I use NVM to manage node versions for a number of react-native projects. I have found that when starting a project from the terminal, metro will start using whatever the alias'd default node version is, and not the version specified by nvm use.

So, prior to starting up a particular project i will ensure that i run both (for example):

nvm alias default v18.18.0
nvm use v18.18.0

If i need to swap back to some other version, i will do the same thing:

nvm alias default v16.16.0
nvm use v16.16.0

I use nvm list to verify my settings are correct.

I went through the same problem. I did the following:

Uninstall NVM:

rm -rf $NVM_DIR ~/.npm ~/.bower

Install NVM again (check the latest version here):

curl -o- https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvm-sh/nvm/v0.40.0/install.sh | bash

Install the node version that you want to use:

nvm install 20

Use it:

nvm use 20

Profit! :)

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Extra:

In order to make it work with the project itself, what I did was:

Go to your android folder inside your project:

cd android/

Stop gradlew demon:

./gradlew --stop

Go up to your root project folder:

cd ..

Run react native's start command:

npx react-native start

In another tab, run the emulator (check if your node version is correct by running node --version):

npx react-native run-android --list-devices

Select your emulator and voilá!