How to fix Would remove directory/ in Git

First, run a dry run to see exactly what would be deleted:

git clean -n

This shows files only. To include directories in the preview:

git clean -dn

Review the output carefully. The "Would remove" prefix indicates files and directories that will be permanently deleted.

If you only want to remove untracked files but keep directories:

git clean -f

The -f (force) flag is required because Git's default configuration (clean.requireForce) prevents accidental deletions.

To remove both untracked files and directories, combine the -d and -f flags:

git clean -df

This will delete:
- All untracked files
- All untracked directories (and their contents)

Warning: This action is irreversible. Files removed by git clean cannot be recovered through Git.

For more control over what gets deleted, use interactive mode:

git clean -di

This presents a menu where you can:
- clean: Remove all listed items
- filter by pattern: Exclude files matching a pattern
- select by numbers: Choose specific items to delete
- ask each: Confirm each deletion individually
- quit: Exit without deleting anything
- help: Show available commands

To also remove files that are ignored by .gitignore (like build artifacts):

# Preview what will be removed (including ignored files)
git clean -dnx

# Actually remove (including ignored files)
git clean -dfx

To remove ONLY ignored files (keeping untracked non-ignored files):

git clean -dfX

This is useful for cleaning build outputs while keeping your untracked configuration files.

To exclude certain files from being cleaned:

# Exclude a specific file
git clean -df -e "important-file.txt"

# Exclude files matching a pattern
git clean -df -e "*.log"

# Multiple exclusions
git clean -df -e "*.config" -e "local-settings/"

This is helpful when you want to clean most untracked files but preserve certain ones.

If git clean encounters untracked directories that contain .git subdirectories (nested repositories), it will refuse to remove them by default. To force removal:

git clean -dff

The double -f is required to delete nested git repositories. Be very careful with this—you could lose an entire repository's history.

If you're unsure about permanently deleting files, consider using git stash instead:

# Stash untracked files (can be restored later)
git stash --include-untracked

# Or stash everything including ignored files
git stash --all

Unlike git clean, stashed changes can be retrieved with:

git stash pop