How to Uninstall Programs from the Ubuntu System

By Ajoy Kumar 6 Min Read
How to Uninstall Programs from Ubuntu

Regardless of the operating system, there may come a time when you wish to uninstall programs or software from your Ubuntu system, perhaps because you no longer need them or for any other reason. Read the guide to the end to ensure the complete removal of any programs and leftover package traces.

In this guide, we will explore both graphical and command-line approaches to uninstall or remove programs from your Ubuntu system. In fact, removing programs is one of the easiest ways to free up disk space on Ubuntu and maintain a clean system, ultimately improving its performance.

How to Uninstall Programs from the Ubuntu System

Uninstalling software in Ubuntu is a fundamental skill for Linux users. Whether you’re looking to remove redundant applications or free up space on your system, we will discuss the ways to uninstall software/programs and additional tools from Ubuntu: using the Ubuntu Software Center and using the Terminal.

1. Using the Ubuntu Software Center

First, let us discuss the Ubuntu Software Center method. The Ubuntu Software Center is the official app store for the Ubuntu operating system. You can use it to install apps on Ubuntu as well as uninstall them.

To do so, follow the steps mentioned below:

1. Click on the Show Application button (with nine dots) at the bottom of the desktop.

2. Now, search for Ubuntu Software and open it.

3. It will open the Ubuntu Software Center. Here, click on the Installed tab.

4. Now, look for the program you want to remove from your Ubuntu system and click on the Uninstall button.

5. Here, you will get a warning window that says – “Are you sure you want to uninstall?” To confirm your action, click on Uninstall again.

6. Now, you have to authenticate the uninstallation process. For that, you need to enter your Ubuntu system password. It will take some time to remove the program from your Ubuntu system. 

After that, it should remove your program from your device. If you are used to the Terminal, you can also uninstall programs from Ubuntu using the Terminal.

2. Uninstall Programs using the Terminal

If you don’t want to follow too many steps, you can run one simple command on the Terminal to uninstall programs from your Ubuntu system.

For that, follow the following steps:

1. Open the Terminal. For that, you can use the Ctrl + Alt + T, this will open the Linux Terminal.

2. To uninstall a program, use the apt command: sudo apt-get remove package_name. For example, to uninstall the Firefox browser, run the below command on the Terminal:

sudo apt-get remove firefox

3. After that, you will get a question; “Do you want to continue?”. Here, press the Y key to continue the process and the software will be removed from your system.

3. Using the snap Command

If you have installed any application using the ‘snap’ command, you cannot remove them using the ‘apt’ command. To uninstall a ‘snap’ store application, follow these steps.

1. Open the Terminal using the Ctrl + Alt + T key combination.

2. Now, to view the snap package name, run the following command:

snap list
snap list

3. After you know the package name of the application you want to uninstall, run the following command:

sudo snap remove package_name

4. Using the flatpak Command

Similarly, if you have installed an application on your Ubuntu system from the Flatpak source, use the following commands:

1. Open the Terminal.

2. Check the package name of the Flatpak source by running the following command:

flatpak list

3. Run the following command to delete the application from your system:

sudo flatpak uninstall package_name

How to Clean up Temporary Files from Your Ubuntu System

During the installation process, your package manager might install some additional dependencies for the primary package.

After you have deleted any program from your Ubuntu system, it may leave behind package traces, such as unused dependencies and old Linux kernel headers. You can remove these unnecessary packages that are no longer required to free up some disk space on Ubuntu.

To do so, you can run the following command in the terminal:

1. Open the Terminal.

2. Now, run the following command to clean up the temporary files.

sudo apt autoremove

3. If it asked; “Do you want to continue?” Press the Y key. Now, wait for the process to complete.

Remove Unnecessary Packages

4. After that, you will need to restart your system to complete the process.

Conclusion

That’s it! This is how you can uninstall programs from your Ubuntu system. You have learned the different ways to uninstall programs from your Ubuntu system: through the Ubuntu Software Center and the Terminal. Use any of the above-mentioned methods to uninstall applications from your system.

We hope this article was helpful to you. If you found the guide useful, please share it with your friends. If you have any questions or doubts, please feel free to ask them in the comment section. We are always here to assist you.

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He is a prominent tech writer with over six years of experience and the founder of TheCoderWord. He delivers high-quality content revolving around troubleshooting and how-to guides for Windows, Linux, macOS, Chrome, and more.
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