HomeGuidesReferenceLearn

Clearing bundler caches on macOS and Linux


Need to clear development caches on Windows? Find the relevant commands here.

There are a number of different caches associated with your project that can prevent your project from running as intended. Clearing a cache sometimes can help you work around issues related to stale or corrupt data and is often useful when troubleshooting and debugging.

To clear the various caches, run:

Expo CLI and Yarn

rm -rf node_modules # With Yarn workspaces, you may need to
                    # delete node_modules in each workspace
yarn cache clean
yarn
watchman watch-del-all
rm -fr $TMPDIR/haste-map-*
rm -rf $TMPDIR/metro-cache
expo start --clear

Expo CLI and npm

rm -rf node_modules
npm cache clean --force
npm install
watchman watch-del-all
rm -fr $TMPDIR/haste-map-*
rm -rf $TMPDIR/metro-cache
expo start --clear

React Native CLI and Yarn

rm -rf node_modules # With Yarn workspaces, you may need to
                    # delete node_modules in each workspace
yarn cache clean
yarn
watchman watch-del-all
rm -fr $TMPDIR/haste-map-*
rm -rf $TMPDIR/metro-cache
yarn start -- --reset-cache

React Native CLI and npm

rm -rf node_modules
npm cache clean --force
npm install
watchman watch-del-all
rm -fr $TMPDIR/haste-map-*
rm -rf $TMPDIR/metro-cache
npm start -- --reset-cache

What these commands are doing

It is a good habit to understand commands you find on the internet before you run them. We explain each command below for Expo CLI, npm, and Yarn, but the corresponding commands React Native CLI have the same behavior.

CommandDescription
rm -rf node_modulesClear all of the dependencies of your project
yarn cache cleanClear the global Yarn cache
npm cache clean --forceClear the global npm cache
yarn/npm installReinstall all dependencies
watchman watch-del-allReset the watchman file watcher
rm -rf $TMPDIR/<cache>Clear the given packager/bundler cache file or directory
expo start --clearRestart the development server and instruct the bundlers (for example, webpack, Metro) to clear their caches
  • Ask a question on the forums

  • Edit this page

Was this doc helpful?