Version mismatches are one of the most common and quietly frustrating problems in Angular development. A project that ran perfectly last week starts throwing errors after an upgrade. A teammate pulls the repo and can’t compile because their globally installed CLI version conflicts with what the project expects. An agency delivers code and the client’s team can’t run it because nobody documented which Angular version was used. Checking your Angular version — both globally and at the project level — takes under thirty seconds and prevents all of these problems before they start.
Understanding the Two Version Numbers
Before running any command, it’s important to know that Angular has two separate version numbers that matter independently.
The Angular CLI version is the global tool installed on your machine that runs commands like ng serve, ng build, and ng generate. This is what gets installed when you run npm install -g @angular/cli.
The Angular framework version is what’s actually installed inside a specific project — the @angular/core package that your application’s code runs on.
These two versions can — and frequently do — differ. A machine might have Angular CLI 20 installed globally while running a project built on Angular 17. Checking both independently gives you the complete picture.
Method 1: ng version Command
The most comprehensive single command available. Open your terminal (CMD on Windows, Terminal on Mac or Linux) and run:
ng version
Or its shorthand:
ng v
The output displays everything at once:
Angular CLI: 20.2.2
Node: 22.4.0
OS: win32 x64
Angular: 20.0.0
… animations, common, compiler, compiler-cli, core, forms
… platform-browser, platform-browser-dynamic, router
Package Version
———————————————————
@angular-devkit/architect 0.2002.2
@angular-devkit/build-angular 20.2.2
@angular-devkit/core 20.2.2
@angular-devkit/schematics 20.2.2
@angular/cli 20.2.2
Where you run this command matters. Inside an Angular project folder, it shows both the global CLI version and the locally installed Angular framework version for that project. Outside any project folder, it shows only the globally installed CLI version.
Method 2: ng version Outside a Project Folder
To check only the globally installed Angular CLI version — without any project-specific context — navigate to any non-project directory in your terminal and run ng version. The output shows the CLI version and Node.js version only, since no project-level Angular installation exists in that location.
This is useful when you need to confirm what version is available system-wide before creating a new project or onboarding into a repository.
Method 3: Checking package.json
Every Angular project contains a package.json file in the root directory. This file is the definitive record of exactly which Angular version the project was built on — regardless of what’s installed globally on the machine.
Open package.json and look inside the dependencies section:
json
“dependencies”: {
“@angular/core”: “^20.0.0”,
“@angular/common”: “^20.0.0”,
“@angular/router”: “^20.0.0”}
The version number next to @angular/core is your Angular framework version. The caret (^) means the project accepts patch and minor updates above that version but not major version jumps.
This method works even without Angular CLI installed — it’s pure file inspection, no commands required. Useful for quickly auditing a project’s Angular version on a machine that doesn’t have the full development environment set up.
Method 4: npm list Command
From inside your Angular project directory, run:
npm list @angular/core
The output shows the exact installed version of Angular core in that project:
your-project@0.0.0
└── @angular/core@20.0.0
To see the globally installed Angular CLI version:
npm list -g @angular/cli
These npm commands are particularly useful when ng version isn’t available — for example, on a CI/CD pipeline or a server environment where only Node.js and npm are installed without the full Angular CLI.
Method 5: Browser Developer Tools
For a running Angular application, the version can be checked directly in the browser without any command line access. Open the application in Chrome or any modern browser, press F12 to open Developer Tools, go to the Elements tab, and search for ng-version. The Angular version is embedded as an attribute on the root app component tag:
html
<app-root ng-version=”20.0.0″>
This method is useful for checking the version of a deployed application — including those you didn’t build yourself — without access to the source code or environment.
When ng version Throws an Error
If the terminal returns ‘ng’ is not recognized or command not found, Angular CLI isn’t installed globally on the machine. Install it with:
npm install -g @angular/cli
Once installed, open a new terminal window and run ng version again. Always open a fresh terminal after any global npm installation — existing windows don’t pick up the updated PATH.
FAQs
Q: What is the latest Angular version in 2026?
A: Angular 20 is the current major release as of 2026, with Angular CLI 20.2.2 being the latest CLI version at time of writing.
Q: What is the difference between Angular CLI version and Angular version?
A: The CLI is the global command-line tool used to manage projects. The Angular version is the framework installed inside each individual project. Both are checked separately with ng version.
Q: Can I run multiple Angular versions on the same machine?
A: Yes. Each project maintains its own local Angular version inside node_modules. The global CLI version manages all projects but each project runs its own framework version.
Q: Why does ng version show different results in different folders?
A: Inside a project folder it shows both global CLI and local project Angular versions. Outside a project folder it shows only the global CLI version.
Q: How do I check Angular version without installing the CLI?
A: Open the project’s package.json file and check the version next to @angular/core in the dependencies section. No CLI installation required.