How to Completely Remove Docker (Without Leaving a Trace)

Whether you're switching container runtimes, troubleshooting issues, or doing a clean reinstall — it's important to know how to fully remove Docker from your system the correct way.

This guide will walk you through completely uninstalling Docker — including containers, images, volumes, configuration files, and dependencies — so nothing is left behind.

We’ll cover instructions for:

• ✅ Ubuntu / Debian (Linux)
• ✅ macOS
• ✅ Windows (WSL or native)
• ✅ Bonus: Remove Docker Desktop + Docker Compose

Let’s clean house properly.

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🛠️ Step-by-Step: Remove Docker on Linux (Ubuntu/Debian)

🔍 Step 1: Stop Docker Service

sudo systemctl stop docker

Optional (if installed):

sudo systemctl stop docker.socket

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🗑️ Step 2: Uninstall Docker Engine, CLI, and Containerd

sudo apt-get purge -y docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-buildx-plugin docker-compose-plugin

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🧹 Step 3: Remove All Docker Data

sudo rm -rf /var/lib/docker
sudo rm -rf /var/lib/containerd
sudo rm -rf /etc/docker
sudo rm -rf /var/run/docker*

Also remove user and CLI configs:

sudo rm -rf ~/.docker
sudo rm -f /usr/local/bin/docker-compose
sudo rm -f /usr/bin/docker

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📦 Step 4: Clean Up Package Data

sudo apt-get autoremove -y
sudo apt-get autoclean

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🍎 Completely Uninstall Docker on macOS

If you installed via Docker Desktop:

🗑️ Step 1: Uninstall via App

• Open Applications
• Right-click Docker.app → Move to Trash

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🔥 Step 2: Remove All Docker Files

rm -rf ~/.docker
rm -rf /usr/local/bin/docker
rm -rf /usr/local/bin/docker-compose
rm -rf /usr/local/bin/docker-*
rm -rf ~/Library/Containers/com.docker.*
rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Docker*
rm -rf ~/Library/Group\ Containers/group.com.docker
rm -rf ~/Library/Preferences/com.docker.docker.plist
rm -rf ~/Library/Saved\ Application\ State/com.docker.docker.savedState

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🪟 Remove Docker from Windows (WSL or Native)

Step 1: Uninstall Docker Desktop

• Go to Control Panel > Programs > Uninstall a Program
• Uninstall Docker Desktop

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Step 2: Manually Remove Leftovers (PowerShell)

Remove-Item -Recurse -Force "$Env:APPDATA\Docker"
Remove-Item -Recurse -Force "$Env:LOCALAPPDATA\Docker"
Remove-Item -Recurse -Force "$Env:USERPROFILE\.docker"

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🧹 Step 3: Clear WSL Docker VM (Optional)

wsl --unregister docker-desktop
wsl --unregister docker-desktop-data

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🧼 Bonus: Remove Docker Compose (Old Binary)

If you installed Docker Compose manually:

sudo rm -f /usr/local/bin/docker-compose

Or on macOS:

rm -f /usr/local/bin/docker-compose

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✅ Check for Leftovers

Make sure Docker is gone:

which docker
docker --version

Both should return nothing or command not found.

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🧪 Optional: Scan for Orphaned Files

On Linux/macOS:

sudo find / -name "*docker*"

On Windows: Use the Everything Search Tool.

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🧘 Final Thoughts

Docker is incredibly useful, but when it's time to uninstall, do it cleanly to avoid:

• Orphaned containers using disk space
• Conflicting Docker versions
• Configuration bugs in reinstallation

By following this guide, you've removed Docker, Docker Compose, images, volumes, settings, and even WSL-based instances.

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