Uninstall Ubuntu Pro for WSL, Ubuntu on WSL and WSL

This page briefly outlines the steps required to uninstall Ubuntu Pro for WSL, Ubuntu distros, and WSL itself.

Ubuntu Pro for WSL

Go to Settings > Apps > Installed Apps, locate the “Ubuntu Pro for WSL” application, right-click on it and select Uninstall.

You should also remove .ubuntupro from your Windows user profile directory.

> Remove-Item -Recurse -Force C:\Users\<username>\.ubuntupro

Ubuntu distros

In PowerShell, run the following command to stop WSL:

> wsl --shutdown

The method to uninstall an Ubuntu distro depends on the installation format.

For installations that use the modern tar-based installation format, run:

PS C:\Users\me> wsl --unregister <distro>

If a distribution was installed in the legacy format, go to Settings > Apps > Installed Apps, locate the Ubuntu distro, right-click on it, and select Uninstall.

Tip

While installing Ubuntu in the legacy format, a message appears in the terminal recommending the modern tar-based format.

If you don’t know the format of an installed distro, run:

PS C:\Users\me> Get-ChildItem "HKCU:\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Lxss"

Distros installed using the tar-based format include the property modern with value 1.

WSL app

Only do this if you no longer need WSL on your Windows machine:

PS C:\Users\me> wsl --uninstall

Note

Running wsl --install for the first time enables the Virtual Machine Platform, if it is disabled. Uninstalling WSL does not disable the Virtual Machine Platform, and it needs to be disabled manually.