s) before attempting this operation

I also tried shift + delete and still having the same issue.

Upvotes: 375

Views: 602464

Answers (30)

akmur
akmur

Reputation: 1635

I think this was not mentioned before. but the best way to delete unwanted node_modules is to install a utility called npkill.

Installation:

From your terminal:

npm i -g npkill

And to use it:

From your terminal:

npkill

or alternatively, you can directly use it without installation by writing:

npx npkill

You will then be presented with a list of projects, and by hitting the space bar you can delete their node_modules.

Upvotes: 33

Ramil Aliyev 007
Ramil Aliyev 007

Reputation: 5442

I always use the GitBash for this purpose.

Run the below command in GitBash and it will delete node_modules folder very faster.

rm -rf node_modules

Upvotes: 10

Jatin Krishna Habibkar
Jatin Krishna Habibkar

Reputation: 169

For windows users

> cd work_directory 
> FOR /d /r . %d in (node_modules) DO @IF EXIST "%d" rm -rf "%d"

For linux users

$ cd work_directory 
$ find . -name "node_modules" -type d -prune | xargs du -chs

this will help to delete all deep nested node_modules in your directory

Upvotes: 0

Meeting Attender
Meeting Attender

Reputation: 976

Latest version of rimraf doesn't work with double asterisk (i.e. rimraf .**\node_modules). Solution is to use older version:

npm i [email protected] -g

and then run

rimraf .\**\node_modules

Upvotes: 0

blub
blub

Reputation: 9187

Since this the top google result, this is what worked for me:

Update, if you have npm v5, use npx:

npx rimraf --glob **/node_modules

Otherwise install RimRaf:

npm install rimraf -g

And in the project folder delete the node_modules folder with:

rimraf --glob node_modules

If you want to recursively delete:

rimraf --glob .\**\node_modules

[ http://www.nikola-breznjak.com/blog/nodejs/how-to-delete-node_modules-folder-on-windows-machine/ ]

Upvotes: 705

Sandeep Sherpur
Sandeep Sherpur

Reputation: 2802

Use this with CMD

npx rimraf node_modules

Upvotes: 2

Manohar Reddy Poreddy
Manohar Reddy Poreddy

Reputation: 27395

On Windows

Run below to remove files under node_modules and sub directories & also remove folders in it:

DEL /F/S/Q node_modules > NUL 2>&1  &  RMDIR /S/Q node_modules > NUL 2>&1

Upvotes: 0

Woriayibapri Hearty Alapher
Woriayibapri Hearty Alapher

Reputation: 131

On Windows Platform the simplest way is to use the terminal.
Please Run the command RMDIR /Q/S foldername to delete the folder and all of its subfolders.

Example: RMDIR /Q/S node_modules

The Above Command deletes node_modules folder and its subfolders.
For information please visit this https://www.ghacks.net/2017/07/18/how-to-delete-large-folders-in-windows-super-fast/

Upvotes: 10

Lino Mediavilla
Lino Mediavilla

Reputation: 41

I needed to clean up an entire Projects directory for backup purposes, so I installed rimraf and ran this at the root dir (inside a git bash prompt):

find . -name "node_modules" -type d -prune -exec rimraf '{}' +

Very effective, truly recursive (avoids children node_modules) and fast on windows (thanks to rimraf).

Sources:

  1. https://rtmccormick.com/2018/01/10/clear-node-modules-folders-recursively-mac-linux/
  2. The accepted answer in this question that suggests rimraf but lacks in the recursive aspect

Upvotes: 4

Artif3x
Artif3x

Reputation: 4661

Please save yourself the need to read most of these answers and just use npx rather than trying to install rimraf globally. You can run a single command and always have the most recent version with none of the issues seen here.

npx rimraf ./**/node_modules

Upvotes: 25

Maneesh Parihar
Maneesh Parihar

Reputation: 1735

You may use another npm package specifically for this purpose. By installing it locally in the folder using

npm i rm-node-modules-recur

If you wish you can also install it globally with -g switch.

If installed locally you can invoke the binary from current directory node_modules.bin\ using 

 .\node_modules\.bin\rmnodes "<top level directory within quotes>"

If you chose global installation simply use 

rmnodes "<top level directory within quotes>"

and thats it .. this package will end up deleting node_modules from all sub directories recursively (in my case some 60 odd folders) with ease. refer attached snapshot. using rm-node-modules-recur

Upvotes: -1

dgellow
dgellow

Reputation: 832

The PowerShell way:

PS > rm -r -force node_modules

# The same, but without using aliases
PS > Remove-Item -Recurse -Force node_modules

And if you want to delete every node_modules in sub directories:

Note Potentially dangerous as it deletes recursively, be sure of what you're doing here

PS > dir -Path . -Filter node_modules -recurse | foreach {echo $_.fullname; rm -r -Force $_.fullname}

Upvotes: 5

Ali Adravi
Ali Adravi

Reputation: 22723

DELETE only by using DOS command without any installation:

Create an empty folder "test" on C or D drive and use following DOS command

robocopy /MIR c:\test D:\UserData\FolderToDelete > NUL

After completing above command, your folder will be empty, now you can delete the folder.

Don't worry your test folder will always be empty, so you can delete it at any time.

Upvotes: 94

Alper Ebicoglu
Alper Ebicoglu

Reputation: 9624

I made a Windows context item to fast delete node_modules or other folders. I use it when Windows doesn't delete a folder because of some invalid chars in the directory path.

HOW TO INSTALL?

  1. Install rimraf => npm install rimraf -g

  2. Create a new file named delete.bat, set the content as below and copy it into c:\windows\system32\

    delete.bat:

 @ECHO OFF
 ECHO.
 ECHO %CD% 
 ECHO.
 ECHO Are you sure to delete the folder with Rimraf?
 PAUSE
 SET FOLDER=%CD%
 CD /

 rimraf "%FOLDER%"

 rem DEL /F/Q/S "%FOLDER%" > NUL
 rem RMDIR /Q/S "%FOLDER%"

 EXIT

  1. Run fast-delete.reg file to import into registry.

    Done!

final result

Upvotes: 3

Šime
Šime

Reputation: 138

You can make simple batch based on @mike-caron answer so you don't need to type every time whole robocopy command instead just input path to selected folder:

@echo off
ECHO What Directory would you like to empty?
ECHO Current path: %cd%
SET /p UserInputPath=Input relative path to directory:
ROBOCOPY /MIR empty_dir %cd%\%UserInputPath% > NUL
PAUSE

Here you are using empty directory named empty_dir in robocopy command that needs to be in same directory with batch file for this to work. After batch file finishes its job both selected directory and empty_dir directory will be empty so that you can remove them.

I made a simple batch file that creates empty folder and after robocopy command is executed removes both empty folder and selected folder so that only thing you need to do is enter path to selected folder that you want to delete. It is fast and practical if you don't want to install stuff like rimraf. You can download it here https://github.com/5imun/WinCleaner

Upvotes: -2

Junaid Atari
Junaid Atari

Reputation: 563

Tried everything but didn't work. All the above methods did nothing. At last I was able to delete via VSCode.

  1. Just Open your root folder with VSCode.
  2. Select node_modules folder and delete.
  3. Profit. (It will take few milliseconds to delete.)

VSCode-delete.png

Upvotes: 3

Sumanth
Sumanth

Reputation: 477

What worked for me was:

  1. closed the node manager console
  2. closed the Atom (visual studio code ) dev environment you are in.

  3. then delete the node_modules

    npm install rimraf -g 
rimraf node_modules

Upvotes: -1

Jinna Baalu
Jinna Baalu

Reputation: 7809

Delete Deep Netsted Folder like node_modules in Windows

  1. Option 1

    Delete using rimraf NPM package

    • Open command prompt and change your directory to the folder where node_modules folder exists.

    • Run

      rimraf node_modules

    • Missing rimraf ERROR then Install

      npm install rimraf -g

    • When the installation completes, run

      rimraf node_modules

  2. Option 2:

    Detele without installing anything

    • Create a folder with name test in any Drive

      robocopy /MIR c:\test D:\UserData\FolderToDelete > NUL

    • delete the folder test and FolderToDelete as both are empty

Why this is an issue in windows?

One of the deep nested folder structure is node_modules, Windows can’t delete the folder as its name is too long. To solve this, Easy solution, install a node module RimRaf

Upvotes: 22

korun
korun

Reputation: 2301

On Windows my go to solution is using the rmdir command:

rd /S .\node_modules\

If it fails the first time -- try one more time. Also check if you have running scripts currently using the modules (npm run serve or similar).

Upvotes: 1

Aidar Gatin
Aidar Gatin

Reputation: 843

Advance a little beat for multiple folders...

If you have a project folder with multiple 'builds' that contains 'node_module'. Like: 

C:/Project/build-1/node_modules
C:/Project/build-2/node_modules
C:/Project/build-3/node_modules
C:/Project/build-4/node_modules

You want to delete all folders starts with "build"

! First install nodejs and rimraf as suggested above !

Then go to path with project and run PowerShell command 

cd  C:/Project/
Get-ChildItem build* | foreach {rimraf -Path $_.FullName}

It will take a wile

Upvotes: -1

gaurav bhatt
gaurav bhatt

Reputation: 23

Okay so my problem was that i had .bin folder inside node_modules and i wasn't able to delete that, I tried all the above solutions for the same but nothing worked.

Error which was repeating was "u do not have permission to delete the folder or its been used by some other program".

Solution that i found "I had Antivirus installed on my pc ,which was unknowingly using the files from node_modules folder".

I uninstalled the antivirus or u can change permission setting from antivirus setting option (depends on which antivirus u have).Now i am able to delete node_modules folder.

Upvotes: 0

Roy.B
Roy.B

Reputation: 2106

I just do del node_modules inside my project folder on PowerShell, it will ask you if you want to remove it and its children folder, just hit 'Y' and that's it

Upvotes: 5

j_quelly
j_quelly

Reputation: 1449

  1. npm install -g remove-node-modules
  2. cd to root and remove-node-modules
  3. or remove-node-modules path/to/folder

Source:

https://github.com/j-quelly/node-cleanup

Upvotes: 5

Jake Conniff
Jake Conniff

Reputation: 9

Not exactly related, but as this is the first post I found in my search for a similar solution I think it's worth posting here.

I was running into permission issues on Windows 10 trying to delete my node_modules folder after a failed attempt at installing electron-redux. It seems electron-redux added @types to my node_modules, which had incorrect permissions set up.

rimraf did not work as it still ran into permission issues.

I ended up renaming node_modules then a simple delete worked.

Upvotes: 0

user2869931
user2869931

Reputation: 47

Sometimes, even if you install rimraf globally you can have a local rimraf dependency (SASS usually have it). In this case I would run following commands:

Follow first 2 steps as usagidon recommended, if you have issues or errors try

npm uninstall rimraf & rimraf node_modules

this will delete local rimraf and use the global one

Upvotes: 1

Eymen Elkum
Eymen Elkum

Reputation: 3141

I've simply done that by using Winrar, this may seem a strange solution but working very well.

  • right click on node_modules folder
  • select Add to archive ... from the menu.
  • Winrar dialog opens
  • just check the option delete files after archiving
  • Don't forget to delete the node_modules.rar after finished.

[UPDATE] This also works with 7Zip

Upvotes: 142

Umar Abbas
Umar Abbas

Reputation: 4161

Try Visual Studio Code

After trying many solution i find this one is pretty simple. just open the project in Visual code and delete it. the UI may freeze for some seconds but it will definitely works.I test using many large size node_modules folder with it

enter image description here

Thanks

Upvotes: 25

Priyanka
Priyanka

Reputation: 19

Its too easy.

Just delete all folders inside node_modules and then delete actual node_module folder.

This Works for me. Best luck....

Upvotes: 1

Rikki
Rikki

Reputation: 3528

One solution that I use:

(I would prefer to avoid installing a new extension (rimraf) when working with CI environments.)

  1. A) Rename packages.json to something else. B) Specially on CI - after npm install, I usually remove the file instead of renaming it, but if you need it, you don't have to do this. That's your choice.
  2. run npm init - this will create an empty packages.json file (no dependencies)
  3. run npm prune - this will match node_modules with the dependencies section of packages.json - which is now empty as the result of step #2.
  4. If you have chosen #1.A. step, delete the newly created packages.json, and rename original packages.json back to its original name.

Upvotes: 1

ralusnom
ralusnom

Reputation: 135

I'm on windows 10 and I could'nt delete folders with message "directory not emtpy". Neither rimraf nor rm -rf worked.

Copying an empty text file to every single folder did the trick - I was able to delete the complete node_modules folder.

Upvotes: 0

Related Questions