npm install error: “The build tools for v120 (Platform Toolset = 'v120') cannot be found”

Question

While running an npm install that required a node-gyp rebuild, the following build error was thrown:

MSB8020: The build tools for v120 (Platf

Answer 1

I wanted to add a comment to 2Toad's answer but stackoverflow doesn't let me. You can set the msvs_version globally with this command:

npm config set msvs_version 2015 --global

This saves you putting it in each projects config object.