How to Remove a Package in Linux: apt, dnf, pacman, snap, and flatpak

Package removed — but config folders stayed behind. Or dependencies went nowhere and are still taking up space. Or something important got removed along with it. Here is how to clean the system properly depending on the distribution, and what to do with what remains.

Debian / Ubuntu / Mint: apt

Remove a Package, Keep Configs

sudo apt remove package_name

The package is removed, configuration files stay in the system. Useful if you plan to reinstall — settings will be preserved.

Remove a Package and Its Configs: purge

sudo apt purge package_name

Clean removal: the binary goes, the configs in /etc go. The user's home directory (~/.config/appname) is not touched — it needs to be deleted manually.

Find and Remove Leftovers From Already-Deleted Packages

After apt remove, configs can linger for a long time. Find everything in 'removed but not purged' status:

dpkg --list | grep '^rc'

Lines starting with rc — packages removed, configs still alive. Purge everything at once:

sudo apt purge $(dpkg --list | grep '^rc' | awk '{print $2}')

Remove Unused Dependencies

After removing a package, its dependencies stay in the system. Remove everything that became unnecessary:

sudo apt autoremove

Running this after every remove is a good habit.

Clear the Downloaded Package Cache

Downloaded .deb files accumulate in /var/cache/apt/archives/:

sudo apt clean

Deletes everything. Or remove only outdated versions (keep current):

sudo apt autoclean

Dry Run Before Removing

See what would be removed without actually doing it:

sudo apt remove --dry-run package_name

Red Hat / CentOS / Rocky Linux / AlmaLinux: dnf and yum

Modern systems (RHEL 8+, Fedora) use dnf. Older ones use yum. Syntax is identical.

Remove a Package

sudo dnf remove package_name

dnf remove by default offers to remove dependencies that became unnecessary — shows the list and asks for confirmation.

Remove Without Confirmation

sudo dnf remove -y package_name

Clean Up Unused Dependencies

sudo dnf autoremove

Find a Package by the File It Installed

If you need to remove a package but do not know its name — find it by file:

rpm -qf /usr/bin/htop

Outputs the package name. Then remove it.

Remove a Package Group

sudo dnf groupremove "Development Tools"

Arch Linux / Manjaro: pacman

Remove a Package

sudo pacman -R package_name

Removes only the package itself, dependencies stay.

Remove a Package and Its Dependencies

sudo pacman -Rs package_name

-s (recursive) removes dependencies no longer needed by any other package.

Full Cleanup With Configs

sudo pacman -Rns package_name

-n removes config files, -s removes unneeded dependencies. The most thorough removal option.

Find and Remove Orphaned Packages

Packages installed as dependencies that nothing depends on anymore:

sudo pacman -Qdtq | sudo pacman -Rns -

openSUSE: zypper

sudo zypper remove package_name

Remove with dependencies:

sudo zypper remove --clean-deps package_name

Snap Packages

Snap packages are managed separately from the system package manager.

List installed snap packages:

snap list

Remove a snap package:

sudo snap remove package_name

By default snap keeps several revisions. Remove a specific revision:

sudo snap remove package_name --revision=123

Remove all saved revisions except the active one:

snap list --all | awk '/disabled/{print $1, $3}' | while read snapname revision; do
    sudo snap remove "$snapname" --revision="$revision"
done

Flatpak

List installed:

flatpak list

Remove:

sudo flatpak uninstall com.spotify.Client

Remove including user data:

sudo flatpak uninstall --delete-data com.spotify.Client

Clean up unused runtimes:

sudo flatpak uninstall --unused

Find What Is Taking Up Space Before Cleaning

Before mass removal — useful to see what actually occupies space.

Top 15 largest packages (Debian/Ubuntu):

dpkg-query -Wf '${Installed-Size}\t${Package}\n' | sort -rn | head -15

Quick Reference