How to delete a branch
Let's see how we can delete a branch both locally and remotely.
case #1: delete a local branch
Let’s consider the following commit graph:
alina
Now, let’s create a branch b1 that points to the commit 457ace8:
alina
alina git:( main ) git branch b1 457ace8
alina git:( main ) █
This results in the following local commit graph:
alina
The branch b1 is a local branch, meaning it only exists on the client side since it hasn’t been pushed to the server. The server is unaware of its existence, and its commit graph remains unchanged:
arenas.git
In this scenario, we can delete the local branch b1 using git branch -d b1:
alina
alina git:( main ) git branch -d b1
Deleted branch b1 (was 457ace8).
alina git:( main ) █
With the deletion of b1, the local commit graph now appears as follows:
alina
case #2: delete both a local and a remote branch
Now, let’s recreate the branch b1:
alina
alina git:( main ) git branch b1 457ace8
alina git:( main ) █
But this time, let’s push the branch and its associated commits to the remote repository:
alina
alina git:( main ) git push
Enumerating objects: 7, done.
Counting objects: 100% (7/7), done.
Delta compression using up to 8 threads
Compressing objects: 100% (5/5), done.
Writing objects: 100% (6/6), 552 bytes | 552.00 KiB/s, done.
Total 6 (delta 0), reused 0 (delta 0), pack-reused 0
remote: . Processing 1 references
remote: Processed 1 references in total
To ssh://remote.mygit.com/gitpowerup/arenas.git
b187885..e0d52ce main -> main
alina git:( main ) git switch b1
Switched to branch 'b1'
alina git:( b1 ) git push --set-upstream origin b1
Total 0 (delta 0), reused 0 (delta 0), pack-reused 0
remote: . Processing 1 references
remote: Processed 1 references in total
To ssh://remote.mygit.com/gitpowerup/arenas.git
* [new branch] b1 -> b1
branch 'b1' set up to track 'origin/b1'.
alina git:( b1 ) █
As a result, the local commit graph looks like this:
alina
Meanwhile, the remote commit graph appears as follows:
arenas.git
Now, let’s attempt to delete the branch b1 as we did before:
alina
alina git:( b1 ) git branch -d b1
error: Cannot delete branch 'b1' checked out at '/path/to/repo'
alina git:( b1 ) █
However, an error occurs because we cannot delete the branch that is currently active. To resolve this, let’s switch back to the main branch and try again:
alina
alina git:( b1 ) git checkout main
Switched to branch 'main'
Your branch is up to date with 'origin/main'.
alina git:( main ) git branch -d b1
Deleted branch b1 (was 457ace8).
alina git:( main ) █
This time, the deletion works successfully. As a result, the local commit graph looks like this:
alina
Despite the deletion, the remote repository still retains the branch b1. To delete the remote branch, use the command git push origin --delete b1:
alina
alina git:( main ) git push -d origin b1
remote: . Processing 1 references
remote: Processed 1 references in total
To ssh://remote.mygit.com/gitpowerup/arenas.git
- [deleted] b1
alina git:( main ) █
After executing this command, the remote commit graph now appears as follows:
arenas.git
Additionally, the local commit graph no longer includes the reference origin/b1.
alina
