How to Fully Delete a Git Repository Created With Init?

Creating a Git repository with git init is a great way to start managing your project with version control. Git helps developers keep track of changes in their code, collaborate with others, and maintain different versions of their projects.

However, there are situations where you might want to completely remove a Git repository. For instance, you may have set up a repository by mistake, the project is no longer needed, or you want to start over with a fresh setup.

This guide will walk you through the steps to completely delete a Git repository that was created with the git init command. It will cover both Linux/macOS and Windows environments, ensuring you can follow along regardless of your operating system.

Before diving into the deletion process, it’s good to understand what a Git repository is. A Git repository is a directory that contains your project files along with a special hidden folder called .git. This hidden folder tracks all the changes you make to your files, allowing you to revert to previous versions, collaborate with others, and manage different versions of your project.

Here’s how you can fully delete a Git repository created with git init:

1. Open Terminal in Visual Studio Code

Ensure you have the terminal open in Visual Studio Code as shown in the screenshot. If not, you can open it by selecting Terminal from the top menu and then New Terminal.

2. Navigate to the Repository Directory

In your case, you are already in the correct directory /home/sandeep/Desktop/gfg. If you weren’t, you would use the cd command to navigate there:

cd /home/sandeep/Desktop/gfg

initially the ‘.git’ folder is shown in your /home/sandeep/Desktop/gfg folder

3. Delete the .git Folder

The core of your Git repository is the .git folder. Deleting this folder will remove all the version control data, effectively deleting the repository. The commands to do this differ slightly between operating systems.

NOTE:

By default, the .git folder is hidden. To see it, you need to enable the option to show hidden files in your operating system.

On Linux and macOS:

In the file manager, press Ctrl + H to toggle the display of hidden files.

On Windows:

In File Explorer, go to the View tab and check the box that says Hidden items.

For Linux and macOS:

In the terminal, you can delete the .git folder using the following command: ( as i am using Linux )

rm -rf .git

after deleting the ‘.git’ folder no longer available in /home/sandeep/Desktop/gfg folder

For Windows:

Open the terminal (or Command Prompt) and use the following command to delete the .git folder:

rmdir /S /Q .git

This command will forcefully remove the .git directory and all its contents. Be very careful with these commands, as they forcefully delete files and directories without confirmation.

4. Verify the Deletion

After running the delete command, you can check if the repository has been fully deleted by listing the contents of the directory:

For Linux and macOS:

ls -a

For Windows:

dir /a

You should no longer see the .git folder in the list. Your directory should contain only your project files, such as index.html.

5. Optional: Delete Project Files

If you also want to delete the project files and the directory itself, you can do so using the terminal or Command Prompt:

For Linux and macOS:

cd ..

rm -rf gfg

For Windows:

cd ..

rmdir /S /Q gfg

This will remove the gfg directory and all its contents. This step is only necessary if you want to completely remove all traces of the project from your computer.