Outdated "Upgrading on Windows" - obsolete workarounds?

[MikeMcC399]

Description

In a 64-bit Node.js installation on Windows 11 25H2,

• C:\Program Files\nodejs\ is added to the system PATH environment variable
• C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Roaming\npm is added to the user PATH environment variable

and the system PATH takes precedence over the user PATH. This is correctly described.

The statement:

... it will always use the version of npm installed with node instead of the version of npm you installed using npm -g install npm@<version>.

does not hold true for Node.js 26.4.0, nor for the lowest currently supported Node.js 22.33.1.

The workarounds that are described, appear to be unnecessary and obsolete.

Steps to reproduce

1. Install https://nodejs.org/dist/v26.4.0/node-v26.4.0-x64.msi with bundled npm 11.17.0 on Windows 11 25H2
2. In a cmd command terminal window execute echo %PATH% and confirm the priority is:
   1. C:\Program Files\nodejs\
   2. C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Roaming\npm
3. Execute npm --version and confirm that the version shown is 11.17.0
4. Execute npm install npm@11.18.0 -g
5. Execute npm --version and confirm that the version shown is 11.18.0
6. Repeat npm --version in the following and confirm they also show npm 11.18.0
   1. Windows PowerShell 5.1
   2. PowerShell 7.6.3
   3. Git Bash

Repeat for Node.js 22.33.1 with bundled npm 10.9.8. Update to npm@11.18.0.

Suggested solution

Review and revise the documentation section for accuracy regarding currently supported versions of Node.js 22, 24 & 26.

URL

https://docs.npmjs.com/try-the-latest-stable-version-of-npm#upgrading-on-windows