What is node_modules? Is It Safe to Delete?
Alex Rivero
Lead Performance Engineer
As developers, we have all felt the weight of a slow-moving disk. You are deep in a sprint, and suddenly macOS warns you that you are down to your last 5GB. The culprit is almost always hidden in plain sight: the cumulative weight of forgotten node_modules folders.
help_outline What is node_modules?
When you run npm install or yarn, package managers download hundreds of third-party libraries and their transitive dependencies into your project folder.
verified_user Is node_modules Safe to Delete?
YES, 100% SAFE! node_modules contains zero custom code. Your source code lives in package.json and package-lock.json. Running npm install re-downloads every dependency in seconds whenever you return to the project.
terminal How to Safely Bulk-Delete node_modules
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