Install Node.js and Check It Actually Works

Installing Node.js takes two minutes. Making sure it actually works takes one more, and most people skip that minute. Then a tutorial says "run npm install", the terminal says "not recognized", and you don't know if the install failed or the terminal just doesn't know about it yet. Do the check. It saves the confusion.

Step 1: Check if you already have it

Open a terminal and run:

node -v
npm -v

• Two version numbers: Node is installed. Check that the first number is a current LTS version (an even number like 22 or 24). If it's very old, like v14, update it.
• "not recognized" (Windows) or "command not found" (macOS, Linux): not installed, or not on your PATH. Continue.

Step 2: Pick LTS

On nodejs.org, choose the LTS version, not Current. LTS (Long Term Support) gets security fixes for years. Current gets new features first and moves on quickly. Unless a project tells you otherwise, LTS. At the time of writing, that's Node 24.

Step 3: Install (Windows)

Download the Windows Installer (.msi) for your system (x64 for most PCs) from nodejs.org. Before you run it, check that it's really from Node.js: right-click the file, Properties, Digital Signatures. The signer should be the OpenJS Foundation. If there's no Digital Signatures tab, or it names someone else, delete the file and download again from nodejs.org.

Click through with the defaults. Leave Add to PATH selected on the Custom Setup page. That's the part that lets you type node in any terminal. On the Tools for Native Modules page, you can leave "Automatically install the necessary tools" unticked. As the checkbox itself says, it also installs Chocolatey, and it adds the Python and Visual Studio build tools needed only by packages that compile native code. You don't need them to start, and it takes a while.

On macOS, use the .pkg installer from the same page. On Linux, use your distribution's instructions on nodejs.org rather than an old package from the default repositories.

Step 4: Open a NEW terminal and check

This is the step people miss. A terminal that was already open before the install doesn't know about the new PATH. Close it, open a new one, and run:

node -v
npm -v

That's Node 24.21.0 with npm 11.19.0, captured in a clean Windows Sandbox. The title bar says "Administrator" only because the sandbox runs everything as an administrator. Your own terminal should not need that.

Then run one line of JavaScript, to prove Node actually executes code and not just prints a version:

node -e "console.log(1 + 1)"

2

Step 5: Check it from a project folder

Make a folder, then:

npm init -y
npm install dayjs

If you see added 1 package, npm can reach the registry and write to the folder. That covers the network, proxy and permission problems in one go.

If it doesn't work

Most likely causes first:

1. "not recognized" right after installing: old terminal. Close every terminal (and your code editor, which has its own) and open a new one.
2. Still "not recognized": PATH wasn't updated. On Windows, search for "Edit the system environment variables", Environment Variables, and check that Path contains C:\Program Files\nodejs\. If it doesn't, run the installer again and choose Repair.
3. npm works in one terminal but not in PowerShell: an error about "running scripts is disabled on this system" is PowerShell's execution policy, not Node. Use npm.cmd -v, or Command Prompt. Only change the execution policy if you understand what it protects, and on a work computer, ask IT first.
4. Wrong version shows: an older Node, or one from a version manager, comes first in PATH. Run where node (Windows) or which -a node (macOS, Linux) to see every copy and which one wins.
5. npm install hangs or fails with a network error: usually a company proxy or firewall. Ask IT for the proxy settings rather than turning off SSL checks.

You're done when a new terminal shows both versions, node -e prints 2, and npm install adds a package. Which of those three checks did you skip last time you installed something?