I ran into the same problem and the error isn't quite as explanatory as it should be. I fixed it by updating npx itself.

Please type in npm update npxin your terminal to resolve the problem.

After that you can type in npx create-react-app "your preferred project name" to create your react project.

I was getting this error even with create-react-app uninstalled globally. My npm and node versions were also fine. What worked for me was to:

1. Install create-react-app locally (without -g)
2. Then, npx create-react-app my-app in that directory

Simply updating node fixed this issue for me

One simple solution is to start CMD as administrator and run the usual command:

npx create-react-app myapp

Updating NPX worked for me. Suggestions on this page didn't do the trick but might have contributed.

npm update npx

I also faced this issue after they released v4.0.2.

They have mentioned this:

If you've previously installed create-react-app globally via npm install -g create-react-app, we recommend you uninstall the package using npm uninstall -g create-react-app or yarn global remove create-react-app to ensure that npx always uses the latest version.

I resolved the issue by following the below steps:

1. Uninstall create-react-app v4.0.1:

   # for npm:
   npm uninstall -g create-react-app
   
   # for yarn:
   yarn global remove create-react-app
   

2. You are not required to install create-react-app in your local directory, so if you do not want to do this then move to step 3. If you want to do this, install v4.0.2 without using the global flag (-g or --global) using the below command:

   # for npm:
   npm i create-react-app
   
   # for yarn:
   yarn add create-react-app
   

3. You can now create a new React app using the below command:

   # for npx:
   npx create-react-app my-app
   
   # for npm:
   npm init react-app my-app
   
   # for yarn:
   yarn create react-app my-app
   

Solution-1: The permanent solution is to uninstall node.js and NPM and install them once again.

Solution-2: Run your PowerShell as administrator and run the commands. Something this will not work

npm uninstall -g create-react-app
npm install -g create-react-app
//OR
npx create-react-app my-app

Solution-3: Update your node package manager by using the command below.

npm install -g npm@latest
npx create-react-app my-app

enjoy

Using Git Bash on Windows i run into the same issue today

npx create-react-app appname 

even didn't worked after i uninstalled the global installation with

npm uninstall -g create-react-app

What solved the problem for me was to clean the npm cache with the following command

npm cache clean -f

I have nvm installed, and while using the command npx create-react-app my-app; I got this error:

You are running `create-react-app` 4.0.1, which is behind the latest release (4.0.2).

We no longer support global installation of Create React App.

Please remove any global installs with one of the following commands:
- npm uninstall -g create-react-app
- yarn global remove create-react-app

I confirmed that I did not have create-react-app installed globally in my nvm global directory.

I solved issue by specifying the version of the package

npx create-react-app@4.0.2 my-app

For me it was the issue with my npm version. So i did this:

npm install npm@latest -g

Now npx create-react-app app_name works.

This worked for me

npm uninstall -g create-react-app

then

npm install -g create-react-app

i didn't have any global create-react-app i just did npm uninstall -g create-react-app and then i did npm install create-react-app

After create-react-app > 4.0.1 use these commands

npm

npm init react-app my-app

yarn

yarn create react-app my-app

Getting Started | Create React App Docs

I uninstalled node.js and reinstalled it using windows installer. Now npx create-react-app command works like a charm.

I ran into this myself today and my root cause is likely very rare but perhaps it will help someone else.

I had an npm registry defined in my .npmrc which my work requires us to use. Turns out my work mirror didn't have 4.0.1 and something in create-react-app must phone home and run a version check.

If you have a registry defined run npm view create-react-app to check the latest version.

After exploring the Github issues a bit I found a solution to this problem that was posted, which doesnt require downgrading node or npm.

I'm using Ubuntu on WSL2 so keep in mind locations might vary. The problem comes from npm having cached a global installation of create-react-app with npx that is v4.0.0 which doesnt show when you use npm view create-react-app.

If you find your npm cache which for me was located in ~/.npm/_npx/ folder, you will find folders with hashed names from all your global installs where you have used npx previously.

If you look through each of them for example with cat [hash]/package.json and note down the hash of any that contains create-react-app. Now go ahead and manually edit the package.json files to bump the version of create-react-app to 4.0.1 - and afterwards remove it from node modules with rm -rf [hash]/node_modules/create-react-app.

After this if you go back out and try to run npx create-react-app my-app it will prompt you to install 'create-react-app' as normal and should work fine, and now npx will have cached the correct version of 'create-react-app' so you wont have the issue again either. And you can use whichever version of node and npm you like.

If you're on Windows or Mac you have to figure out where the cache is located, as I don't know - but the rest of the steps should be the same.

This worked for me:

npx create-react-app@latest your-project-name --use-npm

For me I got the same error even though create-react-app was installed in a parent directory, not globally. So I ran npm uninstall create-react-app without the -g flag and it worked.

I solved the issue by:

1. uninstalling node via terminal using home-brew.

2. Make sure to do a deep clean by using the following commands:

    brew uninstall node; 
    brew cleanup;
    brew uninstall --force node
   

3. Go to node.js download link and download the stable version package and install it. It should work now.

I had to downgrade to the latest stable version of node with n in order to make it work.

sudo n stable

Just to make it clear, I never installed it globally, I just had this problem after upgrading node.

What worked for me was:

npm uninstall -g create-react-app 

And then:

npm i create-react-app # or yarn add create-react-app

I also updated the Node version.

I also face the same problem but the problem gets solved when I uninstall the create-react-app globally and then again install it globally.

Uninstalling Command:

npm uninstall -g create-react-app

installing Command:

npx create-react-app my-app

if you have an older npm version (npm version < 5.2) then use this command :

npm install -g create-react-app

it solved my problem I hope it will solve yours

I had to upgrade to the latest stable version of node using nvm

nvm install [version.number]
nvm use [version.number]

use this :

npm install create-react-app

Uninstalling create-react-app globally via npm and reinstalling without the global flag did not work for me.

npm uninstall -g create-react-app
npm install create-react-app

I was on node version 15.2.0. I upgraded to the latest stable node version 15.3.0 via nvm.

nvm install node

Then I installed create-react-app again (no global flag).

npm install create-react-app

I was then able to successfully create a new react app.

npx create-react-app my-app

EDIT: The above will install create-react-app to your current directory. To be clear, after uninstalling create-react-app globally I was no longer able to create an app via npx and received the same original error message. The best solution I've found so far is to run npm install -g npm@latest which downgraded my npm version from 7.0.14 dev build to 6.14.9 LTS build and allowed me to create the react app via npx without issue.

I had to switch to the a previous version of node, using the stable current one didn't work. I switched to 14.

All of the existing answers are incorrect.

According to the create-react-app docs, create-react-app should not be installed globally:

If you've previously installed create-react-app globally via npm install -g create-react-app, we recommend you uninstall the package using npm uninstall -g create-react-app or yarn global remove create-react-app to ensure that npx always uses the latest version.

This is even stated in the error message you recieved:

You are running create-react-app 4.0.0, which is behind the latest release (4.0.1). We no longer support global installation of Create React App.

You must uninstall create-react-app with npm uninstall -g create-react-app.

Then each time you want to create a new React app with create-react-app, use the command npx create-react-app my-app.

So to fix the error you're getting, uninstall create-react-app globally, update npm, clear the cache, and retry creating the app.

Run this in your terminal:

npm uninstall -g create-react-app && npm i -g npm@latest && npm cache clean -f && npx create-react-app@latest my-app --use-npm

There are two different causes of this error:

1. You have create-react-app installed globally. Use this command to find out if you do: npm list -g --depth 0. If so, follow the instructions in the error message to uninstall it globally.

2. You are using node v15.0.0+. Use NVM to switch to the LTS nvm use --lts and then run create-react-app. After that you can switch to v15.0.0+ and continue working. (If you do not have NVM installed, here is how you can install it: https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm)

I got

You are running `create-react-app` 4.0.3, which is behind the latest release (5.0.0).

We no longer support global installation of Create React App.

so I simply called the package with an explicit version:

npx create-react-app@5.0.0 app-name

After some time trying to fix this the issue is within Yarn. You have to run these scripts to fix this:

npm uninstall -g create-react-app

npm i -g yarn

npx create-react-app my-app

Here's what worked for me.

I tried the commands listed in a previous answer. I ran them one by one instead of running them as linked commands in case any of them failed. But I got to the create-react-app command and it failed.

npm uninstall -g create-react-app && npm i -g npm@latest && npm cache clean -f && npx create-react-app my-app

I don't know why, but even after I updated npm and uninstalled globally and cleared the cache, it wouldn't work until I ran

npm i create-react-app

Note: I installed create-react-app without the -g flag. Because as noted by others in this thread, installing create-react-app globally is no longer recommended. Although the other answers are better, if someone makes it to this answer that might be one more thing to take notice of and try.

 npm uninstall -g create-react-app

Although the uninstall command ran successfully , it was not able to uninstall create-react-app, so i kept running into the same error again and again

This finally worked for me npx create-react-app@latest my-app --template typescript

I've uninstalled create-react-app globally also from yarn

npm uninstall create-react-app -g

And the reinstalled create-react-app

npm i create-react-app

or another way is:

npm create-react-app@latest my-app
npm create-react-app@4.0.2 my-app

The other answers didn't work for me. Trying to uninstall globally, for instance, might work to uninstall it but the error persists. It persisted across new installations of Node, and so on.

However, the following seems straightforward and worked for me:

1. Go into some fresh folder, in which you'll create the app, so that it doesn't already know about create-react-app.
2. yarn add create-react-app
3. yarn run create-react-app myapp

This worked for me.

sudo npm uninstall create-react-app -g

sudo npm install create-react-app@5.0.0 -g

npx create-react-app my-app

Same issue with create-react-app but I had to take a quite different solution approach after trying almost all proposed solutions here...

When npx create-react-app stopped working:

After upgrading nodejs to version 16 on my machine (Windows 10), I kept getting the warning create-react-app version was 4.0.3, which was being the latest version 5.0.0 and that I had to run npm uninstall global create-react-app or yarn remove global create-react-app beacause npx on newer nodejs version already come with create-react-app built in... However, performing the commands above did nothing! I also executed npm cache clean -f and updated npm with npm i -g npm@latest, but still nothing!

Final Solution

Which definately worked for me though was to delete two files (create-react-app.cmd and creat-react-app bin file), propably related to create-react-app being installed globally with yarn! They were located on C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Yarn\bin on my windows machine...

After performing the global uninstallation of created-react-app with npm and yarn, and then deleting the mentioned files, nxp create react-app my-app started working again!

I hope that help some of you guys too!