Delete a branch

Question

How do I delete a branch in TortoiseSVN?

1. Can I simply delete the working copy of the branch and the folder in the repository?
2. Should the local working copy of the branch first be deleted, or the branch folder through the Repository Browser be removed?

Answer 1

Right click on any folder, select "Repo-browser" and find your branch on the left panel. From there, you can issue a "Delete" command directly on the repository.

As far as I know, you cannot issue a delete command on the top folder* of the working copy, probably because that would effectively destroy the working copy.

(*) You can of course remove the branch from the working copy if it's an inner folder, i.e., you check out e.g. https://svn.example.com/repo/project/branches instead of https://svn.example.com/repo/project/branches/feature-blah.

Answer 2

The SVN book ("Version Control with Subversion") explains how to delete and restore branches.

Although it suggests remote deletion like

$ svn delete http://svn.example.com/repos/calc/branches/my-calc-branch \
  -m "Removing obsolete branch of calc project."

you could also do it locally (with the TortoiseSVN > Delete command).

As mentioned in the book, you can always restore branches, so you won't get any unexpected consequences.

Answer 3

How do I delete a branch in TortoiseSVN?

There's more than one way to do this, but after years of experience with Tortoise I have found deleting via the Repository Browser to be the least troublesome way.

Right click on the working copy and open the Repo-browser:

The browser looks like this:

Right click on the item and choose to delete it. You'll then be asked for a commit summary. Enter your rationale and click OK.

Can I simply delete the working copy of the branch and the folder in the repository?

If you have the branch checked out on its own, i.e. just that branch with its own .svn folder then technically there is no need to delete the working copy. The order of operation doesn't matter in this scenario.

Should the local working copy of the branch first be deleted, or the branch folder through the repository browser be removed?

If the item you are deleting is checked out as part of a bigger tree - for example, you have the entire /branches folder checked out in one place - I recommend deleting via the Repo-browser and then svn updating the working copy to pick up the deletion.