Setting Up NVM on macOS (One-Time Setup)
If you’re a developer working with Node.js, managing multiple versions of Node across different projects can get messy. That’s where NVM (Node Version Manager) comes in a handy tool that lets you easily install, switch, and manage multiple versions of Node.js.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through a one-time setup of NVM on your macOS system.
Step 1: Open Your Terminal
By default, macOS uses the Zsh shell, so we’ll work with that.
Open the Terminal app. You can find it via Spotlight (Cmd + Space, then type Terminal).
Step 2: Go to Your Home Directory
Make sure you’re in your user’s home directory:
List all files (including hidden ones) to check if .zshrc already exists:
ls -a
Step 3: Create .zshrc If It Doesn’t Exist
touch .zshrc
This file is where you’ll store shell configurations, including NVM-related settings.
Step 4: Install NVM
Use the official installation script from the NVM GitHub repository:
https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm
curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.40.3/install.sh | bash
Step 5: Apply the Configuration
Once installed, you need to reload your shell configuration so NVM is available in the terminal:
source ~/.zshrc
To confirm everything went smoothly, run:
nvm --version