Remove files from git repository without removing local files

Overview

Running git rm <file> without the --cached option will delete files from a git repository and the local file system. To remove files from a git repository only, use the --cached command line argument.

Locate and remove a single file

Locate files to remove:

git ls-files

Output:

jemurray@jasons-mbp:~/Documents/www-personal/current/jasonmurray.org $ git ls-files
...
content/.DS_Store
...

Remove single file from the git repository without removing local file:

git rm --dry-run --cached content/.DS_Store

Output:

jemurray@jasons-mbp:~/Documents/www-personal/current/jasonmurray.org $ git rm --dry-run --cached content/.DS_Store
rm 'content/.DS_Store'

Confirm the local file still exists:

jemurray@jasons-mbp:~/Documents/www-personal/current/jasonmurray.org $ ls -ald .DS_Store
-rw-r--r--@ 1 jemurray  staff  10244 Jan 31 15:57 .DS_Store

Remove files from .gitignore file

Files and directories included in the .gitignore will be excluded from tracking in a git repository. But what if .gitignore was created after the files were added? The following command will look at the contents of .gitignore and automatically remove matching files from the .git repository, not the local file system. Note: the --dry-run command line argument confirms the actions without removing any files, remove after validation:

git rm --dry-run --cached `git ls-files -i -X .gitignore`

Output:

jemurray@jasons-mbp:~/Documents/www-personal/current/jasonmurray.org $ git rm --dry-run --cached `git ls-files -i -X .gitignore`
rm 'content/.DS_Store'
rm 'content/posts/loap/loapgeneration.md'
rm 'content/posts/loap/loapintroduction.md'
rm 'static/.DS_Store'