1---
2title: npm-unpublish
3section: 1
4description: Remove a package from the registry
5---
6
7### Synopsis
8
9```bash
10npm unpublish [<package-spec>]
11```
12
13To learn more about how the npm registry treats unpublish, see our
14[unpublish policies](https://docs.npmjs.com/policies/unpublish).
15
16### Warning
17
18Consider using the [`deprecate`](/commands/npm-deprecate) command instead,
19if your intent is to encourage users to upgrade, or if you no longer
20want to maintain a package.
21
22### Description
23
24This removes a package version from the registry, deleting its entry and
25removing the tarball.
26
27The npm registry will return an error if you are not [logged
28in](/commands/npm-adduser).
29
30If you do not specify a package name at all, the name and version to be
31unpublished will be pulled from the project in the current directory.
32
33If you specify a package name but do not specify a version or if you
34remove all of a package's versions then the registry will remove the
35root package entry entirely.
36
37Even if you unpublish a package version, that specific name and version
38combination can never be reused. In order to publish the package again,
39you must use a new version number. If you unpublish the entire package,
40you may not publish any new versions of that package until 24 hours have
41passed.
42
43### Configuration
44
45#### `dry-run`
46
47* Default: false
48* Type: Boolean
49
50Indicates that you don't want npm to make any changes and that it should
51only report what it would have done. This can be passed into any of the
52commands that modify your local installation, eg, `install`, `update`,
53`dedupe`, `uninstall`, as well as `pack` and `publish`.
54
55Note: This is NOT honored by other network related commands, eg `dist-tags`,
56`owner`, etc.
57
58
59
60#### `force`
61
62* Default: false
63* Type: Boolean
64
65Removes various protections against unfortunate side effects, common
66mistakes, unnecessary performance degradation, and malicious input.
67
68* Allow clobbering non-npm files in global installs.
69* Allow the `npm version` command to work on an unclean git repository.
70* Allow deleting the cache folder with `npm cache clean`.
71* Allow installing packages that have an `engines` declaration requiring a
72  different version of npm.
73* Allow installing packages that have an `engines` declaration requiring a
74  different version of `node`, even if `--engine-strict` is enabled.
75* Allow `npm audit fix` to install modules outside your stated dependency
76  range (including SemVer-major changes).
77* Allow unpublishing all versions of a published package.
78* Allow conflicting peerDependencies to be installed in the root project.
79* Implicitly set `--yes` during `npm init`.
80* Allow clobbering existing values in `npm pkg`
81* Allow unpublishing of entire packages (not just a single version).
82
83If you don't have a clear idea of what you want to do, it is strongly
84recommended that you do not use this option!
85
86
87
88#### `workspace`
89
90* Default:
91* Type: String (can be set multiple times)
92
93Enable running a command in the context of the configured workspaces of the
94current project while filtering by running only the workspaces defined by
95this configuration option.
96
97Valid values for the `workspace` config are either:
98
99* Workspace names
100* Path to a workspace directory
101* Path to a parent workspace directory (will result in selecting all
102  workspaces within that folder)
103
104When set for the `npm init` command, this may be set to the folder of a
105workspace which does not yet exist, to create the folder and set it up as a
106brand new workspace within the project.
107
108This value is not exported to the environment for child processes.
109
110#### `workspaces`
111
112* Default: null
113* Type: null or Boolean
114
115Set to true to run the command in the context of **all** configured
116workspaces.
117
118Explicitly setting this to false will cause commands like `install` to
119ignore workspaces altogether. When not set explicitly:
120
121- Commands that operate on the `node_modules` tree (install, update, etc.)
122will link workspaces into the `node_modules` folder. - Commands that do
123other things (test, exec, publish, etc.) will operate on the root project,
124_unless_ one or more workspaces are specified in the `workspace` config.
125
126This value is not exported to the environment for child processes.
127
128### See Also
129
130* [package spec](/using-npm/package-spec)
131* [npm deprecate](/commands/npm-deprecate)
132* [npm publish](/commands/npm-publish)
133* [npm registry](/using-npm/registry)
134* [npm adduser](/commands/npm-adduser)
135* [npm owner](/commands/npm-owner)
136* [npm login](/commands/npm-adduser)
137