sudo deluser --remove-home your_user deletes the home directories as well as the user entries.
The additional option --remove-all-files even removes all the files owned by the user.
Linuxize
linuxize.com › home › debian › how to add and delete users on debian 13
How to Add and Delete Users on Debian 13 | Linuxize
May 10, 2026 - Delete with deluser --remove-home only when you are certain the user and their data are no longer needed. When provisioning a new Debian server, the typical flow is adduser to create the account, then usermod -aG sudo to grant administrative rights.
StrongDM
strongdm.com › blog › security
How To Delete/Remove Users in Linux (userdel, deluser & Manually)
February 27, 2025 - ... Once you’ve verified the users, you can run the userdel command. Note: userdel -r does not remove files outside the home directory (e.g. files owned by the user in /var or /tmp).
deleting a created user . how to..
man userdel More on reddit.com
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December 3, 2022i need help deleting my user account
If the "userdel" command indicates that the user does not exist, but their home directory remains in the system, it suggests that the user account might have been removed partially. Manually delete it if necessary using the "sudo rm -r /home/username" command, replacing "username" with the actual username. The "sudo userdel --remove username" command deletes a user account and removes associated files and directories. More on reddit.com
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February 27, 2024Disable GUI
If you wanted to completely remove desktop environment from your system, there was an option to not have them in the first place during installation, here: http://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/04/debian-installer-tasksel.png
From an already installed system, to completely uninstall graphical environment I guess you could just sudo apt-get purge x11-* libx11-* --auto-remove
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January 2, 2016Yesterday I Learned: You can remove sudo
'sudo' has only become mainstream sysadmin practice in recent years. Debian doesn't even include it in the default install. There's a good section in Kyle Rankin's " Linux Hardening in Hostile Networks " about why sudo is advantageous over just becoming root (su). More on reddit.com
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January 11, 2020What is the difference between adduser and useradd on Debian?
Both commands create user accounts, but they work at different levels. `useradd` is a low-level utility that creates the account without asking any questions, which makes it a good fit for scripts. `adduser` is a friendlier Perl wrapper that walks you through setting the password and personal info, creates the home directory for you, and copies the skeleton files. For day-to-day use on Debian, you usually want `adduser`.
linuxize.com
linuxize.com › home › debian › how to add and delete users on debian 13
How to Add and Delete Users on Debian 13 | Linuxize
Does `userdel` delete the home directory?
Not by default. Use `userdel -r` to remove the home directory and mail spool along with the account.
linuxize.com
linuxize.com › home › linux commands › how to remove a user in linux
How to Remove a User in Linux | Linuxize
Does deleting a user remove their cron jobs?
No. Run `sudo crontab -r -u username` before deleting the user to remove their scheduled cron jobs.
linuxize.com
linuxize.com › home › linux commands › how to remove a user in linux
How to Remove a User in Linux | Linuxize
Videos
01:26
DEBIAN (LINUX) - How to View, Add, & Delete Users (2022) - YouTube
00:35
How to delete a user | UserDel Command | Linux tutorial for begineers ...
01:23
How to Delete a User in Ubuntu - Linux, Debian, Red Hat, Etc. - ...
01:20
How to delete a user in Debian - YouTube
01:15
Removing a Linux user - YouTube
06:16
How to Delete Multiple Users in Linux [2 Steps] | LinuxSimply - ...
Linuxize
linuxize.com › home › linux commands › how to remove a user in linux
How to Remove a User in Linux | Linuxize
May 6, 2026 - Remove user accounts in Linux with userdel. This guide explains how to delete a user, remove the home directory, handle logged-in users, clean up cron jobs, and find files left behind.
Linux Hint
linuxhint.com › remove_users_debian
Remove Users in Debian 10 – Linux Hint
Adding and removing users is one of the basic tasks required to operate a Debian system. This article will discuss how to remove or delete users from Debian 10 Buster using the command line, as well as the Gnome desktop interface.
devconnected
devconnected.com › home › linux system administration › how to add and delete users on debian 10 buster
How To Add and Delete Users on Debian 10 Buster – devconnected
November 2, 2019 - $ cat /etc/passwd | grep <user> ... the adduser command again. In order to delete a user on Debian 10, you have to use the deluser command....
Debian Manpages
manpages.debian.org › testing › passwd › userdel(8)
userdel(8) — passwd — Debian testing — Debian Manpages
February 23, 2026 - The userdel command modifies the system account files, deleting all entries that refer to the user name LOGIN.
Top answer 1 of 3
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sudo deluser --remove-home your_user deletes the home directories as well as the user entries.
The additional option --remove-all-files even removes all the files owned by the user.
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Now that you have deleted the user accounts, neither deluser nor userdel will know anything about them or their home directories, since the corresponding /etc/passwd entries are gone. Just manually delete the directories once you have backed up any valuable data:
sudo rm -r /home/user1 /home/user2 ...
You could, of course, have deleted the directories while deleting the user like the other answers suggested.
How-To Geek
howtogeek.com › home › linux › how to delete a user on linux (and remove every trace)
How to Delete a User on Linux (and Remove Every Trace)
January 26, 2024 - The command to use depends on which distribution of Linux you're using. For Debian based Linux distributions, the command is deluser, and for the rest of the Linux world, it is userdel.
Top answer 1 of 8
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to list all users :
cut -d: -f1 /etc/passwd
To remove user :
sudo userdel username
To remove home directory :
sudo rm -r /home/username
To add a home directory to an existing user :
create a home directory
chown this directory for the user
sudo usermod -d /home/directory user
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You can use the more advanced deluser command:
sudo deluser --remove-home user
You can also try the the --remove-all-files option. From man deluser:
By default, deluser will remove the user without removing the home
directory, the mail spool or any other files on the system owned by
the user. Removing the home directory and mail spool can be achieved
using the --remove-home option.
The --remove-all-files option removes all files on the system owned by
the user. Note that if you activate both options --remove-home will
have no effect because all files including the home directory and mail
spool are already covered by the --remove-all-files option.
As can be expected, the second option may take a while to complete.
DigitalOcean
digitalocean.com › community › tutorials › how-to-add-and-delete-users-on-debian-8
How to Add and Delete Users on Debian 8 | DigitalOcean
December 20, 2016 - Learning how to manage users effectively is an essential skill for any Linux system administrator. In this guide, you’ll learn to add and delete users and a…
VITUX
vitux.com › remove-user-on-debian-and-ubuntu
How to Remove a User on Debian and Ubuntu Linux – VITUX
November 9, 2022 - Select the user that you want to remove from your Debian or Ubuntu system and click on the ‘Remove User’ which is highlighted in the following image: As you click on the ‘Remove User’, the following prompt will display on the system that will ask you whether you want to delete all associated files or want to keep them.
TecAdmin
tecadmin.net › add-and-delete-user-in-ubuntu
Create and Delete Users in Ubuntu & Debian - TecAdmin
April 26, 2025 - This article will guide you through the process of creating and deleting user accounts in Ubuntu, Debian, and other Debian derivatives Linux machines.
Linuxier
linuxier.com › how-to-add-and-delete-users-on-debian-6-easy-methods
How To Add and Delete User Debian [ 8 Easy Methods ]
Discover the design philosophy and creative process of the world's leading architects
LinuxQuestions.org
linuxquestions.org › questions › linux-desktop-74 › debian-12-xfce4-delete-remove-the-user-uid-1000-a-4175742054
[SOLVED] debian 12 / xfce4 delete/remove the user uid 1000
September 25, 2024 - I installed debian 12 / xfce4 desktop. I did something wrong and the user's xfce4 desktop was fully messed up. I tried to reinstall xfce4, anything,
TecMint
tecmint.com › home › linux commands › how to delete user accounts and their home directories in linux
How to Delete User Accounts & Home Directories in Linux
February 13, 2024 - The above command will delete the user’s home directory along with their account. The directives inside the configuration file for deluser and userdel commands determine how it will handle all user files and directories when you run the command.
nixCraft
cyberciti.biz › nixcraft › howto › linux › how to delete/remove users in linux using userdel command
Linux Delete / Remove User Account Using userdel command - nixCraft
August 9, 2023 - # /etc/deluser.conf: deluser configuration - Debian / Ubuntu Linux only. # Remove home directory and mail spool when user is removed REMOVE_HOME = 0 # Remove all files on the system owned by the user to be removed REMOVE_ALL_FILES = 0 # Backup files before removing them. This options has only an effect if # REMOVE_HOME or REMOVE_ALL_FILES is set. BACKUP = 0 # target directory for the backup file BACKUP_TO = "." # delete a group even there are still users in this group ONLY_IF_EMPTY = 0 # exclude these filesystem types when searching for files of a user to backup EXCLUDE_FSTYPES = "(proc|sysfs|usbfs|devpts|tmpfs)"
Reddit
reddit.com › r/linux4noobs › deleting a created user . how to..
r/linux4noobs on Reddit: deleting a created user . how to..
December 3, 2022 -
hi good people
how to delete a created user properly ? , i have created a new user due to testing and i followed instructions from the web on how to delete user , but the user still showing in the login screen
. how to properly delete a user ?
Linuxize
linuxize.com › home › debian › how to add and delete users on debian 9
How to Add and Delete Users on Debian 9 | Linuxize
April 8, 2020 - If the user account is no longer needed, you can delete it either with userdel or deluser. On Debian, you should usually use the deluser command as it is more friendly than the low-level userdel.
Greenwebpage
greenwebpage.com › home › blog › how to add and delete users in debian 12
How to Add and Delete Users in Debian 12 - Greenwebpage Community
March 30, 2024 - You can add a new user via “sudo adduser user_name”, while to remove them, utilize the command “sudo deluser user_name –remove-home”. In this article, you utilized simple commands to add and remove the user from the Debian 12 system.
LinuxWays
linuxways.net › debian › how-to-add-and-remove-users-in-debian
How to Add and Remove Users in Debian – LinuxWays
July 20, 2021 - Now, choose the user that you want to remove from the Debian system and then click on the ‘Remove user’ button to remove this user. The following prompt will show the displaying window. If you want to remove all associated files with this user then, click on the ‘Delete files’ button to remove the user.