Reinstalling/Deleting an Incompletely Installed Version of Zoom | Community
Skip to main content
Newcomer
July 16, 2026
Question

Reinstalling/Deleting an Incompletely Installed Version of Zoom

  • July 16, 2026
  • 1 reply
  • 83 views

Short Version:

Since installing Zoom by the official means failed due to an unexpected, likely RAM-related shutdown, I installed it via “sudo flatpak install us.zoom.Zoom”. However, the system still acts as if Zoom needs to be reinstalled, and no matter what I do, won’t update/upgrade other programs in System Manager or the terminal with the upgrade command because it cannot find the archive for Zoom. I want to know how I can get rid of the blockage to updates the incompletely-installed Zoom represents, whether by connecting it to an archive, deleting it, purging it, or finding a way to make the system ignore it and upgrade/update all other software.

I have Timeshift snapshots, but Timeshift is not working properly, so if there’s a risk purging the Zoom files might cause major issues on my computer as a whole, I should avoid it. 

 

System/Device Information:

Laptop, Linux MATE, Distro: Linux Mint 22.1 Xia base: Ubuntu 24.04 (I can give more information, if needed.)

My methods to solve the problem are below.

 

Long Version:

Installing Zoom by the official means was unsuccessful, since my computer shut down midway through, most likely because I had too many tabs or documents using up its RAM. Afterward, I was unable to complete the process or reinstall Zoom by this means. Attempts to update/upgrade the Zoom package failed, because my operating system cannot find the package for it. I was able to install Zoom by an alternate means of the “sudo flatpak install us.zoom.Zoom” command. However, even though Zoom has been installed (and I even used it without issue since), the original incompletely-downloaded package still remains, and I can’t get my computer to ignore trying to update/upgrade it. 

Following official instructions of the Zoom website did not work:

sudo apt remove zoom
[sudo] password for [user]
Sorry, try again.
[sudo] password for [user]:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
E: The package zoom needs to be reinstalled, but I can't find an archive for it.
 
The Software Manager program is not loading, apparently due to a cache problem. It wasn’t like this before, so it’s probably related to Zoom. 

  

Short Version:

Since installing Zoom by the official means failed due to an unexpected, likely RAM-related shutdown, I installed it via “sudo flatpak install us.zoom.Zoom”. However, the system still acts as if Zoom needs to be reinstalled, and no matter what I do, won’t update/upgrade other programs in System Manager or the terminal with the upgrade command because it cannot find the archive for Zoom. I want to know how I can get rid of the blockage to updates the incompletely-installed Zoom represents, whether by connecting it to an archive, deleting it, purging it, or finding a way to make the system ignore it and upgrade/update all other software.

I have Timeshift snapshots, but Timeshift is not working properly, so if there’s a risk purging the Zoom files might cause major issues on my computer as a whole, I should avoid it. 

System Details:
Kernel: 6.8.0-124-generic arch: x86_64 bits: 64 compiler: gcc v: 13.3.0 clocksource: tsc
Desktop: MATE v: 1.26.2 wm: marco v: 1.26.2 with: mate-panel tools: mate-screensaver vt: 7
dm: LightDM v: 1.30.0 Distro: Linux Mint 22.1 Xia base: Ubuntu 24.04 noble

 

My methods to solve the problem are below.

 

Long Version:

Installing Zoom by the official means was unsuccessful, since my computer shut down midway through, most likely because I had too many tabs or documents using up its RAM. Afterward, I was unable to complete the process or reinstall Zoom by this means. Attempts to update/upgrade the Zoom package failed, because my operating system cannot find the package for it. I was able to install Zoom by an alternate means of the “sudo flatpak install us.zoom.Zoom” command. However, even though Zoom has been installed (and I even used it without issue since), the original incompletely-downloaded package still remains, and I can’t get my computer to ignore trying to update/upgrade it. 

Following official instructions of the Zoom website did not work:

sudo apt remove zoom
[sudo] password for [user]
Sorry, try again.
[sudo] password for [user]:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
E: The package zoom needs to be reinstalled, but I can't find an archive for it.
 
The Software Manager program is not loading, apparently due to a cache problem. It wasn’t like this before, so it’s probably related to Zoom. 
$ sudo apt-get --fix-broken install
[sudo] password for [user]:
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
E: The package zoom needs to be reinstalled, but I can't find an archive for it.
 
 
~$ sudo apt upgrade
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
E: The package zoom needs to be reinstalled, but I can't find an archive for it.
 
 

1 reply

bstrelko
Community Champion | Customer
Community Champion | Customer
July 17, 2026

Can you try the following?

  • Force the removal of the broken package: sudo dpkg --remove --force-remove-reinstreq zoom

  • Clean out corrupted or partial downloads from your cache: sudo apt clean sudo apt autoremove

  • Repair any lingering structural issues: sudo apt install -f

  • Refresh your software lists (this should also revive your Software Manager): sudo apt update sudo apt upgrade

ZygardeAuthor
Newcomer
July 17, 2026

  

  

About that…I had actually fixed the problem earlier today using 

sudo dpkg --remove --force-remove-reinstreq zoom"

as suggested by the Virtual Agent on the Zoom website. (Which I was loathe to use, as chatbots like it are well-known for potentially dangerous incorrect information, among other concerns.) I simply hadn’t updated this topic yet to reflect that. The Software Manager works perfectly now.

Using “sudo apt autoremove” revealed that 

The following packages will be REMOVED:
ibus ibus-data ibus-gtk ibus-gtk3 ibus-gtk4 libxcb-cursor0 libxcb-xtest0
python3-ibus-1.0

and

sudo apt install -f
Reading package lists... Done
Building dependency tree... Done
Reading state information... Done
The following packages were automatically installed and are no longer required:
ibus ibus-data ibus-gtk ibus-gtk3 ibus-gtk4 libxcb-cursor0 libxcb-xtest0
python3-ibus-1.0

but that seems like a separate issue, as I don’t see how it relates to Zoom.