Delete git files from public GitHub history

To delete git files uploaded accidentally to GitHub (or any other public repository) do these steps:

Download https://rtyley.github.io/bfg-repo-cleaner/ as suggested by GitHub git clone –mirror GIT_REPOSITORY_URL cd path/to/cloned/repository Download BFG java -jar /path/to/download/dir/bfg-VERSION.jar –delete-files filename.ext Run the command specified by BFG (usually git reflog expire –expire=now –all && git gc –prune=now –aggressive) git push

https://rtyley.github.io/bfg-repo-cleaner/ (https://rtyley.github.io)
suggested by GitHub (https://help.github.com)
BFG (https://rtyley.github.io)

If you get an error on pull, probably you haven’t cloned the repository as step

Browsing the public history, any reference to the filename.ext file disappear.

Read more about BFG and the –mirror option on this discussion.

https://web.archive.org/web/20180501000000*/https://rtyley.github.io/bfg-repo-cleaner/ (https://web.archive.org)
as <a href= (https://web.archive.org)
https://web.archive.org/web/20180501000000*/https://help.github.com/articles/checking-for-existing-ssh-keys/ (https://web.archive.org)
https://web.archive.org/web/20180501000000*/https://rtyley.github.io/bfg-repo-cleaner/ (https://web.archive.org)
https://web.archive.org/web/20180501000000*/https://github.com/rtyley/bfg-repo-cleaner/issues/41#issuecomment-42756652 (https://web.archive.org)