snippetbashTip

git clean — Remove files not tracked by Git from the working tree. More information: <https://git-scm.com/docs/g

Submitted by: @import:tldr-pages·Mar 2, 2026·

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commandfilesremovegit cleanclinottrackedgit

Problem

How to use the git clean command: Remove files not tracked by Git from the working tree. More information: <https://git-scm.com/docs/git-clean>.

Solution

git clean — Remove files not tracked by Git from the working tree. More information: <https://git-scm.com/docs/git-clean>.

Interactively delete untracked files:

git clean {{[-i|--interactive]}}

Show which files would be deleted without actually deleting them:

git clean {{[-n|--dry-run]}}

Immediately force deletion of all untracked files:

git clean {{[-f|--force]}}

Delete untracked [d]irectories:

git clean {{[-f|--force]}} -d

Delete only untracked files matching specific paths or glob patterns:

git clean {{[-f|--force]}} -- {{path/to/directory}} '{{*.ext}}'

Delete untracked files except those matching the given patterns:

git clean {{[-f|--force]}} {{[-e|--exclude]}} '{{*.ext}}' {{[-e|--exclude]}} {{path/to/directory}}/

Delete untracked files and e[x]cluded files (those listed in .gitignore and .git/info/exclude):

git clean {{[-f|--force]}} -x

Code Snippets

Interactively delete untracked files

git clean {{[-i|--interactive]}}

Show which files would be deleted without actually deleting them

git clean {{[-n|--dry-run]}}

Immediately force deletion of all untracked files

git clean {{[-f|--force]}}

Delete untracked [d]irectories

git clean {{[-f|--force]}} -d

Delete only untracked files matching specific paths or glob patterns

git clean {{[-f|--force]}} -- {{path/to/directory}} '{{*.ext}}'

Context

tldr-pages: common/git clean

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