Uninstalling an application is a common task on any operating system. But the methods are different depending on the OS you are currently running. If you have come from Windows or macOS, you may find the uninstallation process a bit different in Ubuntu/Linux.
You can use GUI tools and a terminal to uninstall applications in Ubuntu. It supports both of them. Ubuntu has a software center that allows you to install software as well as uninstall them when necessary. It’s a straightforward GUI tool to maintain installed software.
To uninstall applications in Ubuntu, you can follow the methods below.
Video Tutorial
How To Uninstall Applications Using Ubuntu Software Center?
Ubuntu Software is a rebranded Gnome Software tool that allows you to Search, Install, and Uninstall applications in Ubuntu. You can find most of the apps from there.
To use it, open the Ubuntu Software from the Dock or search for it in the application menu.
You will see three tabs Explore, Installed, and Updates.
Now, go to the Installed tab and it will show you all the installed applications. Click on the application you want to remove.
Sometimes you may need to use the Search option to find specific apps. As you can see “htop” is installed in my system but is not shown here.
But when I search for it, the result shows that it is installed.
Now click on the installed application and you will see the remove option.
Click on the uninstall button and enter your administrative password. It will then start uninstalling the application.
Note: There is a bug in Ubuntu Software Center that causes the “no packages to remove” error. If you are facing this issue, then either your system is not up-to-date or the bug is not patched yet.
Please remember that Ubuntu Software is not the complete solution. If you are looking for software dependencies or libraries, Ubuntu Software may not be able to show that. If you want full access then you should avoid Ubuntu Software and go for the terminal.
Use the following method to uninstall applications using a terminal in Ubuntu.
How To Uninstall Applications Using A Terminal?
A Terminal is a very powerful tool in Linux. You can do almost anything in a Linux terminal. You can navigate the whole Linux filesystem, manage apps, change configurations, and do all kinds of tricks.
It is easy to install and uninstall Linux software using a terminal. Unlike Ubuntu Software, the Linux terminal gives you more info, control, and flexibility.
Ubuntu uses APT (Advanced Package Tool) package manager to maintain packages in Ubuntu. It’s a command-line tool that allows you to install packages from different repositories. Applications can be installed from Ubuntu Repositories and third-party PPAs using APT.
APT commands are easy to use and do not need an extreme learning curve. To install, you can use the following command.
sudo apt-get install program_name
or
sudo apt install program_name
But when you want to uninstall packages, you need to use the remove command. There is no such command as uninstall. Use the following command to uninstall packages.
sudo apt remove program_name
In this tutorial, I will use htop to demonstrate how to uninstall a package in Ubuntu.
To know more about htop, follow this link.
Now follow the following steps to uninstall htop through the terminal.
Open the terminal from the application menu or press Crtl+Alt+T on your keyboard.
Copy the following command and paste it into the terminal.
sudo apt install htop
Now press Enter and it will ask for your password. Enter your password and Press Enter. Now, wait for the process to be completed.
Now htop is installed on your system. You can run htop from the app menu or the terminal using the command
htop
As htop is installed on your system, you can uninstall it using the following command.
sudo apt remove htop
Now press Enter and it will ask for your password.
Enter your password and press Enter. It will ask “Do you want to continue? [Y/n]”. Press “Y” and hit Enter to continue. Now, wait for the process to be completed.
You can uninstall multiple packages at once. You just need to enter all the package names one after another. For example, if you want to remove htop and Stacer, then your command would look like this.
sudo apt remove htop stacer
Note that you must use the correct package name in the apt remove command. Otherwise, it will throw an ‘unable to locate package error’.
You can type the first two or three letters of the package and press the Tab key. This will show you all the installed packages that match the letters you typed.
Find the package name and remove it by typing the full name.
If you don’t know what package you want to uninstall, you can use the following command to see all the installed packages on your system.
apt list --installed
How To Uninstall Snap Apps From Ubuntu?
Snap is a different type of app packaging format developed by Canonical. The above methods work with the DEB packages that you installed through the APT package manager, Ubuntu Software Center, or DEB files.
By default, Ubuntu Software Center uses Snap repos for all the available apps. If you install any app from Ubuntu Software Center, chances are it will be a Snap package otherwise you change the repository.
So you can use the Ubuntu Software Center to remove any Snap package. Or you can use the terminal. Use the following command in the terminal to remove Snap packages.
sudo snap remove package_name
If you want to know what Snap packages are installed, you can use the following command to find out.
snap list
Conclusion
Uninstalling applications from Ubuntu is very easy unless you have done something extremely wrong. If you follow the methods correctly, you will be able to remove any package from the system. But be careful before removing any package. You may break your system if you remove important dependencies.
In this tutorial, I covered both the GUI and command-line methods to remove applications from Ubuntu. The command-line method is very powerful and works perfectly. You may find bugs or issues in the GUI method if Ubuntu breaks the Software Center. So I prefer using the terminal to manage applications.
I hope you find this tutorial helpful as an Ubuntu beginner. If you have any questions or suggestions, you can comment below. I will be happy to hear from you. Until then, have a great day.
