Error response from daemon: You cannot remove a running container. Stop the container before attempting removal or force remove
docker rm refuses to delete a container that is still running.
Seen on:
Docker
Meaning
Stop it first, or use docker rm -f to stop and remove in one step. For Compose projects, docker compose down stops and removes everything.
Common causes
- Container still running
- Restart policy brought it back up after stop
⚡ Quick fix
- docker stop c && docker rm c
- docker rm -f c
- docker compose down for Compose projects
Detailed fix by platform
Docker
- bash
docker rm -f web docker compose down
How to diagnose
- State — docker ps | grep web
- Restart policy — docker inspect -f '{{.HostConfig.RestartPolicy.Name}}' web
🔧 Still not fixed?
Many errors look alike. If the steps above didn’t solve it, one of these is probably what you’re facing:
Similar errors
- ACR unauthorized Azure Container Registry: unauthorized: authentication required, visit https://aka.ms/acr/authorization (AKS ErrImagePull 401)
- CannotPullContainerError ECS task stopped: CannotPullContainerError: pull image manifest has been retried ... / ref pull has been retried
- client version is too new Error response from daemon: client version 1.45 is too new. Maximum supported API version is 1.41
Most viewed in Docker
- daemon Cannot connect to the Docker daemon at unix:///var/run/docker.sock. Is the docker daemon running?
- COPY failed COPY failed: file not found in build context / "/app/x": not found
- compose validation docker compose: services.x Additional property y is not allowed / yaml: line N: mapping values are not allowed
Other ways to find it
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Last updated 7 Oct 2026