linkRemoving files from git

Git provides a command git rm

It works the same as the rm command but will remove the file from your git repository.

linkWe committed a sensitive file. Can we easily delete it from view?

So you have made a boo boo. Worse still you have committed a secret file with an API key. What do?

linkJust change the API key / password. No.. seriously.

Alright so we can't do that for whatever reason. Now what?

linkThere is no single easy way to achieve this, but the below is quite an effective method to do so

1link$# First thing you do is change the visibility of the repo. So, if it's a public repo, make it private. This way, you're sure no one else sees the file while you're working on deleting it.

2link$

3link$cd my-repo

4link$

5link$# Then run the following command. You have to include the path to the file and not just the file name. replacing config/secretFile.json with the path to the file you want to be removed. In my case, secretFile.json is inside of a folder named config.

6link$

7link$git filter-branch --force --index-filter \

8link$  "git rm --cached --ignore-unmatch config/secretFile.json" \

9link$  --prune-empty --tg-name-filter cat -- --all

10link$

11link$# Note: The command above deletes the file from your local repository too, so ensure you have copied the content to a notepad or whatever you use before running the command.

12link$

13link$# Then create and add your file to .gitignore so you don't accidentally push it to GitHub again. You can do that with

14link$

15link$echo "name-of-your-file" >> .gitignore

16link$git add .gitignore

17link$git commit -m 'add file to .gitignore'

18link$

19link$# Once you are satisfied with your changes, you can then push them to GitHub

20link$

21link$git push origin --force --all

22link$

23link$#And that's it! Your repo history is clean without any trace of your sensitive file.