Remove Leftover Boot Entries

If you have leftover boot entries from old OS installations (like Windows, another Linux distro, etc.), you can clean them up in Linux by following these steps:

1. Check Current Boot Entries

Run the following command to list all available boot entries:

sudo efibootmgr

You will see output like this:

BootCurrent: 0001
BootOrder: 0001,0002,0003,0004
Boot0001* Ubuntu
Boot0002* Windows Boot Manager
Boot0003* Fedora
Boot0004* Manjaro

This shows all boot entries stored in your system’s UEFI firmware.

2. Remove Unwanted Boot Entries

To remove a specific boot entry, use:

sudo efibootmgr -b XXXX -B

Replace XXXX with the actual boot number. For example, to remove the Windows Boot Manager (Boot0002):

sudo efibootmgr -b 0002 -B

---

3. Delete Leftover OS Files (If Necessary)

If you previously installed another OS, its files might still be present in the EFI partition. To remove them:

Mount the EFI Partition

First, check which partition is the EFI partition:

lsblk

Typically, it’s something like /dev/sdX1 or /dev/nvme0n1p1. Mount it:

sudo mount /dev/sdX1 /mnt

Delete Unused Boot Directories

Navigate to the EFI boot folder:

cd /mnt/EFI
ls

You might see folders like Ubuntu, Microsoft, Fedora, etc. If you want to remove, say, Fedora:

sudo rm -rf Fedora

Then unmount:

sudo umount /mnt

---

4. Update GRUB (If Using GRUB Bootloader)

If the old OS still appears in GRUB but is no longer installed, update GRUB:

sudo update-grub   # Debian/Ubuntu
sudo grub2-mkconfig -o /boot/grub2/grub.cfg   # RHEL/Fedora

---

5. (Optional) Reset Boot Order

If your system still prioritizes an old OS in the boot order, you can change it:

sudo efibootmgr -o 0001,0004  # Adjust based on your preferred order

---

Final Step: Reboot

After everything, reboot your system:

sudo reboot

Now your boot menu should be clean! Let me know if you need further clarification. 🚀