How do you remove Subversion control for a folder?

Question

I have a folder, c:\websites\test, and it contains folders and files that were checked out from a repository that no longer exists. How do I get Subversion to stop tracking that folder and any of the subfolders and files?

I know I could simply delete the .svn folder, but there are a lot of sub-folders in many layers.

Refer to my answer which has helped many. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/4889619/command-to-recursively-remove-all-svn-directories-on-windows/12399419#12399419 — Ajit Vaze, May 12 '16 at 06:21
If you're using TortioseSVN, I wrote a blog post that shows the fastest way to do this. My post has step-by-step instructions with pictures. That post is available at [http://www.ecofic.com/about/blog/disconnecting-folder-from-svn](http://www.ecofic.com/about/blog/disconnecting-folder-from-svn) — Chad Campbell, Jul 27 '13 at 14:07
First link is broken. General rule of thumb: Avoid SVN by any means. It's the year 2023 btw. — , Jul 20 '23 at 14:00

crashmstr · Accepted Answer · 2012-04-05T12:14:34.083

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Also, if you are using TortoiseSVN, just export to the current working copy location and it will remove the .svn folders and files.

http://tortoisesvn.net/docs/release/TortoiseSVN_en/tsvn-dug-export.html#tsvn-dug-export-unversion

Updated Answer for Subversion 1.7:
In Subversion 1.7 the working copy has been revised extensively. There is only one .svn folder, located in the base of the working copy. If you are using 1.7, then just deleting the .svn folder and its contents is an easy solution (regardless of using TortoiseSVN or command line tools).

edited Apr 05 '12 at 12:14

answered Sep 30 '08 at 20:29

crashmstr

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Link is now a 404. New link: http://tortoisesvn.net/docs/release/TortoiseSVN_en/tsvn-dug-export.html#tsvn-dug-export-unversion The export-over-current does seem to be just a special case that only removes the .svn files if you say to also keep unversioned files. – lilbyrdie Feb 01 '11 at 20:57
after successful removing for getting back your folder icon in normal restart the svn server and that's all – 3ehrang Feb 27 '12 at 08:58
The server would not have anything to do with Tortoise folder icons. But if they don't update you can try killing the TSVNCache process. It should restart automatically. – crashmstr Feb 27 '12 at 12:36
1

In my case, I deleted git folder also together with .svn folder – Aftab Ahmed Kalhoro Jul 23 '18 at 04:36

score 158 · Answer 2 · edited Nov 14 '11 at 13:44

158

On Linux, this will work:

  find . -iname ".svn" -print0 | xargs -0 rm -r

edited Nov 14 '11 at 13:44

T.Rob

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answered Sep 30 '08 at 20:35

Max Cantor

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before running the command be sure to enter the proper directory, example: cd mySVNdirectoryWhereToRemoveTheSubfolders – Camaleo Oct 01 '14 at 10:24
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I get rm: missing operand – Winter Jul 03 '17 at 19:45

pkaeding · Answer 3 · 2008-09-30T20:42:06.717

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Try svn export.

You should be able to do something like this:

svn export /path/to/old/working/copy /path/to/plain/code

And then just delete the old working copy.

TortoiseSVN also has an export feature, which behaves the same way.

edited Sep 30 '08 at 20:42

answered Sep 30 '08 at 20:22

pkaeding

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Thanks for providing an answer that works with the command line. :) Great for those of us using terminals. – epochwolf Aug 10 '09 at 00:01
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If I understand correctly, this command will only export the files currently under subversion control. So if some files or folders have not yet been added certain to subversion or were removed from subversion control, you will lose these files in your export... – Chris Jul 26 '10 at 11:01
@Chris, yes, you are correct. This will only export the versioned files. This is good for exporting the code, and leaving behind derived artifacts, etc, but it might not be the right tool for every job. – pkaeding Apr 21 '11 at 02:44
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Worth a comment that this DOES still work if the SVN server is long gone; if you try to export using VisualSVN or Tortoise SVN it appeares to try to contact the server, but the command line version above worked for me without the SVN server still running. – Dave Feb 16 '12 at 23:38
I get an error: `svn: E000002: Can't stat '/.classpath': No such file or directory` – IgorGanapolsky Aug 10 '16 at 19:05

score 35 · Answer 4 · edited May 13 '13 at 08:58

35

If you are running Windows then you can do a search on that folder for .svn and that will list them all. Pressing Ctrl + A will select all of them and pressing delete will remove all the 'pesky' Subversion stuff.

edited May 13 '13 at 08:58

Peter Mortensen

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answered Sep 30 '08 at 20:25

graham.reeds

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pesky indeed ;-) I just need to clean it up and I'll put it back to a new repository. – Brian Boatright Sep 30 '08 at 20:26
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that's also a GREAT way to delete the even most pesky frontpage extension folders! – Brian Boatright Sep 30 '08 at 20:27
Download and use Everything Search utility to find & delete .svn folders in light speed :) http://www.voidtools.com/ Windows only! – endo64 Jul 20 '13 at 15:28
To those that can't find the .svn folder. It is a hidden folder so make sure hidden items are shown in your file explorer. – JanWillem Huising Mar 29 '22 at 07:35

score 25 · Answer 5 · edited May 09 '12 at 11:59

25

On Linux the command is:

svn delete --keep-local file_name

edited May 09 '12 at 11:59

apaderno

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answered May 08 '12 at 15:14

bunteKnete

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score 22 · Answer 6 · answered Feb 02 '11 at 22:33

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I found that you don't even need to copy to a temporary location. You can do a

svn export --force .

and the .svn files will be removed in situ, leaving the other files as is. Very convenient and less prone to clutter.

answered Feb 02 '11 at 22:33

I. J. Kennedy

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I don't know what it is, but it did not work for me for some reason. – Aries Jun 22 '11 at 17:09
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This command only works for the working copy, not a folder inside it. Maybe a variant of the same... ? – Jun 29 '11 at 13:39
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This will not work if the installed version of Subversion is 1.7 and the repository is for 1.6. However, "svn upgrade" can be run prior to the export and it will work. – Peter Mortensen May 13 '13 at 09:17

score 11 · Answer 7 · edited Jul 19 '17 at 16:00

11

Without subshells in Linux to delete .svn folders:

find . -name .svn -exec rm -r -f {} +

rm = remove
-r = recursive (folders)
-f = force, avoids a lot of "a your sure you want to delete file XY".

edited Jul 19 '17 at 16:00

Peter Mortensen

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answered Sep 04 '12 at 14:06

user1439712

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score 10 · Answer 8 · answered Feb 03 '15 at 19:52

None of these answers was satisfactory for my situation. I'm on subversion 1.8 and I had a working copy that only had a single .svn folder at the very first folder, root. However, I wanted to remove some branches from working copy.

No matter what I did, whenever I ran an 'update' it would restore those files and bring them all back. I didn't want to remove them from the repository, just from my computer -- but I needed to keep the rest of the working copy in tact (thus couldn't just remove the .svn folder).

Solution? svn update --set-depth exclude <dir>

This is a client-side "update" that excludes a specific directory. It can be found in the manuals at svnbook.com. In short, it describes this as:

Beginning with Subversion 1.6, you can take a different approach. First, check out the directory in full. Then run svn update --set-depth exclude on the one subdirectory you don't care about.

For TortoiseSVN, you can also do the same thing by right-clicking the folder you don't want, click on Update to revision..., and then set the 'Update Depth' to Exclude, as seen in this screen shot:

enter image description here

You cannot remove working copy root folders, though. – JaBe Jan 21 '16 at 08:49 — JaBe, Jan 21 '16 at 08:49

score 8 · Answer 9 · edited Aug 11 '16 at 19:18

8

It worked well for me:

find directory_to_delete/ -type d -name '*.svn' | xargs rm -rf

edited Aug 11 '16 at 19:18

IgorGanapolsky

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answered Aug 01 '13 at 09:52

Manikandan S

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This is such a simple solution, yet works like a charm. – IgorGanapolsky Aug 10 '16 at 19:06
@IgorGanapolsky I'm glad. My solution is helped you. – Manikandan S Aug 11 '16 at 19:16
as long as nobody has run `mkdir -p ';echo Hi Johnny;/.svn'` -- in that case the {} invocation of find should still work though – Never Sleep Again Sep 03 '19 at 16:46

score 7 · Answer 10 · edited Feb 24 '12 at 13:18

7

Use the svn export command:

cd c:\websites\test
svn export c:\websites\test_copy

All files under version control will be exported. Double check to make sure you haven't missed anything.

edited Feb 24 '12 at 13:18

Peter Mortensen

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answered Sep 30 '08 at 20:24

1800 INFORMATION

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score 5 · Answer 11 · answered Feb 15 '11 at 11:10

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Just remove the .svn folder inside the required folder then the control will be automatically removed.

answered Feb 15 '11 at 11:10

Ramudu

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score 4 · Answer 12 · answered Feb 24 '12 at 13:20

On Windows, you can add a quicklink for that to your explorer right click menu. Just start this registry script:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\DeleteSVN]
@="Delete SVN Folders"

[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOT\Folder\shell\DeleteSVN\command]
@="cmd.exe /c \"TITLE Removing SVN Folders in %1 && COLOR 9A && FOR /r \"%1\" %%f IN (.svn) DO RD /s /q \"%%f\" \""

This will add an item called "Delete SVN Folders" to your right click menu. This will delete all .svn folders in this folder and all subfolders.

Source (German): http://www.sjmp.de/software/alle-svn-ordner-und-dateien-loeschen/

score 2 · Answer 13 · answered Sep 30 '08 at 20:23

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You can use "svn export" for creating a copy of that folder without svn data, or you can add that folder to ignore list

answered Sep 30 '08 at 20:23

andy.gurin

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score 2 · Answer 14 · answered Nov 04 '10 at 13:37

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For those using NetBeans with SVN, there is an option 'Subversion > Export'.

answered Nov 04 '10 at 13:37

Ladik

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Martin Buberl · Answer 15 · 2011-02-02T22:57:57.327

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There's also a nice little open source tool called SVN Cleaner which adds three options to the Windows Explorer Context Menu:

Remove All .svn
Remove All But Root .svn
Remove Local Repo Files

edited Feb 02 '11 at 22:57

answered Feb 02 '11 at 22:38

Martin Buberl

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Release in 2009. I would be precautious using this tool and double checking native SVN client first. – Jul 20 '23 at 14:01

score 2 · Answer 16 · answered Dec 16 '11 at 21:15

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On Windows 7 one can just open the project folder and do a search for ".svn" if hidden files are enabled and delete all found .svn folders.

answered Dec 16 '11 at 21:15

Unknown_Guy

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Win Win XP that works great as well. Note that with SVN 1.7 the `.svn` directories no longer exist scattered around. For more details check out http://subversion.apache.org/docs/release-notes/1.7.html#wc-ng – Joao Coelho Jan 06 '12 at 19:18

score 1 · Answer 17 · edited Jul 19 '17 at 16:00

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Another (simpler) Linux solution:

rm -r `find /path/to/foo -name .svn`

edited Jul 19 '17 at 16:00

Peter Mortensen

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answered May 22 '13 at 16:15

Dougvj

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score 1 · Answer 18 · answered May 28 '13 at 09:45

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The answer is surprisingly simple - export the folder to itself! TortoiseSVN detects this special case and asks if you want to make the working copy unversioned. If you answer yes the control directories will be removed and you will have a plain, unversioned directory tree.

answered May 28 '13 at 09:45

Srikanth

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Isn't this just re-quoting the accepted answer given 5 years ago? – Ben Thurley May 30 '13 at 15:49

score 1 · Answer 19 · edited Jul 19 '17 at 17:20

THE BEST AND EASIEST WAY

If you think that you could win with a simple magic command you are failed! SVN is really tricky and always come back somehow with a new error message in Xcode. Sooner or later, promise... so you have to do it smart!

As you know the regular and best practice under Xcode is deleting a file on the project pane on the left. If you missed it and somehow deleted it in Finder you are in trouble. Big trouble! But you could solve it and spare time if you do it well.

First, you need to delete the SVN reference to the file or folder before you could delete it actually

If you could just put back the file/folder from the trash or undo the last step when you deleted it, then...
Go to Terminal - yes, the good old terminal - and go to that location. Best way just type cd then pull the folder/file to the Terminal. You will get something similar

cd /Users/UserName/Documents/Apps_Developing/...

You could check where are you with

ls

command which list your files.

Then you need to delete the svn reference with an SVN command:

svn delete --keep-local fileName_toDelete

This will delete the file from the SVN repository, BUT you have to delete it manually in Finder.

score 1 · Answer 20 · answered Aug 17 '10 at 16:33

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Check this, http://www.hacktrix.com/how-to-delete-svn-folders-from-your-project-on-windows-linux-and-mac

answered Aug 17 '10 at 16:33

delete svn folder

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score 0 · Answer 21 · edited Jul 19 '17 at 15:59

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My idea is to remove the .svn folder and then move all other files to a new folder. It is as simple as that.

edited Jul 19 '17 at 15:59

Peter Mortensen

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answered Sep 01 '12 at 14:41

Alvin567

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yeeking · Answer 22 · 2013-04-27T21:07:51.850

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I use rsync:

# copy folder src to srcStripped excluding subfolders named '.svn'. retain dates, verbose output
rsync -av --exclude .svn src srcStripped

edited Apr 27 '13 at 21:07

answered Apr 10 '13 at 13:09

yeeking

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score 0 · Answer 23 · edited Jul 19 '17 at 16:02

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When you are using the Windows OS, go to your folder location and check hidden files are open, and then you can see the SVN folder in there. Just remove that folder.

edited Jul 19 '17 at 16:02

Peter Mortensen

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answered Jul 22 '15 at 10:02

dush88c

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score 0 · Answer 24 · edited Jul 19 '17 at 16:02

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svn export works fine, but I think this is:

svn rm --keep-local <folder/file>

It removes it from your local repository.

edited Jul 19 '17 at 16:02

Peter Mortensen

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answered Oct 19 '15 at 15:26

Javier Salinas

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score 0 · Answer 25 · edited Jul 19 '17 at 17:18

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As a vital point, when you use the shell to delete .svn folders, you need the -depth argument to prevent the find command entering the directory that was just deleted and showing error messages like e.g.

"find: ./.svn: No such file or directory"

As a result, you can use the find command like below:

cd [dir_to_delete_svn_folders]
find . -depth -name .svn -exec rm -fr {} \;

edited Jul 19 '17 at 17:18

Peter Mortensen

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answered Oct 23 '15 at 07:13

fatihk

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score 0 · Answer 26 · answered Mar 21 '19 at 15:31

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From a Windows command line:

rmdir .svn /s /q

answered Mar 21 '19 at 15:31

Michael Ross

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score 0 · Answer 27 · answered Apr 23 '20 at 19:27

Use the following:

svn rm --keep-local <folder name> to remove the folder and everything within it.

svn rm --keep-local <folder name>/* to keep the folder, but remove everything within the folder.

Here is an example of what happens:

~/code/web/sites/testapp $ svn rm --keep-local includes/data/*
D         includes/data/json
D         includes/data/json/index.html
D         includes/data/json/oembed
D         includes/data/json/oembed/1.0
D         includes/data/json/oembed/1.0/embed1.json
D         includes/data/json/oembed/1.0/embed2.json
D         includes/data/json/oembed/1.0/embed3.json

score 0 · Answer 28 · edited Jul 19 '17 at 15:59

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NetBeans IDE users can do it as below:

Open the SVN project in your IDE
Select the project

right click Subversion Export
In the dialog box

export to folder /var/tmp/projectname press export wait will show complete will ask do you want to open it do open on the fly
You can now switch to Git :)

edited Jul 19 '17 at 15:59

Peter Mortensen

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answered Jan 19 '12 at 19:54

score -1 · Answer 29 · edited Apr 27 '16 at 22:01

-1

On Windows 10, we need to go to Windows Explorer, and then go to View and check the checkbox for View hidden files.

Then navigate to the folder that has the SVN linked on Windows Explorer and delete the .svn folder/file.

edited Apr 27 '16 at 22:01

CodeMouse92

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answered Apr 27 '16 at 21:54

Praseeda

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Although I edited the formatting, this answer doesn't actually answer the question. The user already knows how to delete the base `.svn` folder, but he is asking about all of the sub-folders. Please **read the question thoroughly.** – CodeMouse92 Apr 27 '16 at 22:02

How do you remove Subversion control for a folder?

29 Answers29

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