How to Clear the NPM cache in React / React Native projects ?

The React framework makes it easy to develop applications by using special techniques called caching mechanisms. These mechanisms help to reduce the time it takes to reload and recompile your application’s code when you make changes.

However, sometimes these caching mechanisms can get stuck and don’t pick up the latest updates you’ve made to your code or to the packages (libraries) your application depends on.

To fix this issue, you can restart your React Native application with a fresh, clean cache by running this following command.

Command :

npm start -- --reset-cache

The — part is used to pass the –reset-cache option to the command that the npm start script runs.

Output :

If that command doesn’t work, you can try these steps. Clear the list of files and directories that the watchman tool is monitoring.

Command :

watchman watch-del-all

Remove the cache directories created by React Native and Metro (a tool used by React Native).

Command :

rm -rf $TMPDIR/react-native-packager-cache-*
rm -rf $TMPDIR/metro-bundler-cache-*

Remove the node_modules folder (where your project’s packages are installed), clear the npm cache, and then reinstall all the packages.

Command :

rm -rf node_modules
npm cache clean --force
npm install

Clearing the cache and reinstalling packages can help resolve issues where your application isn’t picking up the latest changes you’ve made to your code or to the packages your application uses. It’s like giving your project environment a new start, so it can load everything correctly.

Clearing the cache in NPM (Node Package Manager) is very important. It helps to resolve various issues and ensures smooth functioning of the Node.js projects. The NPM cache stores downloaded packages and their metadata, which can sometimes become corrupted or outdated, leading to installation problems, dependency conflicts, or other issues.