If you've committed a large file to your repository that takes up a significant amount of disk space, simply removing it in a later commit won't actually help. Git stores the full history of every file, so even after you delete a file from your working directory, it remains in Git's history in case you want to restore it.

To truly remove the file, you need to rewrite the repository's history.

## Using `git filter-repo` (recommended)

[`git filter-repo`](https://github.com/newren/git-filter-repo) is the modern replacement for the older `filter-branch` command. It's faster, safer, and the approach recommended by the Git project itself.

First, install it:

```bash
# macOS
brew install git-filter-repo

# pip (any platform)
pip3 install git-filter-repo
```

Then remove the file from your entire history:

```bash
git filter-repo --invert-paths --path path/to/ceo.jpg
```

That's it. The file is gone from every commit. If you need to remove multiple files or a directory:

```bash
git filter-repo --invert-paths --path assets/videos/ --path old-backup.sql
```

**Note:** `git filter-repo` requires a fresh clone by default. If you're working on an existing checkout, add `--force` --- but make sure you have a backup first.

## Using BFG Repo-Cleaner

[BFG Repo-Cleaner](https://rtyley.github.io/bfg-repo-cleaner/) is another popular option, especially for removing large files by size. It's a Java tool that's simpler than filter-repo for bulk cleanup:

```bash
# Remove all files over 50MB from history
java -jar bfg.jar --strip-blobs-bigger-than 50M my-repo.git

# Remove a specific file by name
java -jar bfg.jar --delete-files ceo.jpg my-repo.git
```

After running BFG, clean up the repository:

```bash
cd my-repo.git
git reflog expire --expire=now --all
git gc --prune=now --aggressive
```

## Using `git filter-branch` (deprecated fallback)

The older `filter-branch` command still works but is deprecated and significantly slower on large repositories. Use it only if `filter-repo` and BFG are unavailable:

```bash
git filter-branch --force --index-filter \
  'git rm --cached --ignore-unmatch path/to/ceo.jpg' \
  --prune-empty --tag-name-filter cat -- --all
```

## Force push to your remotes

After rewriting history with any of the tools above, you'll need to force push to update the remote:

```bash
git push origin --force --all
```

Force pushing rewrites commits that other developers may have based work on. If you're on a team, coordinate with them before running this --- or read up on [the consequences of force pushing](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/21259585/other-consequences-of-git-push-force).

The space won't be reclaimed on the remote host immediately. You'll need to wait for garbage collection to run before the size is recalculated.

## Preventing large files in the future

Once you've cleaned up, take steps to avoid the same problem again:

**Update your `.gitignore`** to exclude files that shouldn't be tracked. We've written a [beginner's guide to `.gitignore` files](/git/ignoring-files) that covers the basics.

**Use Git LFS** for files that need to be in the repo but are too large for regular Git. LFS replaces large files with lightweight pointers while storing the actual content on a separate server. See our guide on [managing Git LFS with DeployHQ](/git/managing-git-lfs-and-deployhq) for setup instructions.

## Related

- [Ignoring files with `.gitignore`](/git/ignoring-files)
- [Managing Git LFS and DeployHQ](/git/managing-git-lfs-and-deployhq)
- [`git push` command reference](/git/publishing-local-changes)

---

[DeployHQ](https://www.deployhq.com) works with repositories of any size. If you're using Git LFS, DeployHQ supports it out of the box --- [get started free](https://www.deployhq.com/signup).