diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index fac7983a4..37729a0a9 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -79,3 +79,12 @@ covalent_ui/api/sonar.sh
 
 # Ignore node dependencies
 node_modules/
+
+# Yarn ignored and allowed files and folders
+.pnp.*
+.yarn/*
+!.yarn/patches
+!.yarn/plugins
+!.yarn/releases
+!.yarn/sdks
+!.yarn/versions
diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index e181030f3..7ffa73c6a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -7,6 +7,11 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 
 ## [UNRELEASED]
 
+### Fixed
+
+- Contributing guidelines steps for installing for the first time
+- Updated gitignore to ignore yarn files and folders for latest version of yarn
+
 ### Operations
 
 - Changed `actions/checkout@v3` to `actions/checkout@v4` in CI
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 49f569158..497fb2f89 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -18,11 +18,17 @@ conda create -n covalent-dev python=3.8
 conda activate covalent-dev
 ```
 
+We recommend using [Node Version Manager](https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm) to install and manage Node.js. Please install and activate Node.js version 16 to work with Covalent locally:
+```shell
+nvm install 16
+nvm use 16
+```
+
 Install Covalent's core requirements as well as the developer requirements:
 ```shell
 conda config --add channels conda-forge
 conda config --set channel_priority strict
-conda install setuptools pip nodejs yarn requests
+conda install setuptools pip yarn requests
 python setup.py webapp
 pip install -e .
 pip install -r tests/requirements.txt
@@ -50,7 +56,7 @@ Contribution for Covalent UI
 
 ## Setup
 
-- Install `node` (v16 or later) and `npm`:
+- Install `node` (v16) and `npm`:
 
 ```shell
 # Linux