How can I delete all Git branches which have been merged?

Question

I have many Git branches. How do I delete branches which have already been merged? Is there an easy way to delete them all instead of deleting them one by one?

Answer 1

I've been using the following method to remove merged local AND remote branches in one cmd.

I have the following in my bashrc file:

function rmb {
  current_branch=$(git branch --no-color 2> /dev/null | sed -e '/^[^*]/d' -e 's/* \(.*\)/\1/')
  if [ "$current_branch" != "master" ]; then
    echo "WARNING: You are on branch $current_branch, NOT master."
  fi
  echo "Fetching merged branches..."
  git remote prune origin
  remote_branches=$(git branch -r --merged | grep -v '/master$' | grep -v "/$current_branch$")
  local_branches=$(git branch --merged | grep -v 'master$' | grep -v "$current_branch$")
  if [ -z "$remote_branches" ] && [ -z "$local_branches" ]; then
    echo "No existing branches have been merged into $current_branch."
  else
    echo "This will remove the following branches:"
    if [ -n "$remote_branches" ]; then
      echo "$remote_branches"
    fi
    if [ -n "$local_branches" ]; then
      echo "$local_branches"
    fi
    read -p "Continue? (y/n): " -n 1 choice
    echo
    if [ "$choice" == "y" ] || [ "$choice" == "Y" ]; then
      # Remove remote branches
      git push origin `git branch -r --merged | grep -v '/master$' | grep -v "/$current_branch$" | sed 's/origin\//:/g' | tr -d '\n'`
      # Remove local branches
      git branch -d `git branch --merged | grep -v 'master$' | grep -v "$current_branch$" | sed 's/origin\///g' | tr -d '\n'`
    else
      echo "No branches removed."
    fi
  fi
}

original source

This doesn't delete the master branch, but removes merged local AND remote branches. Once you have this in you rc file, just run rmb, you're shown a list of merged branches that will be cleaned and asked for confirmation on the action. You can modify the code to not ask for confirmation as well, but it's probably good to keep it in.