Ubuntu without Snap

How

Remove all installed snaps:

for p in $(snap list | awk '{print $1}'); do
  sudo snap remove $p
done

Clean up the core package:

sudo systemctl stop snapd
for m in /snap/core/*; do
   sudo umount $m
done
sudo snap remove core
# If anything remains, the steps below will take care of it.

Deinstall snapd:

sudo apt autoremove --purge snapd

Remove leftover directories:

rm -rf ~/snap
sudo rm -rf /snap
sudo rm -rf /var/snap
sudo rm -rf /var/lib/snapd
sudo rm -rf /var/cache/snapd

Block future installs:

sudo bash -c "cat > /etc/apt/preferences.d/no-snap.pref" <<'EOL'
Package: snapd
Pin: release a=*
Pin-Priority: -1

Package: firefox thunderbird
Pin: release o=Ubuntu
Pin-Priority: -1
EOL

The second stanza states the intent plainly: on current Ubuntu releases, the firefox and thunderbird packages in Ubuntu’s own archive are not the applications. They are transitional debs whose stated purpose is “Installs Firefox snap”, and they carry Pre-Depends: snapd (>= 2.54). In principle the snapd stanza alone already makes them uninstallable, since the pre-dependency can no longer be satisfied. Pinning them directly avoids relying on the resolver to reach that conclusion, and keeps them from being offered in the first place.

Verify with:

apt-cache policy snapd firefox

The Ubuntu versions should show priority -1, and snapd should report Candidate: (none).

A positive pin on the repository you do want — for instance Pin-Priority: 1000 on packages.mozilla.org — is not a substitute for this, for reasons explained below.

If desired, install Chromium using Debian packages or Chrome from Google’s own .debs.

Beware of unattended-upgrades

unattended-upgrades is enabled out of the box on desktop installs and runs from apt-daily-upgrade.timer. With the ineffective pin given in the original version of this post, it reinstalled snapd together with the Firefox snap overnight, twice in one week, without prompting. The trace is in /var/log/apt/history.log:

Start-Date: 2026-08-19  06:21:21
Commandline: /usr/bin/unattended-upgrade
Install: snapd:amd64 (2.76+ubuntu26.04.3, automatic)
Upgrade: firefox:amd64 (153.0.4~build1, 1:1snap1-0ubuntu8)

Two things combine here. First, Ubuntu’s firefox deb pre-depends on snapd, as described above. Second, its version carries an epoch — 1:1snap1-0ubuntu8 — so it sorts above every upstream build from packages.mozilla.org or the mozillateam PPA, however recent. Whatever you installed from upstream therefore looks, to apt, like an older version of Ubuntu’s snap installer.

for pkg_file in self._cache.file_list:
    if not is_allowed_origin(pkg_file, self.allowed_origins):
        # Set the magic 'never' pin on not allowed origins
        pins.append(PkgFilePin(pkg_file.id, NEVER_PIN))   # -32768

sudo bash -c "cat > /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/51unattended-upgrades-no-snap" <<'EOL'
Unattended-Upgrade::Package-Blacklist { "^snapd$"; "^firefox$"; "^thunderbird$"; };
EOL

sudo unattended-upgrade --dry-run --debug

Why

• Stability: each snap’s upstream vendor can push updates any time they want; updates are mandatory and cannot be blocked. If a regression is introduced, it is not possible to hold back an upgrade or downgrade.
• Security: each snap image contains all its dependencies. If a security vulnerability is present in a dependency it will remain until the upstream vendor pushes an update, even if the host system has an update already.
• Cost: upgrades are mandatory and occur as soon as Internet connectivity is available. This incurs mandatory network costs. Snap images are large because they contain all their dependencies. This wastes storage even when storage is at a premium.
• Performance: snap images are compressed and must be decompressed every time the program is loaded.
• Compatibility: Snap programs cannot access or store files in directories mounted from secondary storage (secondary hard drive, network filesystem, etc.). Due to architectural restrictions in snapd it is not possible to migrate the data to a different filesystem and use a symlink. It prevents use of profile-sync-daemon.
• Governance and misaligned incentives: the snap infrastructure is tied to a closed service (“Snap store”) run and controlled by Canonical. It’s not possible to set up additional software channels. Canonical can exert control and could be forced to deploy nefarious softwre to users residing under an authoritarian regime.
• Filesystem: the snap directory is ~/snap in every home folder. It does not adhere to the filesystem standard (it should be hidden).

Ubuntu defaulting to snap packaging flies in the face of the open source movement and is a disgrace. I hope it will be removed in a later version.

References

• Cies Breijs, My Kubuntu Setup — Remove snap
• Cies Breijs, Chrome (Chromium actually) — How to install from Debian packages on Ubuntu
• Kevin Custer, Disabling Snaps in Ubuntu 20.04 & HN disussion
• Jatan Mehta, Ubuntu 20.04 LTS’ snap obsession has snapped me off of it & reddit discussion & HN discussion
• Linuxize, How to Install Google Chrome Web Browser on Ubuntu 20.04
• apt_preferences(5) for the pin syntax, and the pinning_from_config() function in /usr/bin/unattended-upgrade (package unattended-upgrades) for the origin-pinning behaviour described above.
• Mozilla, Install Firefox on Linux from the Mozilla APT repository — upstream .deb builds, an alternative to the mozillateam PPA.