Removing unused packages (orphans)
Orphans can accumulate as packages are removed via pacman -R instead of pacman -Rs, makedepends or packages removing dependencies in subsequent versions. These can accumulate over time and waste space
To recursively remove packages that are not required by other packages (including their configuration files) installed on the systems use the following command:
| Parameter | Description |
|---|---|
-Q |
Query the local database |
-t |
List packages not required by any other installed package ( -tt to also list packages installed as optional dependencies) |
-d |
List packages installed as dependencies |
-q |
Show less information (e.g. only package names, useful for piping) |
-R |
Remove packages |
-n |
Also remove configuration files |
-s |
Remove unneeded packages recursively |
pacman -Qtdq | pacman -Rns -