Need to uninstall software in Ubuntu 18.04 using terminal?

At Bobcares, we often handle requests from our customers to uninstall software in Ubuntu 18.04 as a part of our Server Management Services.

Today let’s see how our Support Engineers get this done using the terminal.

Methods used to uninstall software in Ubuntu 18.04 

Uninstalling software in Ubuntu 18.04 using a terminal can be done with several techniques.

Let’s see some methods used by our Support Techs

1.  Apt (apt-get)
2.  Synaptic
3.  DPKG
4.  Source
6.  Git
7. Snapd
8. Ubuntu Software Manager
9. Flatpak

Each of these methods has specific methods to uninstall software.

1. Apt Uninstall

First, we need to find the Installed Software list.

We can use the apt or dpkg command to get a list of all installed packages

Give the following command in the terminal and press “Enter”.

$ apt list --installed
$ apt-cache search packagename

or

$ dpkg --list

Then we have to copy the name of the software we wish to uninstall from the list displayed.

And type in one of the following commands.

$ apt remove package_name
$ apt remove package_name_1 package_name_2
$ apt purge package_name

Autoremove using apt

If we need to remove any dependencies such as the applications and libraries used by the software which was installed and is no longer in use, we can use the following:

$ sudo apt-get autoremove

Uninstall Using a PPA

To uninstall Software installed using PPA, we can use the following two commands.

$ apt-get remove numix-gtk-theme numix-icon-theme-circle
$ add-apt-repository --remove ppa:numix/ppa

The first command removes the software installed via the PPA.

And the second command removes the PPA from the sources list.

2. Synaptic Uninstall

To uninstall software using synaptic, we would open Synaptic, scroll through the list of installed applications, click on the software to highlight it, then right-click and select Mark for Removal, and finally click Apply.

Usually, this will uninstall the software, but leave the configuration files intact.

To delete the associated configuration files along with the software, select Mark for Complete Removal instead.

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3. DPKG Uninstall

First, to list software installed via dpkg, use one of these commands.

$ dpkg ––list
$ dpkg–query –l | less

Then we have to copy the name of the software we wish to uninstall from the list displayed.

$ dpkg–query –l | grep package_name
$ dpkg–query –l | grep *partial_name*
$ dpkg --remove packagename.

4. Source Uninstall

We will be able to uninstall the program by going to its extracted directory and using this command:

$ sudo make uninstall

5. Git Uninstall

Generally, some form of a non-standard prefix is used while configuring so that the package will be installed under a specific hierarchy, (e.g. like under /opt/git/software/).

To remove the software we can recursively delete that folder’s hierarchy.

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6. Snap Uninstall

Snap is usually an easy method to install or uninstall software.

We can use the following commands to locate and then remove the software.

$ snap list
$ snap remove software

7. Ubuntu Software Manager Uninstall

To uninstall software using the Ubuntu Software Manager we can follow the steps given below:

1. First click on the icon in the Activities toolbar.

2. Then search for, install and uninstall software.

3. After that from the list of applications, click the software we want to uninstall, and then click the Remove button to uninstall it.

8. Flatpak Uninstall

Uninstallation option in flatpak can be used for uninstalling software.

The following commands along with the application id can be given to remove the installed Flatpak software.

$ flatpak search
$ flatpak list
$ flatpak uninstall

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Conclusion

To conclude, we saw how to uninstall software in Ubuntu 18.04 using the terminal. Also, we saw the different methods used by our Support Engineers to uninstall software in Ubuntu.