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Deleting branches in git

Greg Foster
Greg Foster
Graphite software engineer


Note

This guide explains this concept in vanilla Git. For Graphite documentation, see our CLI docs.


Deleting branches in Git keeps your repository clean and organized. There are three main types of branches in Git: local, remote, and local remote-tracking branches. Understanding the differences between these branches is crucial for effective branch management. This guide will walk you through how to delete each type of branch and how to verify that a branch was successfully deleted.

Below are the core Git commands for deleting different types of branches:

Local branches are branches that exist in your local repository stored directly on your machine. Local branches are where you make your changes before pushing them to the remote branch. Replace <branch-name> with the name of the branch you want to delete.

Terminal
git branch --delete <branch_name>
git branch -d <branch_name> #short

The -d option deletes the branch only if it has been merged. If you want to force delete an unmerged branch, use the -D option instead:

Terminal
git branch -D <branch_name>

To verify that a local branch was deleted, list the available branches:

Terminal
git branch

The deleted branch should not appear in the list.

Remote branches are the branches that live in the remote repository on your VCS. Remote branches track the history and changes of the branch over time while ensuring data redundancy.

To delete a remote branch use these commands:

For Git versions 1.7.0 or newer

Terminal
git push origin --delete <branch_name>
git push origin -d <branch_name> # short

For Git versions older than 1.7.0

Terminal
git push origin :<branch_name>

To verify that a remote branch was deleted, list the remote branches:

Terminal
git branch -r

The deleted branch should not appear in this list.

Local remote-tracking branches are local references to the state of remote branches. They help you track how your local branches diverge from the branches on the remote repository.

Deleting a Local Remote-Tracking Branch: Generally, local remote-tracking branches are deleted automatically when the corresponding remote branch is deleted. However, in the case you deleted the remote branch outside of the CLI, directly on the GitHub web app for example, you’ll end up with an outdated remote-tracking branch on your local machine.

There’s a few main ways to delete these obsolete branches.

To delete the remote tracking branch directly:

Terminal
git branch --delete --remotes <remote>/<branch_name>
git branch -dr <remote>/<branch_name>

As of Git version 1.6.6, you can also run git fetch with the --prune flag.

From to the 1.6.6 release notes:

"git fetch" learned --all and --multiple options, to run fetch from many repositories, and --prune option to remove remote tracking branches that went stale. These make "git remote update" and "git remote prune" less necessary

Terminal
git fetch <remote> --prune
git fetch <remote> -p

One important thing to note is that this will remove all local remote-tracking branches that don’t have a corresponding remote branch upstream.

A third way is to use the remote command.

To get a list of all of the stale local branches run:

Terminal
git remote prune origin --dry-run

If you run the command without the --dry-run flag these branches will all be deleted!

To verify your deletions were successful simply run the dry run command again or use git remote show origin to see information about every remote and local branch in your repo.

To summarize:

  • Local branch deletion:

    • Deletes the local copy of the branch on your machine.
  • Remote origin branch deletion:

    • Deletes the remote branch stored in your upstream repository
  • Local Remote-Tracking Branch Deletion:

    • Deletes the local tracking information for a corresponding remote branch.

By following these guidelines and understanding the differences between branch types, you can efficiently manage and delete branches in your Git repository, keeping your repository organized and tidy.

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