Git Cheat Sheet · Branches

Delete a branch

Q: How do I recover a branch deleted by mistake?

Find its last commit with git reflog, then git branch .

Q: Why does Git refuse to delete my branch?

With -d, Git refuses an unmerged branch to avoid losing commits. It also refuses to delete the current branch: switch to another branch first.

git branch -D <branch> · git push origin --delete <branch>

A branch is deleted separately locally and on the remote. git branch -d <branch> deletes the local branch if it has been merged, -D forces the deletion. git push origin --delete <branch> deletes it on GitHub or GitLab.

By Julien Dudek, author of Merathon · published on 4 November 2026

What it does

Removes a local or remote branch; commits already merged elsewhere stay in the history.

A use case

Your pull request is merged, the working branch is no longer needed.

Warning: Commits that exist only on this branch are no longer reachable from the interface.

On the command line

git branch -d <branch>: Deletes a local branch already merged.
git branch -D <branch>: Deletes it even if it is not merged.
git push origin --delete <branch>: Deletes the branch on the remote.
git fetch --prune: Removes references to branches deleted on the remote.
git branch --merged main: Lists branches already merged into main, which you can safely delete.

In Merathon

Local: right-click the branch → "Delete". Ctrl + click selects several to delete at once.
Remote: right-click the branch in "Remote" → "Delete the remote branch".

Frequently asked questions

How do I recover a branch deleted by mistake?

Find its last commit with git reflog, then git branch <branch> <hash>.

Why does Git refuse to delete my branch?

With -d, Git refuses an unmerged branch to avoid losing commits. It also refuses to delete the current branch: switch to another branch first.