3 Best Ways to Uninstall Software on Ubuntu

Today, let’s discuss all the possible ways to uninstall programs on your Ubuntu system. The methods we are going to show include graphical way as well as the command-line way, and both the methods will altogether remove the applications without leaving any trace.

Let’s start with the graphical way using the Ubuntu Software Center, and the Synaptic Package manager, followed by the command-line way via Terminal.

Uninstall Applications using Ubuntu Software Center

Step 1) Launch “Ubuntu Software.”

Step 2) On the Ubuntu Software Center, click on the “Installed” tab. It is the location to find all the installed applications.

Step 3) Scroll through the Applications and click on the “Remove” button next to the application. In the below example, I’m uninstalling the Amazon app on Ubuntu 19.04 system.

Step 4) Confirm the removal of the program. You should also enter the root password when prompted.

That’s it; the software should be uninstalled from your computer.

Uninstall Programs using Synaptic Package Manager

Synaptic Package Manager is an APT-based graphical package management tool. It serves as a graphical front-end to APT and is used to install, remove, and upgrade packages on the Ubuntu system. Synaptic package manager lists every program installed on your Ubuntu system. It includes libraries and system apps. It is equivalent to the command-line way, except you get an easy to use user interface.

Let’s begin with installing Synaptic Package Manager.

Step 1) Launch Terminal.

Step 2) Enter the following command and press enter.

sudo apt update

Step 3) Install synaptic.

sudo apt install synaptic

Step 4) Launch Synaptic Package Manager.

Step 5) Click on the “Search” icon on the top right corner of the Synaptic window. Look for the program that you want to uninstall and click “Search.”

Step 6) Right-click on the item and select “Mark for Complete Removal.”

Step 7) At this point, the uninstallation is not executed. It’s just added to the line. You can similarly add more apps for uninstallation. It will populate in the list. When you are done, click on “Apply.”

Step 8) Confirm by clicking on “Apply.”

Step 9) The program(s) should be uninstalled.

Uninstall Software on Ubuntu using Command-line

There are plenty of ways to remove the programs using command-line from the Terminal. I will discuss a few quite effective methods.

apt-get command:

The general syntax of using apt-get to remove the program is as follows:

sudo apt-get remove <package name> && sudo apt-get autoremove

You will have to know the package name. To determine the package name, use the dpkg command.

dpkg --list

You should see a big list of applications. For example, I want to remove VLC Media Player, which is listed as just ‘vlc.’

Therefore, the command I should use is as follows:

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

Complete Uninstallation:

Additionally, use –purge command to completely uninstall the app if you plan not to reinstall the app.

sudo apt-get --purge remove package_name

sudo apt-get --purge remove vlc

That's it for the command-line way.

Bonus: Using aptitude command

There is yet another way to remove the program using aptitude. Aptitude command automatically removes everything and provides an interactive command line interface.

Aptitude is not installed in Ubuntu by default, so first, you need to install it.

sudo apt-get install aptitude

Then to uninstall a package using aptitude, use the following command format:

sudo aptitude remove <package>

For example, I have removed the ‘deluge’ application in Ubuntu.