npx: command not found Error in Windows, Linux, macOS [Fix]

# Table of Contents

1. npx: command not found error on macOS and Linux
2. 'npx' is not recognized as an internal or external command

Note: if you got the error 'npx' is not recognized as an internal or external command on Windows, click on the second subheading.

# npx: command not found error on macOS and Linux

The "npx: command not found" error occurs when the npx package is not installed on macOS or Linux or you haven't added Node to your PATH environment variable.

To solve the error, install npx and add Node to your PATH environment variable.

Open your terminal and run the following command to install npx.

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npm install -g npx

If you get a permissions error, prefix the command with sudo.

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sudo npm install -g npx

Note: if you got the error 'npx' is not recognized as an internal or external command on Windows, click on the following subheading.

• 'npx' is not recognized as an internal or external command

# Update your PATH environment variable on macOS or Linux

If the error persists, run the following command.

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npm config get prefix

The command will show you the path where your globally installed packages are stored.

The global packages will be in the bin directory at the specified path.

Look at the PATH environment variable on your operating system and add the path that the npm config get prefix command outputs if it's not already there.

If that didn't work, try to add the path to the bin folder (from npm config get prefix) to your PATH environment variable and restart your terminal.

For example, on macOS, you can update your path with the following command:

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# make sure the `path` matches with  `npm config get prefix` output
export PATH=/usr/local/share/npm/bin:$PATH

If you are on Linux, you can add the output from the npm config get prefix command to your .bashrc file.

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# 👇️ make sure to update the path with the output
# from the command
export PATH="/usr/local/share/npm/bin:$PATH"

Install npx by running the following command.

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npm install -g npx

If you get a permissions error, prefix the command with sudo.

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sudo npm install -g npx

If the error persists, reinstall Node.js on your machine.

You might get prompted whether you want to add Node.js to your PATH environment variable during the installation.

Make sure to check the checkbox before proceeding.

# 'npx' is not recognized as an internal or external command

The error "'npx' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file" occurs for 2 main reasons:

1. Not having Node.js installed on your machine.
2. Not having Node in your system's PATH environment variable.

Depending on your operating system, the error message might be:

• 'npx' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file
• The term 'npx' is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet, function, script file, or operable program.
• 'npx': command not found

If you have Node.js installed and added to your PATH environment variable, use the following command to install npx.

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#   👇️ for Windows
npm install -g npx

#   👇️ for macOS or Linux
sudo npm install -g npx

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".

You can issue the npx --version command to check if npx is installed.

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npx --version

To install Node and add it to your PATH environment variable:

1. Open the nodejs.org page and download the Windows installer for the LTS (long-term supported) version.

2. Start the installer and click Next on the Welcome screen.

3. Accept the end-user license agreement and click Next.

4. Leave the default destination folder selected and click Next.

5. On the "Custom Setup" screen, click Next. Notice that there is an "Add to PATH" option selected.

6. You can optionally install tools for native modules, otherwise, click Next.

7. On the next screen, click on the Install button.

8. Lastly, click on the Finish button.

9. Make sure to close any existing command prompts and PowerShell instances for the PATH variable to get updated.

10. You can start a new CMD shell and use the npx --version command to make sure npx is installed.

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npx --version

node --version

If you got the error in Visual Studio Code and restarting VSCode doesn't help, try to click on the trash bin button to restart the terminal.

If the error persists, add Node to your PATH environment variable manually.

# Add Node to your PATH environment variable on Windows

To add Node to your PATH environment variable:

1. Click on the Search bar and type "environment variables".
2. Click on "Edit the system environment variables".

3. Click on the "Environment Variables" button.

4. In the "System variables" section, select the "Path" variable and click "Edit".

5. Click on "New" and then click "Browse".

6. Your nodejs directory is most likely under:

• C:\Program Files\nodejs
• or C:\Program Files (x86)\nodejs

7. Next, ensure you also have the path to your npm directory in the PATH as well.

8. Your npm directory is most likely located under %USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\npm, which is the same as C:\Users\YOUR_USER\AppData\Roaming\npm.

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%USERPROFILE%\AppData\Roaming\npm

# 👇️ same as below (make sure to replace YOUR_USER)
C:\Users\YOUR_USER\AppData\Roaming\npm

If you can't find it, try running the npm config get prefix command.

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npm config get prefix

9. Add the path to npm and click on "OK" twice to confirm.

10. Close your Command prompt application and then reopen it.

You might also have to restart your PC, but that's not always necessary.

You can start a new CMD shell and use the npx --version command to make sure npx is installed and configured properly.

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npx --version

If you got the error in Visual Studio Code and restarting VSCode doesn't help, try to click on the trash bin button to restart the terminal.

If the error persists, try to run CMD or VSCode as an administrator before issuing an npx 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".

You can run VSCode as an administrator by right-clicking on VSCode and clicking "Run as administrator".

Try to issue an npx command with elevated permissions, e.g. npx --version.

If the error persists, try running the following command to install npx.

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#   👇️ for Windows
npm install -g npx

#   👇️ for macOS or Linux
sudo npm install -g npx

# Conclusion

To solve the error "'npx' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file", make sure:

1. You have Node.js installed on your machine.
2. You have Node in your system's PATH environment variable.

# Additional Resources

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

• 'npm' is not recognized as an internal or external command
• 'nuget' is not recognized as an internal or external command
• 'nvm' is not recognized as an internal or external command
• 'nodemon' is not recognized as an internal or external command
• 'nuxt' is not recognized as an internal or external command
• 'rimraf' is not recognized as an internal or external command
• 'vue-cli-service' is not recognized as an internal or external command
• 'Yarn' is not recognized as an internal or external command