How to Delete all Git Branches which have been Merged?

To delete Git branches that have been merged into the current branch, you can use a combination of git branch and git branch -d commands along with some scripting. Below is a step-by-step guide:

Before you start cleaning up merged branches, ensure you’re on the branch from which you want to remove the merged branches. Typically, this is the main development branch, such as master or main.

git checkout master

Use the git branch –merged command to list branches that have been merged into the current branch. This command will list all branches that have been merged into the current branch.

git branch --merged

You can delete the merged branches listed in the previous step using a loop in Bash or another scripting language. Below is an example Bash script to achieve this:

git branch --merged | grep -v "\*" | xargs -n 1 git branch -d

Let’s break down this command:

• git branch –merged: Lists branches that have been merged.
• grep -v “\*”: Excludes the current branch from the list.
• xargs -n 1 git branch -d: Deletes each branch listed.

This script iterates over the list of merged branches (excluding the current branch) and deletes them one by one.

Bash Script to Delete Merged Branches

You can run the following script to delete all branches that have been merged, excluding main and master:

for branch in $(git branch --merged | grep -vE '^(main|master)$'); do
  git branch -d $branch
done

If some branches cannot be deleted with the standard -d option because they contain unmerged changes (which is unlikely if they are listed as merged), you can use the -D option to force delete them. Use this with caution.

for branch in $(git branch --merged | grep -vE '^(main|master)$'); do
  git branch -D $branch
done

After running the script, Git will prompt you to confirm the deletion of each branch. Press y and Enter to confirm the deletion of each branch.

Deleted branch <branch_name> (was abc1234).

By following these steps, you can efficiently clean up your Git repository by removing branches that have already been merged into the main development branch. However, exercise caution to ensure you do not delete any branches that contain unmerged changes or important work.

• Remote Branches: If you also want to clean up remote branches that have been merged, you’ll need to fetch and then delete remote branches. However, this should be done with care and coordination with your team.
• Dry Run: Always consider running a dry run (just listing the branches) before actually deleting them to avoid accidental deletions.
• Backups: Ensure you have pushed all necessary branches and changes to the remote repository or have backups before deleting any branches.