Is there a way to undo or revert to previous node_modules

Question

I ran npm install to a project and faced multiple errors due to updated dependencies. Is there a way I can undo it and retrieve my previous node_modules folder and files?

Answer 1

If you ran the command npm install in a directory, the expected behavior is to update your node_modules to match the dependencies described in package.json file, if it exists. See the npm docs.

You'd like to revert to your older module versions specifically. If you've been committing your project's files with Git (or another version control system), you could look at previous commits to see your old dependencies, in the old package.json file.

If not, most file systems don't offer an "undo" or "revert" system for edited files, such as updated modules. Sorry!

But if you're having problems when you install everything in package.json, you may want to edit that file so npm install can be used and not throw errors. You can edit the saved version of an npm dependency in the command line, like this: npm install <package>@<version>. Here's a reference on manually updating dependency versions. Good luck!