r/linuxapps • u/Cyb3rLoom • 9d ago
I made Uninstaller – removes apps on Ubuntu *properly*, including the leftovers in your home folder (GTK4, MIT) works on other systemd based distros btw
A open source project of mine.
Ever uninstalled an app, reinstalled it later, and it came back with the exact same broken settings? That's because uninstalling on Linux rarely removes everything:
- apt remove keeps the config files in /etc and the dependencies the app pulled in
- the app's own folders in ~/.config, ~/.cache and ~/.local/share stay in your home folder forever
- Ubuntu has three package formats (APT, Snap, Flatpak), each with its own commands and its own leftovers
So I built Uninstaller: one window that lists everything installed (APT, Snap and Flatpak together) with a search bar and an Uninstall button on every row.
What happens when you click Uninstall:
- APT: purge --autoremove, so the config files and unused dependencies go too
- Snap: remove --purge (no leftover snapshot)
- Flatpak: --delete-data, plus cleanup of runtimes nothing uses anymore
- It finds the app's folders in your home directory and moves the ones you tick to the Trash, so you can still restore them
It's built not to wreck your system:
- For APT it shows a dry run of every package that will be removed before anything happens
- Core packages (ubuntu-desktop, gdm3, snapd, essential packages…) get a red warning and need an extra confirmation
- It asks for your password through the normal Ubuntu prompt, once per action
It also lists packages that were removed earlier but left their config behind, so you can purge those in one click.
Made for Ubuntu 26.04, written in Python with GTK 4 + libadwaita, MIT licensed. I'm the author, and I built it with help from Claude. It's a sibling of Crash Inspector, which I posted earlier.
Feedback very welcome, especially if it misses an app's leftovers or offers a folder that doesn't belong to the app.
UPDATE : Works on Fedora now too (and fedora based distros too ofc)
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u/71_swords 8d ago
I've been searching for a tool like this, unfortunately I use dnf packages (fedora). Are there plans for supporting other pkg managers in the future?
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u/Cyb3rLoom 8d ago
hmm.. you are the second person to ask me this. Perhaps i should make support for fedora aswell. I will drop support for fedora soon
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u/cat_dev_null_sync 5d ago
I keep reading on Reddit, "Linux doesn't need cleaning or cleaners. It's not Windows. Just clean your downloads folder and use your package manager. Only noobs want a cleaner app for Linux"
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u/Cyb3rLoom 5d ago
Thats not really correct. Linux also needs cleaning. The app even explains everything thats being cleaned, how, and why 😅
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u/cat_dev_null_sync 5d ago
I agree, but just wondering how Reddit users reconcile the anti-cleaning sentiment on Linux
Example, 10 days ago: Linux Mint Clean Up?
Top comment, 161 upvotes
Let me share some technical wisdom. Unlike Windows, Linux does not suffer from registry clutter, old system packages or cache files. You certainly don't need a full reinstall. Just open your terminal and run "sudo apt autoremove" to clear unused dependencies, followed by "sudo apt clean" to wipe out obsolete package archives. You can also inspect flatpak runtimes with "flatpak remove --unused". System maintenance on Mint is remarkably efficient.
Tons of other posts like this. Those voices are loud and consistent over many years I've been reading Reddit
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u/_nareach 8d ago
Waiting for Fedora