apt autoremove
Also known as: apt-get autoremove
Active · Website
Not a cleaner - Debian's package manager removing dependencies that were auto-installed but are no longer required. Every 'uninstall leftovers' feature elsewhere in the catalog is a GUI-shaped version of what apt has done since 2007.
- Platforms
- Interface
- Tech stack
- C++ (APT)
- Features
- Dev-junk cleaning
- Not a focus
- Development
- Community collective · continued under new maintainerPart of APT, maintained by Debian's APT development team across successive maintainers.
- License
- GPLGPL-2.0+
- Price
- FreeIncluded with Debian, Ubuntu, and derivatives
- Launched
- 2007first_release_at
- First release
- 2007
- Last seen alive
- Oct 20, 2026
Checks
Mechanical checks derived from the fields above. Each row is one fact; "not yet checked" means exactly that, not a failure. There is no composite score; read them together.
| Track record | about 19 years |
|---|---|
| Source published | Yes |
| Release signing | Signed |
| Security contact | Yes |
| Reproducible builds | Not yet checked |
| Telemetry | None |
| Runs elevated | Always |
| Auto-update channel | None |
| Recent activity | Last seen 11 days ago |
- GPL component of apt; shipped and signed through each distro's package channel
- Security handling via Debian/Ubuntu security teams
- Package removal requires root, so it runs elevated by design
Research notes
- Prints the removal list and asks before acting - the review-then-delete pattern that 2026-era cleaners advertise as a feature.
- dnf/zypper/pacman equivalents exist; apt is simply the most-encountered one.
Sources
| URL | Role | Status | Checked | Archive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| wiki.debian.org/AptCLI | homepage | 200 | 2026-10-20 |
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