Safety

Is it safe to delete the npm cache?

Yes. The cache is a download accelerator, not your app. Clearing it is one of the safest reclaim moves on a full SSD.

Manual clear

npm cache verify
npm cache clean --force
# typical location
# macOS/Linux: ~/.npm
# Windows: %LocalAppData%\npm-cache

Yes. npm cache clean --force removes cached tarballs. The next install re-downloads packages. It does not delete your project node_modules.

Will this fix a broken install?

Sometimes. Clearing the cache helps corrupt tarball cases. For dependency issues, delete node_modules and lockfile carefully in the project instead.