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How could I remove a branch I had merged into master in the past ?

From something like :

master ... a---> b ---> c ---------> d -----> e ---> f ---> g ---> h \ / x ---> y ------> z branch1

to :

... a---> b ---> c ---------> d -----> f ---> g ---> h \ x ---> y ---> z branch1

I want to undo/remove merging of a branch into master I had done sometime earlier.

I have tried out something like but am getting conflicts. Is it possible ?

# currently we are in <h> commit in master branch git checkout master # new temporary branch git branch tmp_master git checkout tmp_master # reseting temp. branch to reqd. commit git reset <d> --hard # cherry-picking subsequent commits git cherry-pick <f>..<h>

After it was done --as I had expected to do :

# change temp. branch to master branch git branch -D master git branch -m master
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  • 3
    Look into rebasing Commented Sep 15, 2016 at 11:50
  • 1
    Seconded. Do an interactive rebase of master and delete commit e. Ditto with branch1. Commented Sep 15, 2016 at 11:51
  • Check out this question for a similar situation: stackoverflow.com/questions/17577409/… Commented Sep 15, 2016 at 11:52
  • Although if branch 1 hasn't moved after the commit, you can just reset it back one. Commented Sep 15, 2016 at 11:52
  • 1
    You're getting errors or conflicts? If actual errors, then please share those, otherwise your approach is sound and likely what I would do. Commented Sep 15, 2016 at 11:53

2 Answers 2

Reset to default
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git rebase --onto d e will remove e from the branch history of h. See here for more information.

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2 Comments

As there number of commits, as I go resolving a conflict & rebase --continue, conflict for the next commit appears. Do I need to handle the same conflict in each step ?
If subsequent commits depend upon something that was removed in e, then you will have to fix them up individually as far as I'm aware. However, someone else may know of a faster way (that I would definitely be interested in myself!).
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You either need to:

  • rebase --interactive (which would allow you to drop "e", the merge commit),
  • or git revert -m 1 e (see "Undoing Merges "), which creates a new commit cancelling the changes introduced by the merge.

The second solution allows for a simple push (you are pushing new commits), while the first solution would require a push --force (problematic in case of multiple user collaborating on the same remote repo)

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