How to remove existing user in Linux

A user in the system needs to be deleted if it's no longer needed, such as when the associated person resigns from a job. If the person is only changing roles, it's better to change the group for the user instead of deleting and creating a new user.

A local user is deleted by removing appropriate entries in user and group related files such as /etc/passwd, /etc/group, and /etc/shadow. These entries can either be removed manually or by using specialized tools such as userdel.

Using such a tool is always the better option as it reduces errors. When deleting the user, you can also delete files and folders owned by the user, such as the home directory.

1. Launch terminal.
2. Get the list of users for your system.

   $ getent passwd
   root:x:0:0:root:/root:/bin/bash
   daemon:x:1:1:daemon:/usr/sbin:/usr/sbin/nologin
   bin:x:2:2:bin:/bin:/usr/sbin/nologin
   sys:x:3:3:sys:/dev:/usr/sbin/nologin
   sync:x:4:65534:sync:/bin:/bin/sync
   games:x:5:60:games:/usr/games:/usr/sbin/nologin
   man:x:6:12:man:/var/cache/man:/usr/sbin/nologin
   lp:x:7:7:lp:/var/spool/lpd:/usr/sbin/nologin
   mail:x:8:8:mail:/var/mail:/usr/sbin/nologin
   news:x:9:9:news:/var/spool/news:/usr/sbin/nologin
   uucp:x:10:10:uucp:/var/spool/uucp:/usr/sbin/nologin
   proxy:x:13:13:proxy:/bin:/usr/sbin/nologin
   www-data:x:33:33:www-data:/var/www:/usr/sbin/nologin
   backup:x:34:34:backup:/var/backups:/usr/sbin/nologin
   list:x:38:38:Mailing List Manager:/var/list:/usr/sbin/nologin
   irc:x:39:39:ircd:/var/run/ircd:/usr/sbin/nologin
   gnats:x:41:41:Gnats Bug-Reporting System (admin):/var/lib/gnats:/usr/sbin/nologin
   nobody:x:65534:65534:nobody:/nonexistent:/usr/sbin/nologin
   systemd-timesync:x:100:101:systemd Time Synchronization,,,:/run/systemd:/usr/sbin/nologin
   systemd-network:x:101:103:systemd Network Management,,,:/run/systemd:/usr/sbin/nologin
   systemd-resolve:x:102:104:systemd Resolver,,,:/run/systemd:/usr/sbin/nologin
   messagebus:x:103:106::/nonexistent:/usr/sbin/nologin
   syslog:x:104:110::/home/syslog:/usr/sbin/nologin
   _apt:x:105:65534::/nonexistent:/usr/sbin/nologin
   tss:x:106:111:TPM software stack,,,:/var/lib/tpm:/bin/false
   uuidd:x:107:114::/run/uuidd:/usr/sbin/nologin
   tcpdump:x:108:115::/nonexistent:/usr/sbin/nologin
   avahi-autoipd:x:109:117:Avahi autoip daemon,,,:/var/lib/avahi-autoipd:/usr/sbin/nologin
   usbmux:x:110:46:usbmux daemon,,,:/var/lib/usbmux:/usr/sbin/nologin
   rtkit:x:111:118:RealtimeKit,,,:/proc:/usr/sbin/nologin
   dnsmasq:x:112:65534:dnsmasq,,,:/var/lib/misc:/usr/sbin/nologin
   avahi:x:113:120:Avahi mDNS daemon,,,:/run/avahi-daemon:/usr/sbin/nologin
   cups-pk-helper:x:114:121:user for cups-pk-helper service,,,:/home/cups-pk-helper:/usr/sbin/nologin
   speech-dispatcher:x:115:29:Speech Dispatcher,,,:/run/speech-dispatcher:/bin/false
   kernoops:x:116:65534:Kernel Oops Tracking Daemon,,,:/:/usr/sbin/nologin
   saned:x:117:123::/var/lib/saned:/usr/sbin/nologin
   nm-openvpn:x:118:124:NetworkManager OpenVPN,,,:/var/lib/openvpn/chroot:/usr/sbin/nologin
   whoopsie:x:119:125::/nonexistent:/bin/false
   colord:x:120:126:colord colour management daemon,,,:/var/lib/colord:/usr/sbin/nologin
   sssd:x:121:127:SSSD system user,,,:/var/lib/sss:/usr/sbin/nologin
   geoclue:x:122:128::/var/lib/geoclue:/usr/sbin/nologin
   pulse:x:123:129:PulseAudio daemon,,,:/var/run/pulse:/usr/sbin/nologin
   hplip:x:124:7:HPLIP system user,,,:/run/hplip:/bin/false
   gnome-initial-setup:x:125:65534::/run/gnome-initial-setup/:/bin/false
   gdm:x:126:131:Gnome Display Manager:/var/lib/gdm3:/bin/false
   user:x:1000:1000:user,,,:/home/user:/bin/bash
   systemd-coredump:x:999:999:systemd Core Dumper:/:/usr/sbin/nologin
   shakir:x:1001:1001:shakir,,,:/home/shakir:/bin/bash

3. Force the user to be logged out from the system.

   $ sudo pkill -u shakir
   [sudo] password for user: 

   Related: How to force user to logout in Linux

4. Make sure the user is no longer logged in to the system.

   $ who
   user     :0           2021-01-23 10:28 (:0)

5. Backup home folder of user or any other files if required.

   $ sudo cp -a /home/shakir /backup-shakir 

6. Delete user using userdel command.

   $ sudo deluser shakir
   Removing user `shakir' ...
   Warning: group `shakir' has no more members.
   Done.

   Use --remove-home to also remove home directory.

   $ sudo deluser --remove-home shakir

7. Check if user information still exist just to confirm.

   $ id shakir
   id: ‘shakir’: no such user
   $ grep shakir /etc/passwd
   $ grep shakir /etc/group
   $ ls -l /home
   total 8
   drwxr-xr-x  5 1001 1001 4096 Jan  23 10:46 shakir
   drwxr-xr-x 15 user user 4096 Okt  25 09:28 user

   Home directory should not exist if you previously used --remove-home option.