Complete uninstallation of software packages and configuration files in Linux systems requires step-by-step operation: 1. Use sudo apt remove package_name to uninstall the main program; 2. Add the --purge parameter or use sudo apt purge package_name to delete the configuration file; 3. Find the residual files through dpkg -L package_name | grep '^/etc\|/home' and delete them manually; 4. Optionally execute sudo apt autoremove to clean useless dependencies. The entire process requires careful confirmation of the operation object to avoid accidentally deletion.

On Linux systems, if you only want to uninstall one software package, you can do it with regular commands. But if you want to completely remove it and all the related configuration files, that requires some extra action. Simply put: uninstall the package first, and then manually delete the remaining configuration files .

Uninstall packages using apt

Most Debian-based systems (such as Ubuntu) use the apt package manager. You can uninstall a software like this:

 sudo apt remove package_name

This command will delete the main program, but will not touch the user's configuration file. These files are usually kept on the system so that you can still use the original settings when reinstalling.

If you are sure that you will not install it in the future, you can add the --purge parameter:

 sudo apt purge package_name

Or abbreviated as:

 sudo apt remove --purge package_name

This will clear most configuration files together.

Manually clean up residual configuration files

Even if --purge is used, sometimes some files will not be deleted, such as hidden files or logs in the user directory. You can use the find or dpkg command to find it:

 dpkg -L package_name | grep '^/etc\|/home'

This command lists the configuration paths that the software may leave behind. You can check these directories to confirm whether there are any remaining content. For example:

• /etc/package_name/
• /home/your_user/.package_name

If you confirm that it is not needed, you can use rm -r to delete the entire directory:

 sudo rm -r /etc/package_name
rm -r ~/.package_name

Remember to confirm the path content before the operation, and do not delete other things by mistake.

Clean up useless dependencies (optional)

After uninstalling the main program, some dependency libraries may be left in the system that are no longer needed. You can run the following commands to clean them:

 sudo apt autoremove

This will not affect the software you actively install, it will only delete those dependencies that are automatically installed.

Basically that's it. The whole process is not complicated, but you should pay attention to seeing the objects in each step, especially when manually deleting files, don't delete other configurations by mistake.

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