Removing extraneous NPM package in JavaScript and Node.js

# Removing extraneous NPM package in JavaScript and Node.js

When you list the installed packages in your project, you might get an error "npm ERR! extraneous" or you might see the label "extraneous" next to package names.

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npm ERR! extraneous: accepts@1.3.8
npm ERR! extraneous: array-flatten@1.1.1
npm ERR! not ok code 0

The issue occurs when a package is installed but is not listed in your project's package.json file.

The npm list command prints the installed packages and their versions based on the contents of your node_modules directory.

You can resolve the issue by using the npm prune command.

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npm prune

The npm prune command removes extraneous packages.

These are the packages that are present in your node_modules directory that are not listed in your package.json file.

You can issue the npm list command to verify that the unnecessary packages have been removed.

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npm list

# Delete your node_modules and reinstall your dependencies

If the issue persists, delete your node_modules and package-lock.json files.

The following command deletes the files on Windows.

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# 👇️  (Windows) delete node_modules and package-lock.json
rd /s /q "node_modules"
del package-lock.json
del -f yarn.lock

The following command deletes the files on macOS and Linux.

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# 👇️  (macOS/Linux) delete node_modules and package-lock.json
rm -rf node_modules
rm -f package-lock.json
rm -f yarn.lock

Run the following command to clean your npm cache.

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# 👇️ clean npm cache
npm cache clean --force

And install the packages that are present in your package.json file.

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npm install

# Update your version of npm

If the issue persists, try updating your npm version.

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npm install -g npm@latest

# 👇️ If you get a permissions error on macOS / Linux
sudo npm install -g npm@latest

If you get a permissions error on Windows, open CMD as an administrator and rerun the command.

To open CMD as an administrator:

1. Click on the Search bar and type CMD.

2. Right-click on the Command Prompt application and click "Run as administrator".

3. Rerun the command.

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npm install -g npm@latest

npm install -g npm@latest --force

# Additional Resources

You can learn more about the related topics by checking out the following tutorials:

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