Uninstall app on linux

How can I uninstall software?

Seeing there are various ways to install on Ubuntu. What are the various ways to uninstall items? Which ways always work? How can I be sure something was uninstalled?

11 Answers 11

If the application has been installed via the package manager, all you have to do is run

That should always work. If the terminal isn’t what stirs your tea, you could open System → Administration → Synaptic Package Manager, search for the package you want to remove, click on the checkbox next to it and select «mark for removal». Once you click «Apply», the package should be removed. There’s of course also the Ubuntu Software Center. It’s pretty much the same thing as Synaptic. Just search for the application name and click the «Remove» button.

Sometimes applications can be split up into multiple packages (for example, many games have a separate package for their music). To make sure that you uninstall all related packages AND configuration files, you can type

or -in Synaptic- «mark for complete removal» instead of just «mark for removal».

As for applications that have been manually compiled and installed, there’s not always a single way to remove them. The best thing to do is consult the README/INSTALL file that accompanied the source package — if one exists.

• Synaptic : the same

 sudo apt-get remove && sudo apt-get autoremove 

It’s important to note that when you install things, they often depend on other packages. When you fire off apt-get remove it doesn’t remove the automatically-installed applications by default. This is often safer (if you’re temporarily removing something like ubuntu-desktop) but this can mean you end up with a load of cruft.

aptitude will automatically remove things (as well as having a nice interactive command line interface)

You can also search for cruft in synaptic using the «local or obsolete» filter under the status section.

the apt-get-version can be shorter & easier: sudo apt-get autoremove

+1 for autoremove it looks like that also removes dependencies that were installed along with the original program? nice to keep from cluttering things up.

To find the package you want to remove, use

Copy the package name and then use command

Here’s a rundown of the possible ways:

If the package has been installed via a package manager, you can remove it with one of the tools provided with this purpose:

• dpkg —remove : the most basic command-line tool. Avoid.
• apt-get remove or aptitude remove : these are the standard command-line tools. Aptitude is slightly preferred: it’s a bit more sophisticated. E.g., it can keep a log file of all package operations.
• synaptic : GUI tool accessible through the GUI menu under «System/Administration». Supports all features, a very nice program generally.
• software center : even nicer GUI than synaptic . This is a better, updated version of the old «Add/Remove Programs»

All these get the job done. You can start with the most user-friendly (Software Center) and continue to aptitude, if you need certain features or install or remove programs very frequently.

Note that these operations remove the bulk of the program while sometimes leaving «configuration files» in locations such aus /etc/apache2. Most software doesn’t have configuration files there; some server software («daemons») do. In all but a few cases, keeping these configuration files will do no harm. If you want to remove everything, including configuration files, then you can use the «purge» operation. For aptitude, the command line is «aptitude purge.» (Tommy’s explication above of «purge» is not accurate. The «remove» operation, just like «purge», deletes all dependencies that were pulled in with the original program.)

If the program tells you the package has been removed, you can be sure that the files are gone. Sometimes packages installed as a matter of dependency are not removed immediately. They will be eventually deleted, at a subsequent run.

As to software installed from other channels (typically compiled from source), you’re mostly forced to remove the files installed manually. They are often located somewhere in /usr/local . Some software provides shortcuts such as «make uninstall». Don’t count on it, though. More often than not, the cleanest solution is to use the version provided through Ubuntu’s repositories, which can be uninstalled cleanly.

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How to Uninstall Applications from Ubuntu Linux

In fact, removing programs is one of the easiest ways to free up disk space on Ubuntu and keep your system clean.

In this beginner’s tutorial, I’ll show you various ways of uninstalling software from Ubuntu.

Did I say various ways? Yes, because there are various ways of installing applications in Ubuntu and hence various ways of removing them. You’ll learn to:

• Remove applications from Ubuntu Software Center (for desktop users)
• Remove applications using apt remove command
• Remove snap applications in command line (intermediate to advanced users)

Let’s see these steps one by one.

Method 1: Remove applications using Ubuntu Software Center

Start the Software Center application. You should find it in the dock on the left side or search for it in the menu.

You can see the installed applications in the Installed tab.

If you don’t see a program here, try to use the search feature.

When you open an installed application, you should see the option to remove it. Click on it.

It will ask for your account password. Enter it and the applications will be removed in seconds.

This method works pretty well except in the case when Software Center is misbehaving (it does that a lot) or if the program is a software library or some other command line utility. You can always resort to the terminal in such cases.

Method 2: Remove programs from Ubuntu using command line

You know that you can use apt-get install or apt install for installing applications. For uninstalling, you don’t use the apt-get uninstall command but apt-get remove or apt remove .

All you need to do is to use the command in the following fashion:

sudo apt remove program_name

You’ll be asked to enter your account password. When you enter it, nothing is visible on the screen. That’s normal. Just type it blindly and press enter.

The program won’t be removed immediately. You need to confirm it. When it asks for your conformation, press the enter key or Y key:

Keep in mind that you’ll have to use the exact package name in the apt remove command otherwise it will throw ‘unable to locate package error‘.

Don’t worry if you don’t remember the exact program name. You can utilize the super useful tab completion. It’s one of the most useful Linux command line tips that you must know.

What you can do is to type the first few letters of the program you want to uninstall. And then hit the tab key. It will show all the installed packages that match those letters at the beginning of their names.

When you see the desired package, you can type its complete name and remove it.

What if you do not know the exact package name or even the starting letters? Well, you can list all the installed packages in Ubuntu and grep with whatever your memory serves.

For example, the command below will show all the installed packages that have the string ‘my’ in its name anywhere, not just the beginning.

apt list --installed | grep -i my

That’s cool, isn’t it? Just be careful with the package name when using the remove command in Ubuntu.

Tip: Using apt purge for removing package (advanced users)

When you remove a package in Ubuntu, the packaged data is removed, but it may leave small, modified user configuration files. This is intentional because if you install the same program again, it would use those configuration files.

If you want to remove it completely, you can use apt purge command. You can use it instead of apt remove command or after running the apt remove command.

sudo apt purge program_name

Keep in mind that the purge command won’t remove any data or configuration file stored in the home directory of a user.

Method 3: Uninstall Snap applications in Ubuntu

The previous method works with the DEB packages that you installed using apt command, software center or directly from the deb file.

Ubuntu also has a new packaging system called Snap. Most of the software you find in the Ubuntu Software Center are in this Snap package format.

You can remove these applications from the Ubuntu Software Center easily but if you want to use the command line, here’s what you should do.

List all the snap applications installed to get the package name.

Now use the package name to remove the application from Ubuntu. You won’t be asked for confirmation before removal.

sudo snap remove package_name

Bonus Tip: Clean up your system with one magical command

Alright! You learned to remove the applications. Now let me tell you about a simple command that cleans up leftover package traces like dependencies that are no longer used, old Linux kernel headers that won’t be used anymore.

In the terminal, just run this command:

This is a safe command, and it will easily free up a few hundred MB’s of disk space.

Conclusion

You learned three ways of removing applications from Ubuntu Linux. I covered both GUI and command line methods so that you are aware of all the options.

I hope you find this simple tutorial helpful as an Ubuntu beginner. Questions and suggestions are always welcome.

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