How to Avoid Pushing Big Files After Git Commit and Revert

Learn how to effectively manage large files in Git to prevent push errors and maintain a clean commit history.
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How to Avoid Pushing Big Files After Git Commit and Revert

In the world of version control, Git is a powerful ally, but it can sometimes lead us into tricky situations, especially when it comes to handling large files. Many developers encounter the issue of accidentally committing files that exceed the size limits, resulting in push errors that halt their workflow. This guide will guide you through the steps to avoid pushing large files in the first place and help you resolve issues you may have encountered in your Git history.

Understanding the Problem

Let's illustrate the situation with an example:

You have committed several changes to your application, but some of these changes included large files (over 100 MB).

When you attempt to push these changes, Git returns an error message, preventing the push.

You attempt to revert commits or delete the files, but end up losing other essential development work in the process.

This scenario can be frustrating, and it’s common among developers who deal with large files in their repositories. However, there’s a systematic way to correct your Git history so you can push without encountering size limits.

Step-by-Step Solution

Follow these organized steps to clean up your Git history and remove large files from your commits effectively:

Step 1: Reset to the Last Good Commit

You’ll start by returning to the commit just before the problematic changes were made. This is where you had a clean slate without the big files.

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Replace <Commit b> with the actual commit hash of your last known good commit.

Step 2: Remove Large Files from Git’s Index

Next, you’ll remove the large files from your Git index. This means they will no longer be tracked by Git, but the physical files will remain in your local repository unless you choose to delete them.

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Make sure to replace path/to/bigfile1 and path/to/bigfile2 with the actual paths to your large files.

If you'd like to delete the files from your disk entirely, use the command without --cached:

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Step 3: Amend the Previous Commit

Now that the large files have been removed from staging, you can amend your previous commit, which allows you to update it without those files:

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This will retain your previous commit message while updating the commit contents to exclude the large files.

Step 4: Push Your Changes

With the large files now removed from your commit history, you should be able to push your changes to the remote repository without any errors:

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Make sure to replace master with the correct branch name if you are working on a different branch.

Conclusion

By following these clear steps, you can ensure that large files don't hinder your development process in Git. Remember to always check the size of files before committing to prevent encountering similar issues. Mastering these techniques will help you maintain a cleaner and more efficient Git history.

Final Tips:

Use .gitignore files to ignore big files that you don't want to track in your Git repository.

Regularly review your commit history to keep it clean and manageable.

Preventing the (pushing of large files) can save you time and hassle, allowing you to focus on what matters—developing your application efficiently.

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