I’m having trouble running npm install on my Windows computer. When I try to set up a project, I get an error that the path cannot be found:
The system cannot find the path specified.
npm error code 1
npm error path C:\Users\myuser\projects\my-app
npm error command failed
npm error command C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe /d /s /c some-package install
I updated Node.js (v22.14.0) and npm (11.2.0) as recommended, and confirmed that my environment variables are in order. I even reinstalled Node.js, but the error persists. I’ve also tried deleting the npm and npm-cache folders, moving the Node path to the top of the system variables, and setting the script shell to bash, but nothing works. My coworkers, who are running the project on their systems, are just as puzzled. Any suggestions on how I can resolve this issue?
hey there, sounds like a real pain! have u tried running the command prompt as admin? sometimes that fixes weird path issues on windows. also, double-check ur antivirus isn’t blocking npm. if none of that works, maybe try using yarn instead? it can be less finicky with windows paths sometimes. good luck!
I’ve dealt with this exact headache before. What worked for me was clearing the npm cache completely and then rebuilding it. Run ‘npm cache clean --force’ followed by ‘npm cache verify’. Then try your install again.
If that doesn’t do the trick, check if you have any global npm packages that might be conflicting. You can list them with ‘npm list -g --depth=0’ and uninstall any suspicious ones.
Another thing to try is using PowerShell instead of cmd. Sometimes Windows quirks play nicer with PowerShell.
Lastly, if all else fails, consider using a virtual machine or WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) to set up a Linux environment. It’s a bit of a nuclear option, but it can bypass Windows-specific npm issues entirely.
I’ve encountered similar issues on Windows before. One often overlooked solution is to check the length of your project path. Windows has a notorious 260-character path limit that can cause cryptic errors like this. Try moving your project to a directory with a shorter path, such as C:\Dev\my-app.
If that doesn’t work, consider using a tool like nvm-windows to manage your Node.js installations. It can help isolate Node environments and sometimes resolves path-related problems.
Lastly, ensure your project doesn’t have any non-ASCII characters in its path. Windows can sometimes struggle with these, leading to ‘path not found’ errors during npm operations.