---
type: snippet
id: le540vfe3hsou4yo
title: >
  Delete Local Git Branches Whose Remote
  Was Deleted
url: >
  https://www.jakubpelak.com/snippets/git-branches-remote-deleted
section: snippets
tags:
  - Git
  - Cleanup
  - Automation
  - CLI
published_at: 2026-01-31
---

# Delete Local Git Branches Whose Remote Was Deleted

When working with feature branches, it’s easy for your local repository to accumulate branches that were already deleted on the remote. This snippet safely removes all local branches whose remote tracking branch no longer exists.

```sh
git fetch -p && git branch -vv | awk '/: gone]/{print $1}' | xargs -r git branch -d
````

If you want to remove them regardless of merge status, replace `-d` with `-D`.