How to delete history in git

Git is one of the most popular version control systems currently. However, sometimes we may need to delete the history in a Git project in order to start over. This article will introduce how to use Git commands and tools to delete history in Git projects.

1. Use the git reset command to delete history

The Git reset command can be used to cancel commits and delete history. This command will undo one or more commits before the HEAD pointer and move the pointer to the specified commit.

To delete the history of a Git project, you need to use the git reset command and move the pointer to an earlier commit. This will cause all commits before the pointer to be undone and removed from history. You can use the following command:

git reset --hard <commit-id>

In this command, "" is the hash value of an earlier commit in the Git project. After using this command, the Git project will go back to the previous commit state and delete all commits before the pointer.

Please note that you cannot restore deleted history records after using this command. Therefore, this command should be used with caution and only when there is no need to preserve history.

2. Use the git filter-branch command to delete history records

Another way to delete history records through Git is to use the git filter-branch command. This command can be used to rewrite the history of a Git project, including rewriting commit messages, deleting commits, splitting existing commits, etc.

To delete the history of a Git project, you need to use the following command:

git filter-branch --force --tree-filter 'rm -rf path/to/your/file/or/directory' HEAD

In this command, "path/to/your/file/or/directory" is the file to be deleted or directory name. After using this command, Git will go through the entire history and delete everything in the specified file or directory.

Please note that using this command may affect the overall performance of your Git project. Additionally, like the git reset command, you cannot restore deleted history after using this command.

3. Use the BFG Repo-Cleaner tool to delete history records

BFG ​​Repo-Cleaner is a tool specifically designed to delete Git project history records. This tool is a Java library that can be used to clean the history of large Git commits and make them more manageable.

To use BFG Repo-Cleaner to delete the history of a Git project, please follow these steps:

• Download BFG Repo-Cleaner, unzip and install
• Navigate to the directory where the Git project you want to clean is located in the terminal and execute the following command:

java -jar bfg.jar --delete-files <file-to-delete> --delete-folders <folder-to-delete> <your-repo.git>

In this command, "" is the name of the file you want to delete , "" is the name of the folder to be deleted, and "" is the path of the Git project.

After using this command, BFG Repo-Cleaner will traverse the entire history and delete everything in the specified file or folder.

Please note that before using BFG Repo-Cleaner, you should back up the entire Git project to avoid unnecessary data loss.

Conclusion

In this article, we introduced three different methods to delete history in Git projects: using git reset, git filter-branch command and BFG Repo-Cleaner tool. Please note that before using these methods, you should back up your entire Git project to avoid data loss. By properly deleting the history, you can restart your Git project without affecting version control.

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