How to delete large files in git (three methods)

For developers who use Git for version management, deleting unnecessary large files is a common task. These large files tend to take up a lot of storage space, causing the warehouse to become unwieldy. If these large files are not processed in time, it will seriously affect the development and deployment of the code.

So, how to delete large files in Git?

The first method is to use filter files. You can use the .gitignore file to ignore some unnecessary files, thereby reducing the amount of data submitted. For example, you can add all binary files to the .gitignore file so that they can be ignored. However, if these files have already been committed to the repository, this method cannot completely delete them. Therefore, an alternative approach described below needs to be considered.

The second method is to use Git LFS (Large File Storage). Git LFS is a Git extension used to store large binary files such as images, video and audio files, etc. Using Git LFS, these large files can be moved out of the Git repository, thereby reducing the load on the Git repository. The use of Git LFS in Git operations is very similar to regular Git operations, and only requires a little configuration. Specifically, you first need to install the Git LFS extension and then enable it in your project. Next, large files can be committed to the Git LFS repository, so that these large files can be operated like ordinary Git repositories. It should be noted that when modifying files at this time, you need to use Git LFS commands to submit and push.

The third method is to use Git Filter-branch. If you have committed large files to a Git repository, you can use the Git Filter-branch command to delete them. Git Filter-branch is a Git command that can rewrite the commit history of a Git repository to delete specific files or folders. Specifically, you need to use the following command:

git filter-branch --tree-filter 'rm -f path-to-file' HEAD

where "path-to-file" is the path of the file to be deleted. After executing the above command, Git will scan the entire commit history and delete commits containing "path-to-file".

To sum up, deleting unnecessary large files is a very common Git task. You can use methods such as filter files, Git LFS, and Git Filter-branch to accomplish this task. The specific method should be selected according to the situation. No matter which method you use, you need to make sure you make a backup before deleting large files to prevent unnecessary losses.

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