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In Ubuntu 22.04 the firefox snap was installed as default. I just removed it using the command sudo snap remove firefox but inside the file computer/var/lib/snapd/seed/snaps there exists an firefox snap locked package weighing about 163 mb how can I remove that

the package with it's location

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4 Answers 4

Reset to default
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For those who get the error in Ubuntu 22.04:

$ sudo snap remove --purge firefox
error: cannot perform the following tasks:
- Remove data for snap "firefox" (1943) (unlinkat /var/snap/firefox/common/host-hunspell/en_ZA.dic: read-only file system)

Verify that indeed /var/snap/firefox/common/host-hunspell is mounted as an ext4 file system using lsblk -fe7 -o+ro

If so, stop the Firefox service

$ sudo systemctl stop var-snap-firefox-common-host\\x2dhunspell.mount
$ sudo systemctl disable var-snap-firefox-common-host\\x2dhunspell.mount 
Removed /etc/systemd/system/default.target.wants/var-snap-firefox-common-host\x2dhunspell.mount.
Removed /etc/systemd/system/multi-user.target.wants/var-snap-firefox-common-host\x2dhunspell.mount.

Then the uninstall command should work:

sudo snap remove firefox
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  • 4
    @Mooncake I'm glad to hear that my "journey" is saving valuable time for others, thanks for the feedback.
    – Yogev Neumann
    Commented Dec 2, 2022 at 6:25
  • BE VERY CAREFUL WITH --purge! IT WILL DELETE BOTH THE PROFILE IN YOUR SNAP FOLDER AND ITS BACKUP.
    – J. Mini
    Commented Feb 10 at 23:21
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You used sudo snap remove firefox but you should have used

  • snap disable firefox
  • snap remove --purge firefox

reference

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  • So do I need to install firefox once again using that snap package installing it via software installer then using the above commands
    – ABHILASH T
    Commented Jun 15, 2022 at 15:38
  • Once removed, you can install the APT version if you prefer (or re-install the snap). The instructions to install the APT version are in the reference link provided in my answer.
    – graham
    Commented Jun 15, 2022 at 17:41
  • Ok, since I purged the firefox I cannot install that package again from seed directory using software installer, so if I install it from software centre an snap version can I completely remove the seed file by using above command.
    – ABHILASH T
    Commented Jun 17, 2022 at 12:20
  • I followed the instructions in my answer and Firefox is still available in Ubuntu Software as a snap so your comment seems not to make sense 🤔
    – graham
    Commented Jun 17, 2022 at 12:22
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    snap remove --purge firefox gave me an error: error: cannot perform the following tasks: - Remove data for snap "firefox" (1918) (unlinkat /var/snap/firefox/common/host-hunspell/en_US.dic: read-only file system)
    – user2616155
    Commented Oct 8, 2022 at 0:32
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The following commands can be used to remove Firefox snap:

sudo umount /var/snap/firefox/common/host-hunspell
sudo snap remove firefox
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  • Minor typo - umount.
    – Anit Shrestha
    Commented Jan 1, 2023 at 7:22
  • Thank you. This was the correct solution for me.
    – Kai Dijon
    Commented Jan 23, 2023 at 5:12
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Files in that folder (/var/lib/snapd/seed/snaps) came pre-installed with the operating system. No snap command will remove them. Deleting them manually will remove them, but can potentially break something eventually maybe. If you won't be using the firefox snap, most likely it's fine to just manually delete the file, but there is always the potential that it may break something later.

If you want to install Firefox as a .deb, you can follow the instructions here to install the Mozilla PPA and prevent apt from "updating" to a snap automatically.

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