title: node_modules in multiple directories outside any project folder
body: <p>I've read a lot of articles on StackOverflow to understand node_modules,
  non of them had the same 'problem' as i have. It's not a big problem since
  node is still working fine and all. But the thing is, I don't like to have
  unnecessary files or a bad file structure.</p>
  
  <p>I am using macOS btw.</p>
  
  <p>I understand that when you install the node modules globally they will go into this filepath:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>/usr/local/lib/node_modules</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>but I also found another node_modules inside this path:</p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>~/node_modules</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>Can i simply delete <em>this</em> node_modules? <em>edited</em></p>
  
  <blockquote>
    <p>^This is the main question I am asking, If i can delete the node_modules which is not inside usr/local/lib/.. nor inside any project folder.</p>
  </blockquote>
  
  <p>Also I think I understood that even though you install the node_modules globally into the first path, stated in this post, I still have to install node_modules inside my project folder. </p>
  
  <p>So what is the use of having node_modules installed globally?</p>
  
  <p>Can I delete both paths and install node_modules only inside my project folders? Will this be more beneficial? </p>
  
  <p>I also noticed when I was moving my project folders that contained node_modules into a different Disk. the file size of this folder increased with absurd numbers. Does that has anything to do with installing the node_modules globally?</p>
  
  <p><em>edit</em></p>
  
  <p>When I transferred my project files from Disk1 into Disk2, I was not able to move any project file back to Disk1 since the amount of file size of that folder increased that much. Im talking about moving 12 projects from Disk1 to Disk2, but each project folder became 2x bigger as those 12 project folders combined. Disk1 had 250GB of space. Disk2 had 1TB of space. Moving those project folders filled my Disk2 with 80% of space, I lost my mind when I saw this happen. Anyone has any explanation for this happening?</p>