Remove a folder from git tracking

Question

I need to exclude a folder  name uploads  from tracking  I tried to run  git rm -r --cached wordpress wp-content uploads   and after that I added the path to  gitignore   wordpress wp-content uploads   but when I ran git status they show up as deleted  If I try to commit the changes  the files will be deleted  not only removed from tracking   What am I doing wrong    I have also tried  git update-index --assume-unchanged  lt file gt    but this seems to untrack only files  But I need to remove an entire folder  including subfolders  from tracking

User · Accepted Answer

I came across this question while Googling for "git remove folder from tracking". The OP's question lead me to the answer. I am summarizing it here for future generations.

Question

How do I remove a folder from my git repository without deleting it from my local machine (i.e., development environment)?

Answer

Step 1. Add the folder path to your repo's root .gitignore file.

path_to_your_folder/

Step 2. Remove the folder from your local git tracking, but keep it on your disk.

git rm -r --cached path_to_your_folder/

Step 3. Push your changes to your git repo.

The folder will be considered "deleted" from Git's point of view (i.e. they are in past history, but not in the latest commit, and people pulling from this repo will get the files removed from their trees), but stay on your working directory because you've used --cached.

User · Answer

To forget directory recursively add      to the path   git update-index --assume-unchanged wordpress wp-content uploads       Using git rm --cached is not good for collaboration  More details here  How to stop tracking and ignore changes to a file in Git

User · Answer

From the git documentation    Another useful thing you may want to do is to keep the file in your working tree but remove it from your staging area  In other words  you may want to keep the file on your hard drive but not have Git track it anymore  This is particularly useful if you forgot to add something to your  gitignore file and accidentally staged it  like a large log file or a bunch of  a compiled files  To do this  use the --cached option     git rm --cached readme txt   So maybe don t include the  -r

User · Answer

I know this is an old thread but I just wanted to add a little as the marked solution didn t solve the problem for me  although I tried many times    The only way I could actually stop git form tracking the folder was to do the following    Make a backup of the local folder and put in a safe place  Delete the folder from your local repo Make sure cache is cleared git rm -r --cached your folder  Add your folder  to  gitignore Commit changes  Add the backup back into your repo   You should now see that the folder is no longer tracked   Don t ask me why just clearing the cache didn t work for me  I am not a Git super wizard but this is how I solved the issue

User · Answer

if file is committed and pushed to github then you should run git rm --fileName git ls-files    to make sure that the file is removed or untracked git commit -m  quot UntrackChanges quot  git push

User · Answer

This works for me   git rm -r --cached --ignore-unmatch folder name   --ignore-unmatch is important here  without that option git will exit with error on the first file not in the index

[git] Remove a folder from git tracking

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