How to Remove Firefox Snap from Ubuntu 26.04, 24.04 and 22.04

Ubuntu’s default firefox package installs the Snap build, so removing Firefox on Ubuntu needs a profile check before package removal. To remove Firefox Snap from Ubuntu without losing browser data, back up or migrate the Snap profile before using snap remove --purge. Stop after the removal check if you only want Firefox gone; use Mozilla’s official APT repository if you want Firefox back as a deb package.

Remove Firefox Snap From Ubuntu

The removal-only path is short, but the profile step matters. Firefox Snap stores user profiles under ~/snap/firefox/common/.mozilla/firefox, while deb-packaged Firefox uses ~/.mozilla/firefox.

This removes only the Firefox Snap package. It does not remove snapd, the Snap Store, cached revisions for other snaps, or unrelated Snap applications.

The --purge option removes the snap without saving a recovery snapshot of its data. If you want to keep bookmarks, passwords, history, extensions, or profiles from the Snap build, copy the profile before running the removal command.

Migrate the Firefox Snap Profile

Close Firefox first, then copy the Snap profile into the native Firefox profile location:

if [ -d ~/snap/firefox/common/.mozilla/firefox ]; then
  mkdir -p ~/.mozilla
  cp -a ~/snap/firefox/common/.mozilla/firefox ~/.mozilla/
fi

If you only want a backup and do not plan to install the Mozilla APT build, copy the same directory to a backup folder instead of ~/.mozilla/.

Remove the Firefox Snap Package

Remove the Snap package after saving any profile data you want to keep:

These commands use sudo for snap and package changes. If your account cannot run administrative commands yet, create or switch to a sudo-capable user with the Ubuntu sudoers setup guide before continuing.

sudo snap remove --purge firefox

Confirm that the Firefox Snap is gone:

snap list firefox 2>/dev/null || echo "Firefox snap is not installed"

A removed Snap should return:

Firefox snap is not installed

Review Firefox Snap and Mozilla APT Trade-offs

Mozilla’s APT repository gives Firefox back to APT, but it also changes the update path and confinement model. Before replacing the browser, decide what should own updates, profiles, and package isolation:

Area	Firefox Snap	Firefox deb from Mozilla APT
Install source	Ubuntu’s transitional firefox package installs the Snap Store build	Mozilla’s official packages.mozilla.org APT repository
Updates	Handled by snapd	Handled by APT after the Mozilla source and priority pin are configured
Profile path	~/snap/firefox/common/.mozilla/firefox	~/.mozilla/firefox
Desktop integration	Snap confinement can affect themes, portals, and file access	Uses the traditional deb package layout and desktop integration
Isolation	Snap confinement provides an extra packaging sandbox	Uses the normal Ubuntu desktop security stack without Snap confinement

Ubuntu 26.04 LTS, 24.04 LTS, and 22.04 LTS use the same Mozilla APT setup here. The Mozilla APT repository is not a PPA; if you previously used ppa:mozillateam/ppa, remove that source before adding Mozilla’s official repository so APT does not see two Firefox providers.

Install Firefox From Mozilla’s Official APT Repository

Mozilla recommends its official APT repository for Debian-based and Ubuntu-based distributions. This path replaces Ubuntu’s Snap transition package with Mozilla’s deb package, then pins APT so future installs and upgrades keep selecting packages from packages.mozilla.org.

Clean Up Legacy Mozilla Team PPA Entries

Skip this cleanup if you never used the old Launchpad PPA. If a previous Firefox replacement setup added ppa:mozillateam/ppa, remove that source before adding Mozilla’s official repository:

sudo add-apt-repository --remove ppa:mozillateam/ppa
sudo rm -f /etc/apt/preferences.d/mozillateam-firefox
sudo rm -f /etc/apt/apt.conf.d/51unattended-upgrades-firefox
sudo apt update

If add-apt-repository is not available or APT reports duplicate source settings, use the PPA removal guide for Ubuntu to inventory and remove the old Launchpad files safely.

Install Repository Tools

Install the HTTPS and signing-key tools used to fetch Mozilla’s repository key. These packages are present on many Ubuntu desktops, but installing them explicitly keeps the repository setup predictable on minimal systems:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install ca-certificates wget gpg -y

Download Mozilla’s APT Signing Key

Download Mozilla’s signing key to a local file first. The next check verifies the fingerprint before the key is installed into APT’s trusted keyring path:

rm -f packages.mozilla.org.asc
wget -O packages.mozilla.org.asc https://packages.mozilla.org/apt/repo-signing-key.gpg

Check the downloaded key fingerprint before APT consumes the repository. Mozilla publishes this fingerprint for the repository signing key:

tmp_gnupg="$(mktemp -d)"
GNUPGHOME="$tmp_gnupg" gpg --quiet --show-keys --with-colons --fingerprint packages.mozilla.org.asc | awk -F: '$1 == "fpr" { print $10; exit }'
rm -rf "$tmp_gnupg"

35BAA0B33E9EB396F59CA838C0BA5CE6DC6315A3

If the fingerprint differs, delete packages.mozilla.org.asc, download the key again, and do not continue until the value matches.

After the fingerprint matches, install the key into the APT keyring directory:

sudo install -d -m 0755 /etc/apt/keyrings
sudo install -m 0644 packages.mozilla.org.asc /etc/apt/keyrings/packages.mozilla.org.asc
rm -f packages.mozilla.org.asc

Add the Mozilla APT Repository

Create the Mozilla source as a DEB822 file. The Signed-By field limits the key to this repository instead of trusting it globally:

printf '%s\n' \
'Types: deb' \
'URIs: https://packages.mozilla.org/apt' \
'Suites: mozilla' \
'Components: main' \
'Signed-By: /etc/apt/keyrings/packages.mozilla.org.asc' \
| sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mozilla.sources > /dev/null

Prioritize Mozilla APT Packages

Ubuntu’s repositories still provide a firefox transition package that installs the Snap build. Mozilla recommends pinning packages from packages.mozilla.org at priority 1000 so APT selects Mozilla packages when both sources provide Firefox:

printf '%s\n' \
'Package: *' \
'Pin: origin packages.mozilla.org' \
'Pin-Priority: 1000' \
| sudo tee /etc/apt/preferences.d/mozilla > /dev/null

This pin covers Firefox stable and related Mozilla Firefox channel packages from the same repository. Keep it in place while you want APT to prefer Mozilla’s deb packages over Ubuntu’s Snap transition package.

Install Firefox From Mozilla APT

Refresh package metadata and install Firefox from Mozilla’s repository. The downgrade allowance is intentional because Ubuntu’s Snap transition package uses an epoch version such as 1:1snap1, which APT treats as higher than Mozilla’s normal Firefox version:

sudo apt update
sudo apt install --allow-downgrades firefox

Review the transaction before confirming. A clean replacement should downgrade only the firefox transition package to Mozilla’s Firefox package, not remove unrelated desktop packages.

Verify Firefox Uses Mozilla APT

Check the selected package source. The candidate should come from https://packages.mozilla.org/apt, and the installed version should no longer be Ubuntu’s 1:1snap1 transition package:

apt-cache policy firefox

Confirm the installed package version without launching Firefox:

dpkg-query -W -f='${Version}\n' firefox

A Mozilla repository build uses a normal Firefox version string ending in a build suffix such as ~build1. If the version still begins with 1:1snap1, APT is still using Ubuntu’s Snap transition package.

Troubleshoot Firefox Snap Replacement

Most failures come from the Snap transition package still winning APT selection, an old PPA source still being enabled, an omitted downgrade allowance, or a profile copied after purge instead of before it.

Firefox Still Asks for the Snap Package

If running firefox still asks you to install the Snap package, Ubuntu’s transitional wrapper is still being used instead of Mozilla’s deb package:

Command '/usr/bin/firefox' requires the firefox snap to be installed.
Please install it with:

snap install firefox

Check the selected package source:

apt-cache policy firefox

If the installed or candidate version begins with 1:1snap1, re-create the Mozilla source and priority pin above, then reinstall Firefox with --allow-downgrades.

APT Refuses to Replace the Snap Package

If you use -y without allowing the transition package downgrade, APT can stop with this error:

Error: Packages were downgraded and -y was used without --allow-downgrades.

Run the install command with the downgrade flag and review the transaction before confirming:

sudo apt install --allow-downgrades firefox

Snap Reports a Remove Change in Progress

If snap remove reports that Firefox already has a remove-snap change in progress, inspect the Firefox change before retrying. The snap stop command is for snap services, not normal Firefox browser windows, so close Firefox from the desktop or log out before retrying the removal.

snap changes firefox
snap tasks CHANGE-ID

Replace CHANGE-ID with the ID from the Firefox row in snap changes firefox. If that Firefox remove task is clearly stuck and no other snap install, refresh, or remove operation is running, abort that specific change and run the Firefox removal again:

sudo snap abort CHANGE-ID
sudo snap remove --purge firefox

Firefox Snap Returns After an Ubuntu Upgrade

If Firefox Snap returns after a major Ubuntu upgrade, the upgrade may have disabled the Mozilla source or restored Ubuntu’s transition package. Re-check the Mozilla source and pin files, refresh APT, then reinstall the Mozilla package:

grep -RIn "packages.mozilla.org" /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list.d 2>/dev/null
cat /etc/apt/preferences.d/mozilla
sudo apt update
sudo apt install --allow-downgrades firefox

Firefox Opens With a New Profile

If Firefox opens with a blank profile, check whether the old Snap profile still exists:

find ~/snap/firefox/common/.mozilla/firefox -maxdepth 1 \( -name "*.default*" -o -name "*.default-release*" \) 2>/dev/null

If the command returns profile folders, close Firefox and copy them into the native profile directory:

mkdir -p ~/.mozilla
cp -a ~/snap/firefox/common/.mozilla/firefox ~/.mozilla/

If the Snap profile directory no longer exists after a purged removal, restore the profile from your own backup or Firefox Sync. The --purge removal path does not keep a snap recovery snapshot.

Mozilla Package Is Not Found

If APT cannot find Mozilla’s Firefox package, check whether the official Mozilla source exists:

grep -RIn "packages.mozilla.org" /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list.d 2>/dev/null

If the command returns nothing, re-run the Mozilla repository setup commands above, then refresh package metadata:

sudo apt update
apt-cache policy firefox

Old Mozilla Team PPA Still Appears

If APT still shows ppa.launchpadcontent.net/mozillateam/ppa, remove the old PPA before troubleshooting the official Mozilla source. Keeping both can make Firefox source selection harder to reason about:

grep -RIn "mozillateam" /etc/apt/sources.list /etc/apt/sources.list.d 2>/dev/null

Use the legacy cleanup commands near the Mozilla repository setup section. If APT reports duplicate or conflicting source entries, inventory the old Launchpad files before changing the Mozilla source.

Restore Firefox Snap on Ubuntu

To revert, remove Mozilla’s deb package, remove the Mozilla source and pin files, refresh APT, and install Ubuntu’s default Firefox package again. That default package reinstalls the Firefox Snap through Ubuntu’s transition package.

If the old Mozilla Team PPA is still enabled, clean up that Launchpad source before restoring Ubuntu’s default Firefox package so APT does not select the wrong provider.

sudo apt remove --purge firefox
sudo rm -f /etc/apt/preferences.d/mozilla
sudo rm -f /etc/apt/sources.list.d/mozilla.sources
sudo rm -f /etc/apt/keyrings/packages.mozilla.org.asc
sudo apt update
sudo apt install firefox

Review optional orphan cleanup separately instead of pasting a blind autoremove command:

sudo apt autoremove --dry-run

If the preview only lists packages you no longer need, run sudo apt autoremove and review the confirmation prompt before accepting.

Verify the Snap build is back:

snap list firefox

The output should show a firefox row from the verified mozilla** publisher. Version and revision values change as the Snap Store updates Firefox.

apt-cache policy firefox

The APT policy should again show Ubuntu’s 1:1snap1 transition package as the installed Firefox package.

Conclusion

Firefox now either stays removed from Ubuntu or runs from Mozilla’s official APT repository with the Snap transition package out of the active path. For alternate Mozilla channels, install Firefox Developer Edition on Ubuntu, use Firefox Beta or Nightly on Ubuntu, or choose Firefox ESR on Ubuntu when you prefer extended-support browser releases.