images

`docker images`

Lists images stored in the local image store with their repository, tag, ID, and size. Alias for docker image ls.

Syntax

docker images [OPTIONS] [REPOSITORY[:TAG]]

Common flags

Flag	Purpose
-a, --all	Show all images including intermediate layers
-q, --quiet	Only show image IDs
-f, --filter	Filter output (e.g., dangling=true, label=key)
--digests	Display image content digests
--format	Format output with Go template
--no-trunc	Show full image IDs without truncation

Examples

docker images

List all top-level images

docker images --filter dangling=true -q | xargs docker rmi

Prune untagged image layers

docker images nginx --digests

Show all nginx tags with their SHA digests

docker images --format '{{.Repository}}:{{.Tag}} {{.Size}}'

Compact custom formatting

Gotcha

With BuildKit and containerd image store, results can differ from the classic view. Dangling : images accumulate quickly during iterative builds — prune regularly.

Related commands

docker build

Builds an image from a Dockerfile and a build context. In Docker 23+ this invokes BuildKit by default and supports multi-platform, secrets, and cache mounts.

docker pull

Downloads an image or repository from a registry into the local image store. Defaults to Docker Hub and the latest tag when unspecified.

docker rmi

Removes one or more images from the local image store. Alias for docker image rm.

docker tag

Creates a new tag (alias) that refers to an existing image. Tagging is required before pushing to a registry whose hostname is not Docker Hub.

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