Error response from daemon: remove mydata: volume is in use

TL;DR: Find the container holding the volume (docker ps -a --filter volume=mydata), remove it (docker rm), then docker volume rm mydata succeeds. Stopped containers keep their volume references, so docker stop is not enough.

The error

Error response from daemon: remove mydata: volume is in use - [c3d4e5f6...]

Fix it

1. Find the referencing containers:

docker ps -a --filter volume=mydata Expected: one or more containers, possibly exited.

1. Remove them (add -f if running and you are sure):

docker rm [container] Expected: no output.

1. Remove the volume:

docker volume rm mydata Expected: prints mydata.

When this applies

• docker volume rm / docker volume prune skipping a volume
• Rebuilding stateful dev environments

When this does NOT apply

• Anonymous volumes (they have hex IDs; same fix, filter by the ID)
• "No such volume" (already gone)

Versions

All Docker versions.

Why it happens

Volumes are reference-counted. Any container created with the volume, running or stopped, holds a reference until the container itself is removed. Prune only removes truly unreferenced volumes.

Edge cases

• docker rm -v removes anonymous volumes attached to the container at removal time; named volumes survive unless explicitly removed.
• Compose down -v removes the project's named volumes; plain down keeps them, which is why the next up sees old data.
• A container stuck in removal holds the reference; restart the daemon to clear it.