Stop and remove all docker containers

Question

How can I stop and remove all docker containers to create a clean slate with my Docker containers? Lots of times I feel it is easier to start from scratch, but I have a bunch of containers that I am not sure what their states are, then when I run docker rm it won't let me because the docker container could still be in use.

Answer 1

Stop all the containers

docker stop $(docker ps -a -q) 

Remove all the containers

docker rm $(docker ps -a -q) 

Find more command here

Answer 2

Docker introduced new namespaces and commands which everyone should finally learn and not stick to the old habits. Here is the documentation, and here are some examples:

Deleting no longer needed containers (stopped)

docker container prune 

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Deleting no longer needed images

which means, that it only deletes images, which are not tagged and are not pointed on by "latest" - so no real images you can regularly use are deleted

docker image prune 

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Delete all volumes, which are not used by any existing container

( even stopped containers do claim volumes ). This usually cleans up dangling anon-volumes of containers have been deleted long time ago. It should never delete named volumes since the containers of those should exists / be running. Be careful, ensure your stack at least is running before going with this one

docker volume prune 

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Same for unused networks

docker network prune 

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And finally, if you want to get rid if all the trash - to ensure nothing happens to your production, be sure all stacks are running and then run

docker system prune