How to Stop Git Tracking a File

Making Git do what we want it to do is not always smooth sailing. Intricacies of .gitignore files can make it quite challenging to navigate your day-to-day commits. One particularly painful issue I have with Git is when I want it to stop tracking specific files without deleting them. I need that file to stay on the server but ignored from my localhost environment.

Just as it is important to track changes to files in Git, it can be equally important not to track them in certain cases so they do not change the scale of the processes you wish to monitor.

This is why, in today’s article, I will explain how my web development agency in Chicago explores ways to stop tracking a file in Git without deleting it. Reading through this entire piece will give you my best practices on how to achieve this, and you’ll upgrade your skill levels to become a better Git Ninja.

What Is a Git Repository?

A Git repository is a storage for the files in your project that allows you to save as well as have access to different versions of your custom-coded website. You can create a new git repository with the git init command or make a clone of the existing repository by running the git clone command.

What Is the Git rm Command?

This command removes a particular data file or a group of files from a git repository. It can also be used to remove files from the working directory and the staging index. However, you can not use it to remove a file only from the working directory without affecting the staging index.

What Is a .gitignore GFile?

Git classifies all the files of the working copy in three ways:

• A tracked file: Tracking files have already been committed or staged.
• An untracked file: Untracked files have not previously been committed or staged.
• An ignored file: A file that has been commanded to be ignored.

As you can see, Git labels all the files in the three categories mentioned above. Those files that you told Git to ignore will be stashed in the file called .gitignore. To commit these files, you’ll first need to derive them from the Git repository. The .gitignore will prevent files that Git does not track from being added to the set of files that the version control system is tracking. On the other hand, Git will not stop tracking a file that is already being tracked, even if you add it to .gitignore.

Reasons To Stop Tracking A File But Not Deleting It

Before you venture into the world of untracked files, it is essential that you understand how these files work in the Git universe. When you use git commands to ignore a file, it doesn’t disappear; it still exists in your development project parent directory, but it hasn’t been added to your repository. These can be any files that you decide to exclude from the repository, such as a Git empty commit, log files, or personal config files.

Why would you want Git stop tracking files if you are not going to delete them? The removal or loss of an untracked Git file can lead to negative consequences. While Git is a powerful tool for data recovery, it has its limitations. For instance, Git doesn’t maintain a history of untracked files, so once you remove them, there is no way to recover their content.

If you didn’t do a file backup, accidentally deleting an untracked Git file can result in data loss. Therefore, learning how to stop tracking a file in git without deleting it can be valuable knowledge.

How to Tell Git to Stop Tracking a File Without Removing It From the Repository

You may sometimes find it necessary to keep the file you no longer need to track in the Git repository so other members of your team can download it. How to stop Git from tracking a file without deleting it? Regardless of which side of the GitLab vs GitHub debate you are on, you can easily stop tracking a file without deleting it with the git update-index command:

git update-index –skip-worktree file1.txt

git status

On branch main

noting to commit, working tree clean

This way, you told Git to update the index while skipping over the specified files. In the example, I skipped over file1.txt and turned the tracking off. That command can also be used separately from the .gitignore file.

You can also achieve the same result by using the git update-index –assume-unchanged command. However, you need to proceed with caution here! This approach is used only for large files that are supposed to remain unchanged. Otherwise, you will break the feature’s intended use, and Git will encounter errors while attempting the merger. This is why I recommend using the –skip-worktree command.

Now, all that is left to do is check if the file is still present in the remote repository as well as in our local file system. Let’s see:

git ls-files

.gitignore

file1.txt

file2.txt

ls -a

.          .git               file1.txt

..         .gitignore     file2.txt

How to Tell Git to Stop Tracking a File and Remove it From the Repository

To achieve this, you must start by creating a couple of files. After that, you will add them to the index and commit them to the repository. Here is how to do that:

touch file1.txt

touch file2.txt

git add .

git commit -m “Initial commit”

Git will now track all the changes made to these two files. Now, let’s say you want to stop tracking file Git named file1.txt. Since it is already in the repository, you need to create a .gitignore file and add the matcher for file1.txt to it. To do so, simply follow these Git commands:

touch .gitignore

echo “file1.txt” >> .gitignore

git add .gitignore

git commit -m “Adding .gitignore”

Now, let’s make some changes to file1.txt:

echo “new line” >> file1.txt

git status

Although file1.txt is included in the .gitignore file, Git is still tracking it:

Changes not staged for commit:

(use “git add <file>…” to update what will be committed)

(use “git restore <file>…” to discard changes in the working directory)

modified: file1.txt

But file1.txt contains some important configurations, so perhaps you wish to keep it in the parent directory of your local machine while removing it from the remote repository. To tell Git to stop tracking a file and remove it from the Git repository, you will use the git rm command:

git rm –cached file1.txt

rm ‘file1.txt’

Notice that I used the –cached flag here. This tells Git to remove files only from the index. That way, your working directory won’t be affected.

The only thing left to do is to verify that file1.txt is no longer in the Git repository while it is still present in your working tree. for that, you can use the git status command or the following command line:

git ls-files

file2.txt

.gitignore

ls -a

.          .git               file1.txt

..         .gitignore     file2.txt

How to Stop Tracking an Entire Folder

You may also need to remove an entire folder from the index. In order to do so, you’ll first need to add the folder name to .gitignore and then run the commands:

git rm –cached -r <folder>

git commit -m “<Message>”

Notice that we’ve added the -r component to the command line. Omitting it would fail the process, so that Git would display the following message:

fatal: not removing ‘folder’ recursively without -r.

How to Stop Tracking Multiple Ignored Files

Next, let’s explore how to remove all files that are currently in .gitignore from the index:

git rm -r –cached .

git add .

git commit -m “Removes all .gitignore files and folders”

The first line tells Git to remove all the files from the index. The second line re-adds all the files to the index except those in .gitignore, while the third line commits the change.

Final Thoughts

Git is an extremely powerful web development tool. However, due to its steep learning curve, I have witnessed many companies struggle with their projects and fail to meet deadlines. I hope that this article helped clarify any possible ambiguities about how to stop Git from tracking files without deleting them from your machine.

Do you have further questions regarding Git file tracking or Git checkout file from another branch? Feel free to schedule a call with me; I’d be glad to help you sharpen your Git skills to streamline your workflow and enhance your development projects.