docker container name already in use — how to fix

Quick Answer

# Remove the existing container
docker rm my-container

# Or stop it first, then remove
docker stop my-container && docker rm my-container

# Auto-remove when the container exits (for one-off runs)
docker run --rm --name my-container my-image

When this happens

docker: Error response from daemon: Conflict. The container name "/my-container"
is already in use by container "abc123". You have to remove (or rename) that
container to be able to reuse that name.

A stopped (but not removed) container is holding the name. Stopped containers persist until explicitly removed.

Other causes & fixes

List all containers including stopped ones

docker ps -a
# CONTAINER ID   IMAGE    STATUS   NAMES
# abc123         my-image Exited   my-container  ← this one

Rename instead of remove

docker rename my-container my-container-old
docker run --name my-container my-image

Remove all stopped containers

docker container prune