pixi global uninstall

Uninstall global environments from your system

The pixi global uninstall command removes one or more global environments from your system, including all their packages and exposed executables.

Usage

pixi global uninstall [OPTIONS] <ENVIRONMENT>...

Arguments

ENVIRONMENT · string · required

Name(s) of the environment(s) to uninstall. Multiple environments can be specified.

pixi global uninstall python311
pixi global uninstall tools dev-tools

Behavior

What Gets Removed

When you uninstall a global environment:

1. Environment directory: All packages and files are removed
2. Exposed executables: Symlinks/shims in ~/.pixi/bin/ are removed
3. Manifest entry: Environment is removed from the global manifest
4. Completions: Shell completions for exposed executables are removed (Unix)

Multiple Environments

You can uninstall multiple environments in a single command:

pixi global uninstall env1 env2 env3

Each environment is processed independently:

• If one fails, others continue processing
• Errors are collected and reported at the end

Error Handling

If an uninstall fails, pixi attempts to revert changes to maintain consistency.

On error:

1. Changes to that environment are reverted
2. Other environments continue processing
3. All errors are reported at the end

Examples

Uninstall Single Environment

pixi global uninstall python311

Removes the python311 environment completely.

Example output:

✅ Removed environment python311
✅ Removed exposed executables: python3.11, pip3.11
✅ Removed completions

Uninstall Multiple Environments

pixi global uninstall tools dev-tools test-env

Removes all three environments.

Uninstall All Development Tools

# List environments first
pixi global list

# Uninstall specific ones
pixi global uninstall pytest-env black-env ruff-env

Clean Up Old Environments

pixi global list
pixi global uninstall old-python python39 deprecated-tools

State Changes Reported

After successful uninstall, pixi reports:

• Environment removed
• Exposed executables removed
• Completions removed (Unix)

Example output:

✅ Removed environment tools
✅ Removed exposed executables: ruff, black
✅ Removed completions for ruff, black

Environment Locations

Global environments are stored at:

• Unix/macOS: ~/.pixi/envs/<environment>/
• Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.pixi\envs\<environment>\

Exposed executables:

• Unix/macOS: ~/.pixi/bin/
• Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.pixi\bin\

Verification

Before Uninstalling

Check what will be removed:

pixi global list

Shows all environments and their exposed executables.

After Uninstalling

Verify removal:

pixi global list
# Environment should not appear

which python3.11
# Should show "not found" if that was the only exposure

Common Use Cases

Remove Outdated Environment

# Uninstall old version
pixi global uninstall python310

# Install newer version
pixi global install --environment python312 python=3.12

Clean Up After Testing

pixi global install --environment test-env pytest
# ... run tests ...
pixi global uninstall test-env

Remove Conflicting Environment

# Remove environment with conflicting executables
pixi global uninstall conflicting-env

# Reinstall with proper configuration
pixi global install --environment new-env package --expose new-name=binary

Troubleshooting

Environment Not Found

Error: Environment 'xyz' not found

Solution: List available environments:

pixi global list
pixi global uninstall correct-name

Permission Denied

Error: Permission denied when removing files

Solution: Check file permissions:

# Unix/macOS
ls -la ~/.pixi/envs/
chmod -R u+w ~/.pixi/envs/environment-name/
pixi global uninstall environment-name

Partial Removal

If uninstall fails partway through:

# Pixi attempts to revert changes automatically
# If needed, manually clean up:
rm -rf ~/.pixi/envs/failed-env
pixi global sync  # Resync state

Multiple Environment Failures

Some environments removed successfully, others failed:

✅ Removed environment env1
❌ Couldn't remove env2: permission denied
✅ Removed environment env3

Error: Some environments couldn't be removed.

Check error messages and retry failed ones:

pixi global uninstall env2  # Retry with fixes

Comparison with Related Commands

uninstall vs remove

• pixi global uninstall: Removes entire environment
• pixi global remove: Removes specific packages from an environment

# Remove entire environment
pixi global uninstall python311

# Remove package from environment (keeps environment)
pixi global remove --environment python311 numpy

Safety Features

Uninstalling an environment is permanent and removes all packages and exposed executables.

Confirmation

No confirmation prompt is shown by default. Double-check environment names before executing.

Reversion on Error

If uninstall fails, pixi attempts to restore the environment to its previous state.

Multiple Environment Processing

When uninstalling multiple environments:

• Each is processed independently
• Failure in one doesn’t stop others
• Errors are collected and reported together

Config Options

--tls-no-verify · boolean

Disable TLS certificate verification.

--auth-file · string

Path to authentication file.

pixi global uninstall myenv --tls-no-verify

Advanced Usage

Scripting Bulk Uninstalls

# Uninstall all test environments
pixi global list | grep test | awk '{print $1}' | xargs pixi global uninstall

# Or with explicit list
pixi global uninstall test1 test2 test3 test4

Conditional Uninstall

# Check if environment exists before uninstalling
if pixi global list | grep -q "myenv"; then
    pixi global uninstall myenv
fi

Uninstall and Reinstall

# Clean reinstall
pixi global uninstall python311
pixi global install --environment python311 python=3.11 numpy pandas

Exit Codes

• 0: All environments uninstalled successfully
• 1: One or more environments failed to uninstall

See Also

• pixi global remove - Remove packages from an environment
• pixi global install - Install a new global environment
• pixi global list - List global environments
• pixi global sync - Synchronize global environments