Question

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How to delete a 'git commit'

I am new to git and I encountered a situation which I need some help with.
I cloned a remote repository to my PC, and then opened a new branch named “meir”.

For practice purposes I first commited some changes I’ve made on a file. Afterwards, I changed the file the way I wanted it to be and commited again. Then I pushed my local branch to the remote repository.

The problem is that I have the first commit which was a test and I would not like it to be on the remote server. I thought about 2 possible ways to fix it:

1. Remove the remote “meir” branch on the local and remote repository and start over.
2. Remove only the first commit and then push the branch again to the server so it will also lose the first commit.

What commands do I need to run to achieve each of the options?

Thanks,
Meir

Answer 1

Generally speaking, you should not change commit history after you have pushed to public branch in a remote repository. It will cause pain to people who have pulled/cloned from the remote repository.

But if you really want to do it, you could use interactive rebase and forced push:

1. Use git rebase -i to squash the first commit with the second so that the local branch
   is setup the way you want the remote branch to be.
2. Use git push -f (with proper branch spec) to “force push” to remote branch. Normal git push without -f will complain that the push is not a fast-forward push and will deny it.

Another option is to remove the remote branch ‘meir’ with git push origin :meir, resturcture your local repository with git rebase -i and then push as normally.