How to Remove Docker Images, Containers, Volumes, and Networks

Docker is an open-source containerization platform that allows you to quickly build, test, and deploy applications as portable containers that can run virtually anywhere.

When working with Docker, you can quickly accumulate a large number of unused objects that consume significant disk space and clutter the output produced by Docker commands. Docker does not remove unused objects such as containers, images, volumes, and networks unless you explicitly tell it to do so.

This article explains how to remove Docker containers, images, volumes, and networks, both selectively and in bulk.

Quick Reference #

For a printable quick reference, see the Docker cheatsheet .

Removing All Unused Docker Objects #

The docker system prune command removes all stopped containers, dangling images, and unused networks:

docker system prune

You will be prompted to confirm the operation:

WARNING! This will remove:
        - all stopped containers
        - all networks not used by at least one container
        - all dangling images
        - all build cache
Are you sure you want to continue? [y/N]

Use the -f (--force) option to bypass the prompt.

If you want to remove all unused images, not just the dangling ones, add the -a (--all) option to the command:

docker system prune -a

WARNING! This will remove:
        - all stopped containers
        - all networks not used by at least one container
        - all images without at least one container associated to them
        - all build cache
Are you sure you want to continue? [y/N]

By default, the command does not remove volumes to prevent important data from being deleted. To include unused anonymous volumes in the cleanup, pass the --volumes option:

docker system prune --volumes

WARNING! This will remove:
        - all stopped containers
        - all networks not used by at least one container
        - all anonymous volumes not used by at least one container
        - all dangling images
        - all build cache
Are you sure you want to continue? [y/N] y

Removing Docker Containers #

Docker containers are not automatically removed when you stop them unless you start the container using the --rm flag.

Removing one or more containers #

To remove one or more Docker containers, use the docker container rm command, followed by the IDs of the containers you want to remove.

You can get a list of all containers by invoking the docker container ls command with the -a option:

docker container ls -a

The output will look something like this:

CONTAINER ID   IMAGE      COMMAND       CREATED        STATUS                      NAMES
cc3f2ff51cab   ubuntu     "/bin/bash"   2 months ago   Created                     competent_nightingale
cd20b396a061   nginx      "/bin/bash"   2 months ago   Exited (137) 2 months ago   web
fb62432cf3c1   postgres   "/bin/bash"   3 months ago   Exited (130) 3 months ago   db

Once you know the CONTAINER ID of the containers you want to delete, pass it to the docker container rm command. For example, to remove the first two containers listed in the output above, you would run:

docker container rm cc3f2ff51cab cd20b396a061

If you get an error similar to the one shown below, it means that the container is running. You need to stop the container before removing it.

Error response from daemon: You cannot remove a running container fc983ebf4771d42a8bd0029df061cb74dc12cb174530b2036987575b83442b47. Stop the container before attempting removal or force remove.

To force the removal of a running container, use the -f (--force) option:

docker container rm -f fc983ebf4771

Removing all stopped containers #

To remove all stopped containers, invoke the docker container prune command:

docker container prune

WARNING! This will remove all stopped containers.
Are you sure you want to continue? [y/N] y

If you want to get a list of all non-running (stopped) containers that would be removed with docker container prune, use the following command:

docker container ls -a --filter status=exited --filter status=created

Removing containers using filters #

The docker container prune command allows you to remove containers based on a certain condition using the --filter option.

The currently supported filters are until and label. You can specify more than one filter by using multiple --filter options.

For example, to remove all containers created more than 12 hours ago, run:

docker container prune --filter "until=12h"

Stop and remove all containers #

To stop all running containers, enter the docker container stop command followed by the running container IDs:

docker container stop $(docker container ls -q)

The command docker container ls -q generates a list of running container IDs.

Once all containers are stopped, remove them using the docker container rm command, followed by the container ID list:

docker container rm $(docker container ls -aq)

Removing Docker Images #

When you download a Docker image, it is kept on the server until you manually remove it.

Removing one or more images #

To remove one or more Docker images, first find the IDs of the images you want to delete:

docker image ls

The output will look something like this:

REPOSITORY   TAG       IMAGE ID       CREATED        SIZE
ubuntu       latest    2a4cca5ac898   2 months ago   78MB
nginx        latest    a45d6dca3361   3 months ago   192MB
postgres     16        e44d62cf8862   3 months ago   432MB

Once you have located the images you want to remove, pass their IMAGE ID to the docker image rm command. For example, to remove the first two images listed in the output above, run:

docker image rm 2a4cca5ac898 a45d6dca3361

You can also use the shorter docker rmi alias:

docker rmi 2a4cca5ac898 a45d6dca3361

If you get an error like the one below, it means that an existing container uses the image. To remove the image, you will have to remove the container first.

Error response from daemon: conflict: unable to remove repository reference "ubuntu" (must force) - container cd20b396a061 is using its referenced image 2a4cca5ac898

Removing dangling images #

Docker provides a docker image prune command that can be used to remove dangling and unused images.

A dangling image is an image that is not tagged and is not used by any container. To remove dangling images, type:

docker image prune

WARNING! This will remove all dangling images.
Are you sure you want to continue? [y/N] y

Removing all unused images #

To remove all images that are not referenced by any existing container, not just the dangling ones, use the prune command with the -a option:

docker image prune -a

WARNING! This will remove all images without at least one container associated to them.
Are you sure you want to continue? [y/N] y

Removing images using filters #

With the docker image prune command, you can also remove images based on a particular condition with the --filter option.

The currently supported filters are until and label. You can use more than one filter.

For example, to remove all images that were created more than seven days (168 hours) ago, run:

docker image prune -a --filter "until=168h"

Removing Docker Volumes #

Removing one or more volumes #

To remove one or more Docker volumes, run the docker volume ls command to find the name of the volumes you want to remove:

docker volume ls

The output will look something like this:

DRIVER    VOLUME NAME
local     4e12af8913af888ba67243dec78419bf18adddc3c7a4b2345754b6db64293163
local     terano

Once you have found the VOLUME NAME of the volumes you want to remove, pass them to the docker volume rm command. For example, to remove the first volume listed in the output above, run:

docker volume rm 4e12af8913af888ba67243dec78419bf18adddc3c7a4b2345754b6db64293163

If you get an error similar to the one shown below, it means that an existing container uses the volume. To remove the volume, you will have to remove the container first.

Error response from daemon: remove 4e12af8913af888ba67243dec78419bf18adddc3c7a4b2345754b6db64293163: volume is in use - [c7188935a38a6c3f9f11297f8c98ce9996ef5ddad6e6187be62bad3001a66c8e]

Removing unused volumes #

To remove unused volumes, run the docker volume prune command:

docker volume prune

WARNING! This will remove anonymous local volumes not used by at least one container.
Are you sure you want to continue? [y/N]

Use the -f or --force option to bypass the prompt.

By default, this removes only anonymous volumes. To include named volumes, add the -a (--all) option:

docker volume prune -a

Removing Docker Networks #

Removing one or more networks #

To remove one or more Docker networks, use the docker network ls command to find the ID of the networks you want to remove:

docker network ls

The output will look something like this:

NETWORK ID     NAME                DRIVER    SCOPE
107b8ac977e3   bridge              bridge    local
ab998267377d   host                host      local
c520032c3d31   my-bridge-network   bridge    local
9bc81b63f740   none                null      local

Once you have located the networks you want to remove, pass their NETWORK ID to the docker network rm command. For example, to remove the network with the name my-bridge-network, run:

docker network rm c520032c3d31

If you get an error similar to the one shown below, it means that a container is still connected to the network.

Error response from daemon: network my-bridge-network id 6f5293268bb91ad2498b38b0bca970083af87237784017be24ea208d2233c5aa has active endpoints

The docker network rm -f command does not force-remove a network that still has active endpoints. The -f option only suppresses the error if the network does not exist.

To remove an in-use network, disconnect the containers from the network first, then remove it. The -f flag on docker network disconnect forces disconnection even while the container is running:

docker network disconnect -f my-bridge-network container_name

Once all endpoints are disconnected, run docker network rm again.

Removing all unused networks #

Use the docker network prune command to remove all unused networks:

docker network prune

You will be prompted to continue:

WARNING! This will remove all networks not used by at least one container.
Are you sure you want to continue? [y/N]

Removing networks using filters #

With the docker network prune command, you can remove networks based on a condition using the --filter option.

The currently supported filters are until and label. You can use more than one filter by using multiple --filter options.

For example, to remove all networks that were created more than 12 hours ago, run:

docker network prune --filter "until=12h"

Conclusion #

Keeping Docker objects clean prevents disk usage from growing unchecked. The safest starting point is docker system prune, which removes only stopped containers, dangling images, and unused networks. Add --volumes or -a when you need a deeper cleanup.

For related Docker management tasks, see how to list containers , build images with Dockerfile , or run containers .

About the authors

Dejan Panovski

Dejan Panovski is the founder of Linuxize, an RHCSA-certified Linux system administrator and DevOps engineer based in Skopje, Macedonia. Author of 800+ Linux tutorials with 20+ years of experience turning complex Linux tasks into clear, reliable guides.

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