nala-remove/purge(8)

👑 NAME 👑

nala-remove/purge — remove or purge packages that are no longer needed 💅

okay bestie, welcome to the combined glow-up guide for nala remove and nala purge, from the Nala User Manual. two commands, one page, zero boredom. let's get into it 🎀

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

nala remove [--options] PKGS ...

nala purge [--options] PKGS ...

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🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

so basically: remove or purge packages that are no longer needed. that's the whole vibe.

the remove and purge docs got combined here because they're almost the same command. like sisters. same energy, slightly different lewk.

nala purge is really just nala remove --purge — that's literally it, no cap.

also, by default, nala will also remove any packages which are no longer needed. it's tidying up after itself. self-care fr fr 🧹✨

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💖 OPTIONS 💖

• --purge — purge any packages that would be removed during the transaction.

so nala remove --purge is equivalent to nala purge. same thing, different outfit 💅

• --debug — print helpful information for solving issues. if you're submitting a bug report, try running the command again with --debug and hand that output to the devs — it may be helpful. the devs will love you for it 🫶
• --raw-dpkg — force nala not to format dpkg output.

this disables all formatting and it would look as if you were using apt. retro vibes, but make it raw.

a more indepth explanation for what this switch does: nala will fork a tty instead of a pty for dpkg.

nala will also not display a progress bar for dpkg with this turned on. additionally, the language of the output will not be forced into English for this mode. so it's giving... unformatted, no progress bar, un-anglicised. iykyk 🌈

• -d, --download-only — packages are only retrieved, not unpacked or installed. window shopping only, bestie 🛍️
• --remove-essential — allow the removal of essential packages.

this is very dangerous, but we thought you should have the option. not me handing you the scissors 🔥💀

• --assume-yes, --assume-no
  • -y, --assume-yes — automatically select yes for any prompts which may need your input.

if the configuration option assume_yes is true, this switch will set it back to default behavior.

• -n, --assume-no — automatically select no for any prompts which may need your input.

• --simple, --no-simple
  • --simple — show a more simple and condensed transaction summary.
  • --no-simple — show the standard table transatction summary with more information.

this variant is the default.

• -o, --option — set options to pass through to apt, nala, or dpkg.

example: force dpkg to install new config files without prompting:

nala install --option Dpkg::Options::="--force-confnew"

disable scrolling text for nala:

nala install --option Nala::scrolling_text="false"

allow nala to update unauthenticated repositories:

nala install --option* APT::Get::AllowUnauthenticated="true"

• -v, --verbose — disable scrolling text and print extra information. give me ALL the lore 📖
• -h, --help — shows this man page. hi, you're here 💜
• --autoremove, --no-autoremove
  • --autoremove — automatically remove any packages that are no longer needed.

this variant is the default.

• --no-autoremove — do NOT automatically remove any packages.

• --update, --no-update
  • --update — update the package list before the requested operation.

example:

nala install --update neofetch

is equivalent to

apt update && apt install neofetch

[Default for: upgrade]

• --no-update — do NOT update the package list before the requested operation.

[Default for: install, remove, purge, autoremove, autopurge]

• --install-recommends, --no-install-recommends
  • --install-recommends — recommended packages will be installed.

this variant is the default unless changed with the apt config.

• --no-install-recommends — recommended package will NOT be installed.

if this option is selected nala will display the recommended packages that will not be installed.

• --install-suggests, --no-install-suggests
  • --install-suggests — suggested packages will be installed.

this variant is the default.

• --no-install-suggests — this variant is the default unless changed with the apt config.

if this option is selected nala will display the suggested packages that will not be installed.

• --fix-broken, --no-fix-broken
  • --fix-broken — attempts to fix broken packages.

this variant is the default.

• --no-fix-broken — stops nala from performing extra checks.

this can result in a broken install! 🚨 be so serious rn

if you just want to fix broken packages:

nala install --fix-broken

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🌸 COPYRIGHT 🌸

Copyright (C) 2021, 2022 Blake Lee

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and that's the whole page, bestie 💖 this was nala-remove/purge(8) from the 'Nala User Manual', version 0.16.0, dated 21 Apr 2025. go forth and uninstall responsibly, you absolute icon 👑✨🦋