Git Tips: Reset the repo to the first commit

Introduction

We cannot reset to the initial commit using rebase or revert due to git’s security mechanism.

We cannot completely delete the .git directory or we will lose everything in our project’s version control.

Here we are primarily concerned about the default branch, mostly main or master, as the first commit will land on it.

There are two ways to reset the commit history.

–  Changing the main branch

–  Deleting the main branch history

Changing the main branch approach

1. Rename main branch to something else. To a branch name that does not exist.

git branch -m main main_bkp

-m (or --move) renames the branch and moves the reflog.

1. Create a orphan branch from the current head.

git checkout --orphan main

--orphan creates a branch without any history or a parent. Totally disconnect branch from other branches/commits.

1. Delete main branch backup

This is last step as we don’t need the backup branch anymore.

git branch -D old_main

We still have all the changeset and brand new main branch with no commit history.

Deleting the main branch history approach

Same can be achieved with single command with this approach.

git update-ref -d HEAD

This command is risky as there is no backup. But if you know what you are doing, then this will be most efficient method.