8 powerful Apt commands I use to unlock hidden features – and why they’re so handy
8 powerful Apt commands I use to unlock hidden features – and why they’re so handy
https://www.zdnet.com/article/apt-package-manager-linux/
Publish Date: 2026-03-11 12:47:00
Source Domain: www.zdnet.com
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ZDNET’s key takeaways
- Apt is more than just a software installer.
- The Debian/Ubuntu package manager can do much more.
- With these commands at your disposal, apt becomes more powerful.
I’ve used Debian/Ubuntu-based distributions for decades. Because of that, I’m quite familiar with the Apt package manager. I’ve always found this command-line tool to be quite easy and efficient to use.
Although you can get away with just using the basic commands, there’s much more to Apt than just install, remove, update, and upgrade. In fact, there are several lesser-known options that can be used with Apt, and I’m going to introduce you to them.
Also: How to install Linux applications from the command line
1. apt list
If you want to know which packages are accessible, installed, and upgradeable, you can use apt list. If you want to get a complete list of packages, run:
apt list
That will show every available package, whether installed or not. You probably won’t think that’s very useful, so you’ll want to use a few handy options, such as:
- apt list –upgradable – lists all installed applications that can be upgraded.
- apt list –installed – lists all installed applications
2. apt purge
When you remove a package with sudo apt remove , you’re only removing the software. That leaves behind configurations, cache files, and other bits. If you want to uninstall an application, along with everything it might otherwise leave behind, use the purge option.
The purge option works like this:
sudo apt purge
Also: I install these 11 apps on every new Linux system, and you should, too – here’s why
Where is the name of the software to be removed.
3. apt search
You might want to check to see if any app you want to install is available from within the default Apt repository. For example, you might want to install Spotify, and you’re not sure if you can install it with Apt. To find out, issue the command:
apt search spotify
You probably…
