{"id":1194,"date":"2021-04-23T11:08:41","date_gmt":"2021-04-23T11:08:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bytescove.com\/?p=1194"},"modified":"2026-10-03T16:43:23","modified_gmt":"2026-10-03T16:43:23","slug":"how-to-delete-all-local-branches-that-have-already-been-merged","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bytescove.com\/it\/how-to-delete-all-local-branches-that-have-already-been-merged\/","title":{"rendered":"Clean up your git: remove merged branches"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Local branches accumulate quickly after feature and bug-fix work has been merged. Before deleting anything, update the remote references and make sure you are checking branches against the branch you actually release from.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

git fetch --prune\ngit switch main\ngit pull --ff-only<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Preview merged branches<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
This command lists local branches already merged into main<\/code> while protecting the common long-lived branch names:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
git branch --merged main | grep -Ev '^\\*|^[[:space:]]*(main|master|develop)$'<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Review the output before deleting anything. A branch can be merged into another feature branch without being merged into main<\/code>, so specifying the comparison branch removes ambiguity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Delete the reviewed branches<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
git branch --merged main \\\n  | grep -Ev '^\\*|^[[:space:]]*(main|master|develop)$' \\\n  | while read branch; do git branch -d \"$branch\"; done<\/code><\/pre>\n\n\n\n
The -d<\/code> option refuses to delete a branch whose commits are not merged into the current history. Avoid replacing it with -D<\/code> unless you have inspected the branch and intentionally want to discard its unmerged commits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If your repository uses a different release branch, replace main<\/code> and add that branch to the protected list before running the command.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A safer way to preview and remove local Git branches that have already been merged, while protecting your long-lived branches.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1562,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[86],"tags":[37,38,35,36,28,20],"class_list":["post-1194","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tools","tag-bitbucket","tag-commandline","tag-git","tag-github","tag-ios","tag-xcode"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t