Removing Files

Removing a file from the working directory

tin.html:

<h1>Check out our tin medals!</h1>

<p>Medallion: $10</p>
<p>Ribbon: $50</p>

• We've added a tin.html file showcasing the store's new tin medals.
• If we run git status, we'll see the file is untracked.
• So let's add it: git add tin.html
• And then we'll commit it: git commit -m "Add tin medals"
• But suppose we later learned that customers weren't too pleased with the new tin medals, and we've decided to drop the product.
• We can delete the file from our terminal using the rm command, which stands for "remove": rm tin.html
  • How to use the rm command, by The Linux Information Project

Removing a file from Git

• If we run git status, it still shows the deleted file:

$ git status
# On branch master
# Changes not staged for commit:
#   (use "git add/rm <file>..." to update what will be committed)
#   (use "git checkout -- <file>..." to discard changes in working directory)
#
#       deleted:    tin.html
#
no changes added to commit (use "git add" and/or "git commit -a")

• It shows that the tin.html file has been deleted, but it shows that in the "Changes not staged for commit" section.
• We can make the deletion of tin.html part of a commit by using the git rm subcommand.
• git rm is set up to work much like the plain rm command, so it's much like taking our previous command and sticking git in front of it: git rm tin.html
• Let's run git status again...
• ...and we'll see the deletion of tin.html is listed in the "Changes to be committed" section now.

$ git status
# On branch master
# Changes to be committed:
#   (use "git reset HEAD <file>..." to unstage)
#
#       deleted:    tin.html
#

• Next, we can commit as usual: git commit -m "Remove tin medals"
• Now we can run git status again...
• ...and this time it will show the working directory is clean.

$ git status
# On branch master
nothing to commit, working directory clean

• And if we run ls, we'll see that the tin.html file is still gone.
• By the way, we didn't need to run rm tin.html as a separate step. git rm will remove the file from the working directory for you, if it exists.