How to remove commits from git history but otherwise keep the graph exactly the same, including merges?

Question

What I have:

---A----B-----C-----D--------*-----E-------> (master)
                     \\      /
                      1----2 (foo)
         


        

Answer 1

While what I am proposing will give you a clean, linear history; that's what rebase is supposed to do essentially. However, am hoping this gives you a way to remove B and B' from the commit history. Here goes the explanation:

Repo recreation output:
---A----B-----B'-----C--------D-------> (master)
                      \      /
                       1----2 (foo)

git log --graph --all --oneline --decorate #initial view the git commit graph
* dfa0f63 (HEAD -> master) add E
*   843612e Merge branch 'foo'
|\  
| * 3fd261f (foo) add 2
| * ed338bb add 1
|/  
* bf79650 add C
* ff94039 modify B
* 583110a add B
* cd8f6cd add A

git rebase -i HEAD~5 #here you drop 583110a/add B and ff94039/modify B from
foo branch.

git log --graph --all --oneline --decorate
$ git rebase -i HEAD~5
* 701d9e7 (HEAD -> master) add E
* 5a4be4f add 2
* 75b43d5 add 1
* 151742d add C
| * 3fd261f (foo) add 2
| * ed338bb add 1
| * bf79650 add C
| * ff94039 modify B
| * 583110a add B
|/  
* cd8f6cd add A

$ git rebase -i master foo #drop 583110a/add B and ff94039/modify B again

$ git log --graph --all --oneline --decorate #view the git commit graph

* 701d9e7 (HEAD -> foo, master) add E
* 5a4be4f add 2
* 75b43d5 add 1
* 151742d add C
* cd8f6cd add A

Lastly, the final out might not be in the order you'd expected A--C--1---2---E. However, you can re-arrange the order within the interactive mode again. Try git rebase -i HEAD~n.

Note: It's best to avoid changing commit/publishing history. I am a newbie and exploring git, hopefully the above solution should stick. That said am sure there are tonnes of other easier solutions available online. I found this article quite helpful, for future reference for all.