I ran into this problem the other day when cleaning up and reorganizing the files on my computer. Here is a quick post on how to resolve the infamous bash error due to the environment PATH variable not being correctly defined:

-bash: node: command not found

The problem is most likely that your $PATH (environment variable) is not pointing to the correct location of where you downloaded or moved Node. Regardless of what happened, updating your $PATH is simple.

Solution

Update your $PATH to include the correct location to Node. An example of your node location might look like this:

C:\Program Files\nodejs

There are ways to update your PATH through the command line, but for those who do not feel comfortable with that method, I have provided a way to do it through your Control Panel where you can visualize what’s happening.

Depending on your operating system (e.g. Mac, Windows, Linux, etc..) and the version (e.g. Windows 7, 8, 10), the process for updating the PATH variable will be different. Java has a great article on how to get to your environment variables depending on your operating system that I would recommend following if my instructions below don’t apply to you.

How do I set or change the PATH system variable?

Windows 10 Solution

Below are the steps to get to where you need to update your PATH if your computer is running Windows.

The fastest way to get to your environment variables is to type in the search bar in the bottom left corner of your screen. From there you will proceed to locate your Path and add/update your path to Node.

Once your $PATH is updated, open up a new bash session and you should be good to go. Feel free to comment with other solutions if this didn’t work for you, but I hope this helps.