Uninstalling Anaconda Distribution

Need to uninstall Anaconda Navigator?

See Uninstalling Navigator.

Need to uninstall Miniconda?

The uninstall instructions on this page are almost identical to those for Miniconda, but for specific uninstall instructions for Miniconda, see Uninstalling Miniconda.

Note

The uninstall procedure might leave behind certain artifacts, such as desktop shortcuts or supplementary files, that must be deleted manually after completion. This is a known issue that is being addressed.

To uninstall your Anaconda installation:

Windows

1. (Optional) If you have created any environments outside your anaconda3 directory, you can manually delete them to increase available disc space on your computer. This step must be performed before uninstalling Anaconda Distribution.

   Uninstall environments outside the anaconda3 directory

   1. Open Anaconda Prompt.

   2. View a list of all your environments by running the following command:

      conda info --envs
      

      If you have any environments in a directory other than anaconda3, you will need to uninstall the directory that contains the environments. Uninstalling the directory with the following command will both delete the environment files and deregister the environments.

   3. Open your preferred shell.

   4. Uninstall the directory by running the following command:

      # Replace <YOUR_USERNAME> with your Windows username
      # Replace <PATH_TO_ENV_DIRECTORY> with the path to the directory that contains the environments
      C:\Users\<YOUR_USERNAME>\anaconda3\_conda constructor uninstall --prefix <PATH_TO_ENV_DIRECTORY>
      

2. Search for “Control Panel” in the Windows search box and select the Control Panel app.

3. Click Uninstall a program under Programs.

4. Select Anaconda from the list of programs.

5. Click Uninstall.

6. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete the uninstallation process.

Silent CLI uninstall

On Windows operating systems, you can silently uninstall Anaconda Distribution using either Command Prompt or PowerShell.

Command Prompt

Open a new Command Prompt window and run the following command:

start /wait .\anaconda3\Uninstall-Anaconda3.exe /S

PowerShell

Open a new PowerShell window and run the following command:

Start-Process -FilePath ".\anaconda3\Uninstall-Anaconda3.exe" -ArgumentList "/S" -Wait

Note

An uninstall of Anaconda Distribution may take several minutes to complete.

macOS or Linux

1. Open your terminal application.

2. (Optional) If you have created any environments outside your anaconda3 directory, you can manually delete them to increase available disc space on your computer. This step must be performed before uninstalling Anaconda Distribution.

   Uninstall environments outside the anaconda3 directory

   1. View a list of all your environments by running the following command:

      conda info --envs
      

      If you have any environments in a directory other than anaconda3, you will need to uninstall the directory that contains the environments. Uninstalling the directory with the following command will both delete the environment files and deregister the environments.

   2. Uninstall the directory by running the following command:

      # Replace <PATH_TO_ENV_DIRECTORY> with the path to the directory that contains the environments
      ~/anaconda3/_conda constructor uninstall --prefix <PATH_TO_ENV_DIRECTORY>
      

3. (Optional) Remove any conda initialization scripts from all your terminal shell profiles by running the following command:

   conda activate
   conda init --reverse --all
   

   What are conda initialization scripts?

   Initialization scripts execute commands that configure your shell to automatically recognize conda commands.

   For a technical explanation of initialization, see Conda initialization in the official conda documentation.

   To see a list of shells where conda can be initialized, see conda init in the official conda documentation.

4. Remove your entire anaconda3 directory with rm -rf. Depending on your installation, this directory will be in your root folder or in your opt folder.

   Warning

   When paired with the -r (recursive) flag, the f (force) flag deletes all specified directories and the files within them without prompting you for confirmation. Double-check and verify that you have correctly specified the directories you intend to delete before running rm -rf, as this action can’t be undone.

   # The following are a few examples of how you might need to delete your anaconda3 folder
   rm -rf anaconda3
   rm -rf ~/anaconda3
   sudo rm -rf /opt/anaconda3
   

5. (Optional) Remove the hidden .condarc file and .conda and .continuum directories from your home directory by running the following command:

   Caution

   Consider keeping a backup of the .condarc file, especially if you have custom configurations for conda and are planning on reinstalling.

   rm -rf ~/.condarc ~/.conda ~/.continuum
   

6. Close and reopen your terminal to refresh it. You should no longer see (base) in your terminal prompt.