containers

`docker rm`

Removes one or more stopped containers from the host. Use -f to force-remove a running container.

Syntax

docker rm [OPTIONS] CONTAINER [CONTAINER...]

Common flags

Flag	Purpose
-f, --force	Force removal of a running container (sends SIGKILL)
-v, --volumes	Also remove anonymous volumes associated with the container
-l, --link	Remove the specified legacy link, not the container

Examples

docker rm web

Delete a stopped container by name

docker rm -fv old-api

Force-remove running container along with anonymous volumes

docker rm $(docker ps -aq --filter status=exited)

Clean up all exited containers

docker container prune

Interactive bulk cleanup alternative

Gotcha

Named volumes are NEVER removed by -v — only anonymous volumes are. Forgetting -v leaves orphan anonymous volumes that consume disk over time; run docker volume prune to clear them.

Related commands

docker stop

Gracefully stops one or more running containers by sending SIGTERM and then SIGKILL after a timeout. Use docker kill for an immediate SIGKILL.

docker ps

Lists containers along with their status, ports, and identifiers. By default it shows only running containers unless -a is passed.

docker rmi

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

docker volume

Manages persistent named volumes for containers — create, list, inspect, remove, and prune. Named volumes survive container removal and are the recommended storage mechanism over bind mounts for stateful data.

docker run

Creates and starts a new container from a specified image in a single step. This is the primary command for launching workloads and supports extensive configuration for networking, storage, and process control.

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