How to uninstall pnpm on a Mac, and its 1.6 GB store
pnpm can be installed several ways at once, and its store lives in ~/Library/pnpm. On our Mac there were two copies and 1.6 GB of store and cache.
How do I uninstall pnpm on a Mac?
- Find every copy:
which -a pnpm. On our Mac there were two:/usr/local/bin/pnpmand one inside an nvm Node version. - Remove each the way it was installed:
npm uninstall -g pnpmunder each Node version,brew uninstall pnpm, orcorepack disable pnpmif Corepack provided it. - Remove the store and cache:
~/Library/pnpmand~/Library/Caches/pnpm. - Check your shell profile for a
PNPM_HOMEline if you used pnpm's own installer.
What does pnpm keep on a Mac?
| Where | Size here | What it is |
|---|---|---|
~/Library/pnpm/store/v10 | 1.5 GB | One copy of every package version any project used |
~/Library/Caches/pnpm | 132 MB | Metadata cache |
~/Library/pnpm (standalone install) | absent here | The pnpm program itself, when installed with pnpm's script |
Each project's node_modules links into the store, so deleting the store breaks those folders until you run pnpm install again. If you are removing pnpm, delete the projects' node_modules too.
Can I shrink the store instead?
Yes. pnpm store prune removes packages no project references any more. It keeps pnpm working; see Yarn and pnpm stores.
Find what is left in one look
Free Mac's Dev tab shows the pnpm store and every project's node_modules with sizes, and moves what you pick to the Trash. For Node itself, see uninstalling Node.
Related: uninstall Yarn and Homebrew lists apps you already deleted.
Common questions
Where is the pnpm store on a Mac?
In ~/Library/pnpm/store by default. pnpm store path prints the exact location.
Is it safe to delete the pnpm store?
Yes, but projects installed with pnpm need pnpm install again, because their node_modules link into it.
Why is pnpm still installed after npm uninstall -g pnpm?
Another copy is on your PATH, often under a different Node version or from Homebrew. which -a pnpm lists them.