24/03/2021
Contents
Introduction
Uninstall and remove PostgreSQL on
Debian Linux
Grep for all PostgreSQL packages
in Debian Linux
Remove all of the PostgreSQL data
and directories
Uninstall and remove PostgreSQL
packages on Fedora Linux
Grep for the PostgreSQL packages
in Fedora using ‘rpm’
Uninstall the PostgreSQL package
using YUM remove
Uninstall and remove PostgreSQL from
Windows
Delete the data folder for
PostgreSQL in Windows
Uninstall and remove PostgreSQL on
macOS
Remove the PostgreSQL data in a
terminal in macOS
Uninstall the Homebrew
installation of PostgreSQL on
macOS
Conclusion
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How To Completely Uninstall PostgreSQL | ObjectRocket
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Introduction
If you’re using PostgreSQL, you may need to remove the package from your system at
some point. It’s important to know how to uninstall PostgreSQL properly to make sure
all components of the package are completely removed and you don’t encounter any
errors. In this article, we’ll explain how to uninstall PostgreSQL from Linux, macOS and
Windows operating systems.
NOTE: Be sure to elevate the privileges for any of the commands in this article with
sudo if the terminal returns a Permission denied error.
Uninstall and remove PostgreSQL on
Debian Linux
You can use the apt-get command to completely remove PostgreSQL on a Debian-
based distribution of Linux such as Linux Mint or Ubuntu:
1 sudo apt-get --purge remove postgresql
2 sudo apt-get purge postgresql*
3 sudo apt-get --purge remove postgresql postgresql-doc postgresql-
common
Grep for all PostgreSQL packages in Debian Linux
You can use the dpkg command for managing Debian packages, in conjunction with
grep , to search for all the package names installed that contain the sub-string
postgres . An example of this command is shown below:
1 dpkg -l | grep postgres
Finally, make sure to use the APT-GET repository’s --purge remove command,
followed by the postgres package name. This command will remove the package
and purge all the data associated with it:
1 sudo apt-get --purge remove {POSTGRESS-PACKAGE NAME}
Remove all of the PostgreSQL data and directories
Use the rm command with the -rf options to recursively remove all of the
directories and data for the postgresql packages:
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1 sudo rm -rf /var/lib/postgresql/

2 sudo rm -rf /var/log/postgresql/
3 sudo rm -rf /etc/postgresql/

After you complete your rm commands, execute the dpkg -l | grep postgres
command one more time to verify that all of the packages have been removed.

Uninstall and remove PostgreSQL

packages on Fedora Linux
You can use the YUM repository’s yum command to uninstall PostgreSQL on Fedora-
based distributions of Linux such Red Hat or CentOS:

1 yum remove postgresql

To use a wildcard operator ( * ) to remove all packages with names beginning with
postgres , use the following command:

1 yum remove postgres\*

Be sure to remove the pgsql directory as well:

1 rm /var/lib/pgsql

NOTE: Keep in mind that sudo is not enabled for RHEL users by default. Instead, use
the su (switch user) command to enter as root and execute the above commands
with elevated privileges if necessary.

Grep for the PostgreSQL packages in Fedora using ‘rpm’

You can use the rpm command with the -qa options to grep for any packages that
contain “postgres” in their name:

1 rpm -qa | grep postgres

If you prefer, you can shorten the search to something like post as well:

1 rpm -qa | grep post

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You can also use grep in conjunction with YUM’s list command to return a list of
all package instances of PostgreSQL:

1 yum list installed | grep postgres

Uninstall the PostgreSQL package using YUM remove

Once you’ve located the package, use YUM’s remove command to uninstall
PostgreSQL from your Linux system:

1 yum remove {POSTGRESS-PACKAGE NAME}

Navigate to the assigned directory for the PostgreSQL data, and then use the rm
command to delete all of your databases and tables.

Uninstall and remove PostgreSQL from

Windows
If you’re using Windows, type uninstall or remove into the search bar at the
bottom left-hand side of the screen:

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Then, follow the steps for the removal process, making sure to select the “Entire
Components option when prompted.
You’ll see a pop-up stating something like: The data directory s(C:\Program
Files\PostgreSQL\11\data) has not been removed . Simply click “OK” to close the
pop-up window, and do not select the option to restart your PC.

Delete the data folder for PostgreSQL in Windows

After you’ve completed the removal process described in the previous section, open
File Explorer for Windows and navigate to the data folder. Right-click the data folder
and click the Delete button. Be sure to empty the recycle bin afterwards to ensure
that any sensitive data has been properly deleted.

After all of the data has been deleted, you should restart Windows 10.

Uninstall and remove PostgreSQL on

macOS
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To uninstall PostgreSQL on macOS, open a new instance of Finder and navigate to the
Applications directory. Look for the PostgreSQL folder and drag its contents to the
Trash application folder in macOS.

Remove the PostgreSQL data in a terminal in macOS

After you’ve removed the PostgreSQL folder, open the Utilities folder in a Finder
window, and then open the Terminal application.

Use the cd command to navigate to the PostgreSQL directory. You can do this by
typing the directory path into the terminal prompt and pressing Return:

1 cd /Library/PostgreSQL/11

Then, use the rm -rf command to remove the directory and its contents:

1 sudo rm -rf

Don’t forget to empty the Trash application’s contents when you are nished.

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Uninstall the Homebrew installation of PostgreSQL on macOS

You can use the brew command in a macOS terminal window to remove the
Homebrew version of PostgreSQL. First, use the list command to return all of the
applications installed using Homebrew:

1 brew list

Then, use the following command to force the removal the Homebrew installation of
postgresql :

1 brew uninstall --force postgresql

Conclusion
If you nd yourself needing to uninstall PostgreSQL, it’s important to do a careful and
thorough job. Taking shortcuts when it comes to the removal process can leave
sensitive data remaining on your machine. In this article, we explained how to uninstall
and remove PostgreSQL from Windows, Linux and macOS. With the step-by-step
instructions detailed in this tutorial, you’ll be ready to remove PostgreSQL from any of
your own machines.

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