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Cleanup Docker

Overview

Scripts for cleaning up unused Docker containers, images, and volumes to reclaim disk space.

Code

Simple Cleanup

# remove all images
docker images -q | xargs docker rmi
 
# remove all containers
docker ps -q | xargs docker rm

Advanced Cleanup Script

#!/bin/sh
# cleanup docker files: untagged containers and images.
# use `docker-cleanup -n` for a dry run to see what would be deleted.
 
untagged_containers() {
    # print containers using untagged images
    docker ps -a | tail -n +2 | awk '$2 ~ "^[0-9a-f]+$" {print $'$1'}'
}
 
untagged_images() {
    # print untagged images
    docker images | tail -n +2 | awk '$1 == "<none>" {print $'$1'}'
}
 
# dry-run
if [ "$1" = "-n" ]; then
    echo "=== Containers with uncommitted images: ==="
    untagged_containers 0
    echo
    echo "=== Uncommitted images: ==="
    untagged_images 0
    echo
    echo "=== Dangling volumes: ==="
    docker volume ls --filter dangling=true -q
    exit
fi
 
if [ -n "$1" ]; then
    echo "Cleanup docker files: remove untagged containers and images."
    echo "Usage: ${0##*/} [-n]"
    echo " -n: dry run: display what would get removed."
    exit 1
fi
 
# remove containers with untagged images
echo "Removing containers:" >&2
untagged_containers 1 | xargs --no-run-if-empty docker rm --volumes=true
 
# remove untagged images
echo "Removing images:" >&2
untagged_images 3 | xargs --no-run-if-empty docker rmi
 
# remove dangling volumes
echo "Removing volumes:" >&2
docker volume prune -f | sed '/Total reclaimed space/d'

Modern Docker Commands

For recent Docker versions, you can use built-in prune commands:

# remove all stopped containers
docker container prune -f
 
# remove all unused images
docker image prune -a -f
 
# remove all unused volumes
docker volume prune -f
 
# remove all unused networks
docker network prune -f
 
# remove everything unused (comprehensive cleanup)
docker system prune -a -f --volumes

Details

The advanced script provides:

  • Dry run mode (-n flag) to preview what would be deleted
  • Targeted removal of containers using untagged images
  • Removal of untagged/dangling images
  • Cleanup of dangling volumes

WARNING

Be careful with these commands in production environments. The docker system prune -a command will remove all unused images, not just dangling ones.

Appendix

Note created on 2025-12-23 and last modified on 2025-12-23.

See Also

(c) No Clocks, LLC | 2025

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