How to Delete a File from a Git Repository

Introduction

Git is a version control system that is used to track changes in computer files and coordinate work on those files among multiple people. It is primarily used for source code management in software development, but it can be used to keep track of changes in any set of files. If you need to delete a file from a Git repository, there are a few different ways to do it.

Using the git rm Command

The most straightforward way to delete a file from a Git repository is to use the

git rm

command. This command takes a file path as an argument and will delete the file from the repository and stage the deletion for commit. For example, if you wanted to delete a file called

myfile.txt

from the repository, you would run the following command:

git rm myfile.txt

This command will delete the file from the repository and stage the deletion for commit. You can then commit the deletion with the

git commit

command.

Using the git rm –cached Command

If you want to delete a file from the repository but keep it on your local filesystem, you can use the

git rm --cached

command. This command takes a file path as an argument and will delete the file from the repository but not from your local filesystem. For example, if you wanted to delete a file called

myfile.txt

from the repository but keep it on your local filesystem, you would run the following command:

git rm --cached myfile.txt

This command will delete the file from the repository but not from your local filesystem. You can then commit the deletion with the

git commit

command.

Using the git mv Command

If you want to delete a file from the repository but keep it in the repository, you can use the

git mv

command. This command takes two file paths as arguments and will move the file from the first path to the second path. For example, if you wanted to delete a file called

myfile.txt

from the repository but keep it in the repository, you would run the following command:

git mv myfile.txt myfile.deleted

This command will move the file from the

myfile.txt

path to the

myfile.deleted

path. You can then commit the deletion with the

git commit

command.

Summary

Deleting a file from a Git repository is a simple process that can be done with the

git rm

,

git rm --cached

, or

git mv

commands. Each of these commands takes a file path as an argument and will delete the file from the repository in a different way. Once the file has been deleted, you can commit the deletion with the

git commit

command.