Removing Linux is no rocket science. To uninstall Ubuntu from your computer, all you need to do is follow some specified steps in an organized manner. Read along and learn everything in detail.
There are instances when users tend to migrate from one operating system to the other, and the scenes are no different with Linux. If you’ve been looking for ways to uninstall Ubuntu from your computer effortlessly, you’re just at the right place.
Uninstall Ubuntu From Your Computer: OS Uninstaller Tool
When we talk about the easiest approaches to uninstall Ubuntu from your computer, the method that uses an OS Uninstaller tool lists at the very top. The tool basically removes all the traces of the operating system when you run it from within Ubuntu.
Once the tool gets rid of all the OS traces from the disk, it restores the computer to the previous boot record. Here is how you will install and use the OS Uninstaller tool.
The very first thing that you’ll need to do is launch the Terminal. In case you don’t know how it is done, hit the “Ctrl+Alt+T” key combination.
After that, install the OS Uninstaller tool by running the following command:
$ sudo add apt repository ppa:yannubuntu/os-uninstaller
Once done, type in the following command and hit “Enter”.
$ sudo apt get update; sudo apt get install -y os-uninstaller && os-uninstaller
As soon as the process concludes, get yourself inside the tool.
From there, hover over to the System menu available at the top section and click on it.
A drop-down menu should appear. Select Administration from there, followed by the OS-Uninstaller utility.
Under the selected utility, look for the option that says “Ubuntu”.
A confirmation window would appear next. Tap Apply to proceed.
Finally, reboot your computer and commit the changes.
Uninstall Ubuntu from your Computer: Windows Dual Boot System
You can uninstall Ubuntu from your computer that works alongside Windows dual boot safely and easily. The process mentioned below will help you remove Linux, even without losing data or applications already installed on your computer.
However, the system files corresponding to Ubuntu will get deleted. No matter how long you’ve been using the Linux OS, there might exist data that you wish to save. With that being said, backing up all the vital data before leading to the uninstallation process is recommended.
Also, it is better to have the Windows copy downloaded from the official sources.
Delete the Linux Partition to Uninstall Ubuntu from your Computer
At first, log in to the Windows OS.
Next, hit the “Windows+R” key combination to launch the Run utility.
Type in diskmgmt.msc and hit Ok to open the Windows Disk Management Tool.
Now you’ll need to identify the partition that corresponds to the Linux OS.
Once done, hover over to the drive, and right-click on it, followed by choosing the option that says Delete Volume.
A pop-up will appear next demanding the confirmation. Select Yes to proceed.
Repeat the process for other Linux partitions (if any). This will eventually free up space on your computer. However, the same will get transformed to an unallocated volume. For occupying the unallocated space, right-click on it and choose the Extend Volume option.
This will delete the Linux partition from your computer; however, you’ll need to remove the Ubuntu bot loader to finalize the uninstallation process. Although there are many ways of doing it, we’ll walk you through two of the most promising ones.
Overwriting Ubuntu Bootloader with Windows Boot Loader
One of the primary ways of removing Linux boot loader and eventually uninstalling Ubuntu from your computer is overwriting it with Windows. However, to proceed to you’ll need to have the Windows installer USB.
To begin, insert the USB and restart your computer.
Once booted, look for the Repair your computer option and click on it.
After that, navigate to the Troubleshoot menu.
Find and select Command Prompt under the Advanced options.
Run the following command to fix the Windows boot loader.
bootrec.exe/fixmbr
Finally, restart your computer and check if it loads with Windows.
Removing the Grub Bootloader to Uninstall Ubuntu from your Computer
Instead of overwriting the Ubuntu boot loader with that of Windows, you can alternatively remove the former. The Linux boot loader, popularly known as Grub boot loader, can be removed easily by following the steps mentioned below.
Log in to your Windows and launch the Start menu; you can find it by clicking the Power icon.
From there, restart your system while holding down the “Shift” key.
Make sure to keep holding the “Shift” key until the Choose an option menu appears on the screen.
From the menu, you’ll need to select the Troubleshoot option followed by Advanced options and then Command Prompt,
Once done, proceed with the user account and enter the password (if any).
Inside the command line Terminal, run the following command and wait for the operation to be successful.
bootrec /fixmbr
As soon as the process concludes, run the following two commands one after the other.
bootrec /fixboot bootrec /scanos
Wait for some moment until you see the disk with Windows installation information.
Now it is time to make Windows your primary boot OS. Doing this is pretty straightforward; simply run the command as:
bootrec /rebuildbcd
Close the terminal by running the exit command and then reboot your PC.
Getting Ubuntu Uninstalled When you don’t Have a Windows Installation USB or CD
Log in to your Windows OS.
Launch command prompt providing Administrator privileges.
Run the following command and set the appropriate EFI executable as the entry for default boot.
bcdedit /set “{bootmgr}” path \efi\microsoft\boot\bootmgfw.efi
Finally, reboot your computer. Also, get the Linux partitions deleted following the steps discussed earlier.
And with that, we’re done talking about the process by which you can uninstall Ubuntu from your computer. Getting the job done is easy but provided the appropriate approach is known.
The article is designed to let you walk through the methods in the most user-friendly approach. In case you’ve any queries feel free to leave a comment below.
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