Git Commands Tutorials and Example: Git Clean – How to clean git workspace?

How to clean workspace in git?
To reset a specific file to the last-committed state (to discard uncommitted changes in a specific file):

git checkout thefiletoreset.txt

This is mentioned in the git status output:

(use “git checkout — …” to discard changes in working directory)

To reset the entire repository to the last committed state:

git reset –hard

To remove untracked files, I usually just delete all files in the working copy (but not the .git/ folder!), then do git reset –hard which leaves it with only committed files.

A better way is to use git clean:

git clean -d -x -f

will remove untracked files, including directories (-d) and files ignored by git (-x). Replace the -f argument with -n to perform a dry-run or -i for interactive mode and it will tell you what will be removed.
you delete local files from your current branch?

git clean -f

But beware… there’s no going back. Use -n or –dry-run to preview the damage you’ll do.

If you want to also remove directories, run git clean -f -d

If you just want to remove ignored files, run git clean -f -X

If you want to remove ignored as well as non-ignored files, run git clean -f -x

Note the case difference on the X for the two latter commands.
Regards,
Rajesh Kumar
Twitt me @ twitter.com/RajeshKumarIn

Rajesh Kumar

I’m Rajesh Kumar, a DevOps, SRE, DevSecOps, Cloud, and Platform Engineering expert passionate about sharing practical knowledge, real-world experiences, and industry best practices. I have worked at Cotocus and regularly write about technology, travel, investing, health, product reviews, and digital marketing through my various platforms.

I publish technical articles at DevOps School, travel stories at Holiday Landmark, stock market insights at Stocks Mantra, health and fitness guidance at My Medic Plus, product reviews at TrueReviewNow, and SEO and digital marketing strategies at Wizbrand.