GitApp commit history remove

[joniengr]

Hello, I am using GitApp. How can I remove the commit history at the web ?

[joniengr]

Any comment on this please ?

[zanilzanzan]

Hey there,

Short answer: You can’t delete commit history directly from the GitHub website.

To “remove” history you have to rewrite it locally and then force-push the new history to GitHub or just start a fresh repo.

Here are the usual options:

1. If you want to keep the repo but wipe its history:

# in your repo
git checkout --orphan clean-branch
git add .
git commit -m "Initial commit"
git branch -M main    # or master, whichever you use
git push -f origin main

That makes a new branch with only one commit and force-pushes it, so GitHub now shows only that commit.

2. If the history is sensitive/big and you need to edit it, you’d use tools like git filter-repo (or older git filter-branch) to rewrite, then:

git push -f origin main

3. Simplest alternative: create a new repo and push your current code there; delete the old one.

⚠️ Note: force-pushing rewrites history for everyone! Teammates will have to re-clone or reset. And none of this can be done purely on the web UI.

[joniengr]

I am wondering about the simplest option you mentioned in 3rd step.

Is that possible to delete the repository from the Git web and latter create a new repository with the same name on the Git web and push the current code from local drive to remote Git on web ?

[zanilzanzan]

Yep, that’s definitely possible — and it’s actually the easiest way to completely remove the commit history.

You can just delete the old repository from the web (under Settings → Danger Zone → Delete this repository), then create a new one with the same name. Once the old repo is gone, GitHub will let you reuse the name right away.

After that, in your local project folder, just point your code to the new remote and push it up again:

git remote remove origin
git remote add origin https://github.com/yourusername/your-repo-name.git
git branch -M main
git push -u origin main

That’ll give you a completely clean repo — same name, same code, but with all the old commits gone.