How can PPAs be removed?

There are a number of options:

1. Use the --remove flag, similar to how the PPA was added:

   sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:whatever/ppa
   

2. You can also remove PPAs by deleting the .list files from /etc/apt/sources.list.d directory.

3. As a safer alternative, you can install ppa-purge:

   sudo apt-get install ppa-purge
   

   And then remove the PPA, downgrading gracefully packages it provided to packages provided by official repositories:

   sudo ppa-purge ppa:whatever/ppa
   

   Note that this will uninstall packages provided by the PPA, but not those provided by the official repositories. If you want to remove them, you should tell it to apt:

   sudo apt-get purge package_name
   

4. Last but not least, you can also disable or remove PPAs from the "Software Sources" section in Ubuntu Settings with a few clicks of your mouse (no terminal needed).

Simply run apt-add-repository again with the --remove option to remove a PPA added via the command-line. For example:

sudo apt-add-repository --remove ppa:kernel-ppa/ppa

Then update with:

sudo apt-get update

Alternately, as ppas are stored in /etc/apt/sources.list.d you can find the one you want to remove by entering:

ls /etc/apt/sources.list.d

Then when you have noted the name of that offending ppa (e.g. myppa.list), you can enter:

sudo rm -i /etc/apt/sources.list.d/myppa.list

Take care with rm (hence why I have used the interactive switch so you can confirm your actions. Then run sudo apt-get update afterwards.

This method merely removes the ppa .list file; it does not remove any other files or sort out any other problems caused by the ppa; for that you could use ppa-purge after you have got your update ability back (I know you mentioned this in your question, but I am adding this point for future readers): see here for more information on ppa-purge.

Also take into account that if you previously added the key of the repo as trusted you should remove it:

# list the trusted keys
sudo apt-key list
# remove the key
sudo apt-key del KEY_ID

You can use the

sudo ppa-purge ppa:repository-name/subdirectory

command in a terminal.

You will first need to install ppa-purge to use this command. To do so, use sudo apt-get install ppa-purge or click this button:

_{(source: hostmar.co)}

Find out more about it here.

The answers to this question will help you.

You can manage PPAs in System > Administration > Software Sources or by removing files in /etc/apt/sources.list.d/.

You can also use a package called ppa-purge.

And, as I commented on the question I linked to above,

There is a bug on Launchpad requesting a --remove argument for the add-apt-repository command. I've submitted a merge request to get the feature implemented, but it hasn't yet been accepted. Hopefully you'll have this feature soon though.

Some people might prefer to add and remove repositories via a GUI. As of Ubuntu 10.10, this requires a bit of extra work. An explanation is available on the wiki. In order to try and have all answers for this question available in one place, I will try and summarize the important details here. Be sure to check the wiki (especially once a new version of Ubuntu is released) to ensure that this process is still valid.

First, you will want to re-enable 'Software Sources' in the System->Administration menu. Right click on the Applications/Places/System menu and click 'Edit Menus'.

This will open a window, scroll down and click on 'Administration'. Check the box next to 'Software Sources' and then click the 'Close' button.

Go to System->Administration and you should see 'Software Sources' in the menu.

In the window that opens, click on the 'Other Software' tab at the top.

You should see all of the repositories that you have added (including the PPAs added via add-apt-repository). You can temporarily disable a repository by unchecking the box next to it. To remove a repository permanently, highlight it and click on the 'Remove' button. When you are done, hit the 'Close' button.

As Marcel Stimberg noted earlier:

This will remove the PPA from the repository list but if the package is a newer version of one in the standard repos, you have to manually downgrade the package afterwards. ppa-purge (see other answer) does that for you.

Hopefully, this will help.

ppa-purge is your friend. It automatically uninstalls whatever you installed via the ppa and then removes the ppa.

Install ppa-purge via:

sudo apt-get install ppa-purge

and the use it like this:

sudo ppa-purge ppa-url

Viola.

Since Ubuntu Maverick (10.10) add-apt-repository accepts a -r or --remove parameter which removes the PPA in the same way you installed it. :)

So:

Install: sudo apt-add-repository ppa:user/repository

Uninstall: sudo apt-add-repository -r ppa:user/repository

Run Ubuntu Software Center and from the menu choose "Software Sources" - there you can add/edit/remove repositories.

Run these commands:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:kernel-ppa/ppa 
sudo apt-get update