How to uninstall Node.js Current on Windows

Keep Node.js projects, package manifests and any global tools you need before uninstalling the Current release.

This guide covers Node.js Current 26.8.1 installed per machine with winget (WiX). The program folder is %ProgramFiles%\nodejs. This test launched the Node.js command prompt from the Start menu.

Quit node if it is still running

Close any terminal that still has node.exe. This test saw one process, Node.js JavaScript Runtime.

Remove it with its own uninstaller

A per-machine install needs an administrator to uninstall. Use the product code from this PC's uninstall entry. This test used:

msiexec /x {DEC97F76-5AFC-412F-90A8-1D45583F6FFA}

You can also uninstall Node.js from Settings, Apps, Installed apps.

Where the data is

After this uninstall the program folder was gone. The Start menu Node.js folder was listed and was already gone. HKCU\SOFTWARE\Node.js was listed for review and was already gone.

%USERPROFILE%\.node_repl_history was still there. Launching node.exe wrote that interactive history, and the uninstall left it. This test did not run npm install, so no global package folder was seen.

Check the result

Get-ItemProperty "HKLM:\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Uninstall\{DEC97F76-5AFC-412F-90A8-1D45583F6FFA}" -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
Test-Path "$env:ProgramFiles\nodejs"
Test-Path "$env:USERPROFILE\.node_repl_history"

• No output from that query does not prove the entry is absent when errors are suppressed. Confirm a successful query or an explicit missing-target result; a listed entry means it remains.
• False from the second means the program folder is gone.
• True from the third means the interactive history is still there. Delete it yourself if you want it gone.

What Mole lists

The program directory and listed Start Menu and registry entries disappeared. %USERPROFILE%.node_repl_history remained unlisted. The separate winget uninstall also removed the program; Clean later listed usage records, not a surviving program folder.

These defaults assume Remove data and settings with apps is off. Explicit Select all or Also remove user data can include the listed personal-data rows. Check the selection before confirming. Selected files that Mole removes go to the Recycle Bin; selected registry entries are backed up before removal. The vendor uninstaller has its own deletion behavior.

What this test covered

Recorded on 2026-10-19: Node.js Current, version 26.8.1, machine-wide, MSI, winget package OpenJS.NodeJS. The evidence comes from an ARM64 Windows test environment and a development build of Mole. It does not certify the current downloadable package or removal of real signed-in accounts, synchronized data or production projects.

Vendor documentation. The paths and removal results above are observations from the Windows test unless explicitly attributed to the vendor.