Home

So you've decided to try out NVM for Windows, or at least learn more about it. Awesome.

Installation

The easiest way to get started is to use the installer. This is found in the releases. The file is called nvm-setup.zip, which contains nvm-setup.exe.

Manual Installation

If you need to install manually, there is a separate download called nvm-base.zip. You should also uninstall any existing versions of node.js.

1. Download nvm-base.zip from the releases. Extract this to the directory where NVM should be "installed". The default directory used by the installer is C:\

nvm-base.zip contains three files, including nvm.exe, elevate.vbs, and elevate.cmd. All three of these are required for NVM to function properly. The "elevate" scripts are helper scripts that help perform functions that require elevated administrative permissions. This is a critical feature, since it is the core of how NVM switches versions.

NVM for Windows "switches" versions of node.js by updating a symlink, using the mklink command. The symlink is recreated to point to whichever version of node.js should run. This process requires elevated administrative permissions.