brew-autoremove

brew autoremove [options]

brew autoremove uninstalls formulae that were only installed as dependencies and are no longer needed by any installed formula. It cleans up orphaned dependencies left behind after uninstalling packages.

--dry-run, -n

List what would be removed without removing

When you install a package like git, dependencies (gettext, pcre2) are installed automatically. When you uninstall git, those dependencies remain. Running brew autoremove removes these orphaned dependencies.

To prevent a formula from being removed by autoremove, reinstall it explicitly to mark it as "installed on request":

$ brew install formula

brew leaves

Show top-level packages (not dependencies)

Show dependency tree

Remove cached downloads and old versions

Only removes formulae installed as dependencies, not those explicitly installed. Safe to run regularly after uninstalling packages. Does not remove casks.

brew(1), brew-uninstall(1), brew-cleanup(1), brew-leaves(1)