Where does npm install the packages?

When you install a package using npm you can perform 2 types of installation:

• a local install
• a global install

By default, when you type an npm install command, like:

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npm install lodash

the package is installed in the current file tree, under the node_modules subfolder.

As this happens, npm also adds the lodash entry in the dependencies property of the package.json file present in the current folder.

A global installation is performed using the -g flag:

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npm install -g lodash

When this happens, npm won't install the package under the local folder, but instead, it will use a global location.

Where, exactly?

The npm root -g command will tell you where that exact location is on your machine.

On macOS or Linux this location could be /usr/local/lib/node_modules. On Windows it could be C:\Users\YOU\AppData\Roaming\npm\node_modules

If you use nvm to manage Node.js versions, however, that location would differ.

For example, if your username is 'joe' and you use nvm, then packages location will show as /Users/joe/.nvm/versions/node/v8.9.0/lib/node_modules.