Uninstalling Anaconda (Completely)

When facing stubborn environment problems, sometimes the best course of action is to completely uninstall the environment AND Anaconda and to start over.

Pre-Uninstallation Verification Step:

  • If you share your computer with another User who also uses Python:

    • Pause here and check with them BEFORE you uninstall anaconda. You will be removing all of their python environments too, even though they have a separate User account.

  • If you share your computer with someone and they have concerns about uninstalling anaconda:

    • Stop here (for now).
      • Do not move forward with the instructions until you have spoken with your instructor.

Official Steps for Fully Uninstalling Anaconda:

The following steps are taken directly from the Official Uninstalling Anaconda documentation page, specifically “Option B. Full uninstall using Anaconda-Clean and simple remove.”

  • Install the Anaconda-Clean package from Anaconda Prompt (terminal on Linux or macOS):

conda install anaconda-clean

  • In the same window, run the following command:

anaconda-clean --yes

  • Once the process has been completed, manually delete any “anaconda3” or “anaconda2” folders that still exist.
    • It may be located in one of several possible folders. Run the following “ls -a” commands until you see a folder called “anconda2” or “anaconda3”.
    • Once you see an anaconda folder, take note of:
      • Which command showed the folder.
        • Specifically, what did the command say after “ls -a”
        • We will refer to this as your “base folder” in the final step.
      • If the anaconda folder was “anconda2” or “anaconda3”
        • We will refer to this as your “anaconda folder” in the final step.
    • and j ump to the very last command at the bottom of the page, with those 2 pieces of information.

ls -a ~/ ls -a ~/opt/ ls -a /opt/

  • Run the final command to remove the anaconda folder once you’ve identified your “base folder” and “anaconda folder”.
    • Replace {base_folder} with the actual folder name
    • Replace {anaconda_folder} with the actual folder name.

rm -rf {base_folder}{anaconda_folder}

Once you’ve replaced the placeholder folder names with your actual folder names, the command should look something like this:

rm -rf ~/opt/anaconda3 # or rm -rf ~/anaconda2 # or rm -rf ~/opt/anaconda3

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Final Verification Step:

  • Now, open a new terminal window and try running the “conda” command again. Your terminal should say that conda is not found.

  • Open the two settings file for your terminal and remove anything related to anaconda: _ 1) Run the “open ~/.bash_profile” (without quotation marks) command and a text editor window should open. _ Examine the contents of this file and delete any lines that look like either of the screenshots below : _
    _ _ Save the file and close it. _ 2) Now repeat the process, but use the “open ~/.zshrc” (without quotation marks) command _ Delete any lines of code that look like the screenshots above. _ Save the file and close it.

  • FInal Verification:

    • Open a New Terminal Window (the changes you made above only take effect when opening a new window)
    • Run the “conda” command again and you should now see a message that says “conda not found”
      • If you are still seeing the list of conda commands instead, re-open the two files listed above and make sure you saved them after deleting the lines of code.
      • Close your terminal window and open a new one and try the “conda” command again.

  • If the conda command still displays the list of commands after the steps above:

    • Try restarting your computer and attempting to run the command one more time.
    • If you are still seeing conda commands:
      • You should post your problem on the ds-python-installation discord channel for a TA or instructor to assist you.
      • You can also email your instructor about the issue (please cc: jirving@codingdojo.com)