How to Remove Package from Laravel (Composer)

How to Remove a Package from Laravel (Composer)

When you no longer need a package in your Laravel application, it’s important to remove it properly to avoid unnecessary bloat or conflicts.

✅ Step 1: Remove the Package via Composer

Run the following command in your terminal from your Laravel project root:

composer remove vendor/package-name

Example:

composer remove spatie/laravel-permission

This command will:

• Remove the package from the vendor/ directory.

• Delete the entry from composer.json automatically.

• Update the composer.lock file.

✅ Step 2: Remove Configuration or Usage (Optional but Recommended)

If the package was being used, make sure to:

• Remove related code in your service providers, middlewares, or anywhere else you integrated it.

• Delete any config files generated (e.g., config/permission.php).

• Clean up routes, views, or migrations added by the package.

✅ Step 3: Clear Configuration & Cache

Sometimes, Laravel caches parts of the application, so it’s good to clear them:

php artisan config:clear
php artisan cache:clear
php artisan route:clear
php artisan view:clear

✅ Step 4: Check Autoloading

After removal, regenerate the Composer autoloader to ensure everything is cleaned up:

composer dump-autoload

🧼 Step 5: Optional Cleanup (Manual)

If you want to be extra clean:

• Check app/Providers, app/Http/Middleware, and routes/ for leftover code.

• Delete any custom blade files, assets, or database entries related to the package.

📝 Summary

Task	Command / Action
Remove package	composer remove vendor/package-name
Clear Laravel cache	php artisan config:clear, etc.
Regenerate autoload	composer dump-autoload
Manual code/config cleanup	Remove from providers, config, routes, views