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I know that there are similar questions in Ask Ubuntu regarding uninstalling Google Chrome, like these:

But the answers of those posts are kinda outdated.

As far as I remember, the steps I followed to install Google Chrome were:

  1. I downloaded the 64-bit .deb package from https://www.google.com/chrome/.
  2. I installed the .deb package (I don't remember if I installed it using the terminal or GUI, but I guess it doesn't matter).

One thing which is crucial to note, which is mentioned before downloading the .deb package from the website, is (emphasis from the original):

Note: Installing Google Chrome will add the Google repository so your system will automatically keep Google Chrome up to date. If you don’t want Google's repository, do “sudo touch /etc/default/google-chrome” before installing the package.

Screenshot of Google Chrome's download page (https://www.google.com/chrome/)

As far as I remember, I didn't execute sudo touch /etc/default/google-chrome before installing the package .

So as far as I know about Ubuntu and package management, I must remove the Google repository and then uninstall the app. I've heard of ppa-purge but I'm not sure if ppa-purge is helpful in this case since Google is using a repository, not PPA. Or am I mistaken?

What's the proper way to uninstall Google Chrome (I don't need any configuration files to be left behind)?

BeastOfCaerbannog
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Random Person
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2 Answers2

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To completely uninstall Google Chrome do the following:

  1. Run the following command to remove Google Chrome along with any dependencies:

    sudo apt purge --auto-remove google-chrome-stable

  2. Run the following command to remove the Google Chrome repository:

    sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list*

  3. Run the following command to remove Google Chrome directories in your ~ directory:

    rm -rf ~/{.cache,.config}/google-chrome

If you'd like to do all the above in one line, you can run:

sudo apt purge --auto-remove google-chrome-stable && sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list* && rm -rf ~/{.cache,.config}/google-chrome

Regarding ppa-purge, you are right. You cannot use it to remove the Chrome repository, since it is not a PPA.

BeastOfCaerbannog
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  • purge is for removing configuration files and --autoremove is for removing dependencies of Google Chrome only. And the files in the home directory (created by Google Chrome) will not be removed by purge. So this command rm -rf ~/{.cache,.config}/google-chrome removes them. Am I right? – Random Person Oct 25 '20 at 07:01
  • What does the asterik () do in this command: `sudo rm /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list`? – Random Person Oct 25 '20 at 07:04
  • When we use &&, will the sudo be used for all the commands or only for the commands in which it is mentioned specifically? – Random Person Oct 25 '20 at 07:07
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  • Yes. apt does not remove any configuration files and directories from ~, so we have to do it manually. 2. * is a wildcard that allows to remove the /etc/apt/sources.list.d/google-chrome.list.save file that exists in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/. Also read here. 3. Each command that we want to run with root privileges must have sudo. See this relevant question.
    • – BeastOfCaerbannog Oct 25 '20 at 07:23
  • Thanks for the info! If you don't mind, can you please explain about sudo touch /etc/default/google-chrome? – Random Person Oct 25 '20 at 07:25
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    I don't have much to say. touch file is used to update the timestamp of file. If file does not exist, touch creates it (empty). sudo touch /etc/default/google-chrome creates the file google-chrome in /etc/default/. I suppose that the Google Chrome installer checks for the existence of this file and, if it exists, does not add the repository. – BeastOfCaerbannog Oct 25 '20 at 10:02