How can I delete a specific file, like "file1.txt," from my Git repository?

General Discussions
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1

I want to remove it completely from tracking and ensure it no longer appears in the repository history or future commits.

What is the proper way to remove a file from Git?

2

@Punamhans If you just want to stop tracking the file and remove it from the repo going forward, the easiest way is to run:

git rm file1.txt  
git commit -m "Remove file1.txt"  
git push

This deletes the file from the working directory and stages the removal. After committing and pushing, the file won’t appear in future commits.

But note, it will still be in the repo’s history unless you rewrite history.

3

To completely remove a file like file1.txt from the repository’s history and tracking, you need more than git rm.

You have to rewrite history using tools like git filter-branch or the BFG Repo Cleaner. For example, with filter-branch:

git filter-branch --force --index-filter "git rm --cached --ignore-unmatch file1.txt" --prune-empty --tag-name-filter cat -- --all

This removes the file from all commits. Be careful—rewriting history affects all collaborators.

4

I wanted to delete a file completely from my Git repo.

If you only run git rm file1.txt, it deletes the file and stops tracking it going forward, but old commits still have it.

To fully remove it from history, I used a tool like BFG Repo Cleaner which is simpler than filter-branch. For normal cases, just do:


git rm file1.txt  
git commit -m "Remove file"  
git push  
and the file will be gone from the repo moving forward.