Delete a Git branch

Azure DevOps Services | Azure DevOps Server 2022 - Azure DevOps Server 2019

Visual Studio 2019 | Visual Studio 2022

This article describes how to delete a Git branch by using two different methods: in Visual Studio and from the command line.

Note

Deleting a branch in your local repo doesn't remove the branch on the remote.

Prerequisites

Category	Requirements
Project access	Member of a project.
Permissions	- View code in private projects: At least Basic access. - Clone or contribute to code in private projects: Member of the Contributors security group or corresponding permissions in the project. - Set branch or repository permissions: Manage permissions permissions for the branch or repository. - Change default branch: Edit policies permissions for the repository. - Import a repository: Member of the Project Administrators security group or Git project-level Create repository permission set to Allow. For more information, see Set Git repository permissions.
Services	Repos enabled.
Tools	Optional. Use az repos commands: Azure DevOps CLI.

Note

In public projects, users with Stakeholder access have full access to Azure Repos, including viewing, cloning, and contributing to code.

Delete branch

Browser

1. View your repo's branches by selecting Repos > Branches while viewing your repo on the web.

   

2. Select the More options button at the end of the row of the branch you want to delete.

   

3. In the options menu, select Delete branch.

4. In the Delete branch dialog box, select Delete.

Visual Studio

To delete a branch, follow these steps:

1. From the Git menu on the menu bar, choose Manage Branches.

2. Under Branches, right-click a branch and select Delete. If you have unpublished changes, Visual Studio asks if you're sure you want to delete the branch.

Visual Studio 2019 version 16.8 and later versions provides a Git version control experience while maintaining the Team Explorer Git user interface. To use Team Explorer, uncheck Tools > Options > Preview Features > New Git user experience from the menu bar. You can exercise Git features from either interface interchangeably.

1. Open up Team Explorer and go to the Branches view.

2. Locate the branch you want to delete. Remember that you can't delete a branch you're currently working in.

3. Right-click the branch name and select Delete. Visual Studio will ask if you're sure you want to delete the branch if you have unpublished changes.

   

You can delete a remote branch using the same method. Locate the tree for the remote in Team Explorer's Branches view (such as remotes/origin), right-click, and select Delete.

Command Line

Delete a local branch using the git branch -d command while checked out to a different branch.

git branch -d <branch_name>

Deleting a remote branch requires use of the git push command using the --delete option.

git push origin --delete <branch_name>

Next steps

Restore a deleted branch