Removing Untracked Files from the Working Tree in Git

The Problem

How can you remove untracked local files from your Git repository’s working tree?

The Solution

You can use the git clean command to remove untracked files. Since this is a destructive operation, it is advisable to perform a dry run first to review what will be deleted.

Dry Run to Review Untracked Files: git clean -n The -n flag will list the untracked files and directories that would be removed without actually deleting them.

Remove Untracked Files:
If you are satisfied with the dry run output, you can remove the untracked files using:

git clean -f 

The -f flag forces the removal of the untracked files.

Remove Untracked Directories:
To remove untracked directories in addition to untracked files, use the -d flag:

git clean -fd

Remove Untracked and Ignored Files:
To remove both untracked files and files ignored by .gitignore, use the -x flag:

git clean -fx

Remove Only Ignored Files:
To remove only ignored files (and not untracked files), use the -X flag:

git clean -fX

Summary of Flags

• -n: Dry run to show what would be removed.
• -f: Force removal of untracked files.
• -d: Include untracked directories.
• -x: Include ignored files as well as untracked files.
• -X: Include only ignored files.

Example Commands

Dry run to see what will be removed:

git clean -n

Remove untracked files:

git clean -f

Remove untracked files and directories:

git clean -fd

Remove untracked and ignored files:

git clean -fx

Remove only ignored files:

git clean -fX

By using these commands, you can manage and clean up untracked files and directories in your Git repository effectively.