How to fix warning: filtering out blobs larger than limit in Git

GitINTERMEDIATELOWUpdated Dec 2, 2025· 201 views

This warning appears when using git clone --filter=blob:limit with large binary files. It indicates blobs exceeding the specified size limit are being excluded from the partial clone.

Quick fix

Fixes warning: filtering out blobs larger than limit

git config --local --get remote.origin.partialclonefilter
  1. Understand this is an informational warning, not an error
  2. Verify the partial clone configuration
  3. Fetch specific large files if needed
  4. Convert to a full clone if needed
git — error
git config --local --get remote.origin.partialclonefilter
warning: filtering out blobs larger than limit

What this error means

This warning occurs when you use Git's partial clone feature with a blob size filter (--filter=blob:limit=<size>). Git partial clones allow you to download only a subset of repository objects, which is particularly useful for large repositories with many large binary files. When you specify a blob size limit, Git will exclude any file contents (blobs) that exceed that size from the initial clone. This warning is informational - it's Git confirming that it's successfully filtering out large blobs as requested. The filtered blobs will be downloaded on-demand when you actually need to access those files through operations like checkout, blame, or diff. This is part of Git's partial clone protocol (protocol v2), which requires server-side support from your Git hosting provider. The feature helps developers work with large repositories more efficiently by reducing initial clone times and disk usage.

Typical symptoms

  • See "warning: filtering out blobs larger than limit" during git clone
  • Clone completes but .git/objects directory is smaller than expected
  • Large files are not immediately present in the working directory after clone
  • Subsequent git checkout operations may trigger additional downloads
  • Git commands like git blame on large files become slower as blobs download on-demand

Common causes

  1. Using git clone --filter=blob:limit=<size> with a repository containing large files
  2. Server successfully applying blob size filtering during partial clone
  3. Repository contains binary assets (images, videos, build artifacts) exceeding your filter size
  4. Intentional use of blobless or blob-limited clones to reduce clone time and disk usage
  5. CI/CD pipelines configured to use partial clones for faster builds

How to fix "warning: filtering out blobs larger than limit"

1Understand this is an informational warning, not an error

This warning confirms Git is working as intended. If you specified a blob filter, this message indicates it's successfully excluding large files. No action is needed unless you encounter actual errors.

Check what filter you applied:

bash
git config --local --get remote.origin.partialclonefilter

This will show your active filter, such as "blob:limit=1m" or "blob:none".

2Verify the partial clone configuration

Confirm your repository is set up as a partial clone:

bash
# Check if partial clone is enabled
git config --local --get remote.origin.promisor
# Output: true (if enabled)

# View your filter specification
git config --local --get remote.origin.partialclonefilter
# Example output: blob:limit=1048576

You can also check the .git/config file directly:

bash
cat .git/config | grep -A 5 'remote "origin"'
3Fetch specific large files if needed

If you need to work with a filtered-out large file, Git will automatically download it when you access it. To manually fetch specific blobs:

bash
# Checkout a file to trigger blob download
git checkout HEAD path/to/large-file.bin

# Or fetch all missing blobs for current HEAD
git lfs fetch --all  # If using Git LFS

For blob-filtered repositories without LFS:

bash
# Fetch missing objects for current branch
git fetch --filter=blob:none origin
4Convert to a full clone if needed

If you later decide you need all repository objects, you can convert your partial clone to a full clone:

bash
# Remove the partial clone filter
git config --local --unset remote.origin.promisor
git config --local --unset remote.origin.partialclonefilter

# Fetch all missing objects
git fetch --unshallow --filter=blob:none origin
git rev-list --all --objects | cut -d ' ' -f 1 | git cat-file --batch-check | grep blob | cut -d ' ' -f 1 | xargs git cat-file --batch > /dev/null

Or simply clone the repository again without the filter:

bash
git clone <repository-url> full-clone
5Adjust filter size if warnings are unexpected

If you're seeing this warning but didn't intend to filter blobs, check your global Git configuration:

bash
# Check global partial clone settings
git config --global --get-regexp 'clone.filter'
git config --global --get-regexp 'fetch.filter'

# Remove unwanted global filter
git config --global --unset clone.filterSubmodules
git config --global --unset fetch.writeCommitGraph

For new clones without filtering:

bash
git clone <repository-url>  # No filter flags

Advanced notes

Protocol and Server Support

Partial clone filtering requires Git protocol v2, which is supported by GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Azure DevOps, and Gitea (1.17+). Older Git servers or clients (pre-2.25) may not support this feature. If the server doesn't support filtering, Git will fall back to a full clone and may display "filtering not recognized by server, ignoring".

Filter Specifications

Different filter types serve different use cases:
- --filter=blob:none: Excludes all file contents (best for developers who need commit history)
- --filter=blob:limit=<size>: Excludes files larger than specified size (e.g., "1m", "10k")
- --filter=tree:0: Treeless clone (downloads commits only, fetches trees and blobs on-demand)
- --filter=combine:blob:none+tree:0: Combines multiple filters

Performance Tradeoffs

While partial clones significantly reduce initial clone time and disk usage, they have tradeoffs:
- Single-blob operations like git blame become slower as each blob is fetched individually
- No delta compression across on-demand fetched objects
- Network-dependent performance for file access
- Build systems may need to prefetch required blobs

For CI/CD environments that don't modify code, --filter=blob:none with --depth=1 provides the fastest clone times.

Git LFS vs Partial Clone

Git LFS (Large File Storage) and partial clone solve similar problems but work differently:
- LFS requires explicit file tracking and server-side LFS storage
- Partial clone works with any repository without configuration changes
- LFS is better for repositories with many large binaries
- Partial clone is simpler and works with standard Git servers

Many teams use both: LFS for tracked large assets and partial clone for historical objects.

Frequently asked questions

What does "warning: filtering out blobs larger than limit" mean?
This warning occurs when you use Git's partial clone feature with a blob size filter (--filter=blob:limit=<size>). Git partial clones allow you to download only a subset of repository objects, which is particularly useful for large repositories with many large binary files. When you specify a blob size limit, Git will exclude any file contents (blobs) that exceed that size from the initial clone.
How do I fix "warning: filtering out blobs larger than limit"?
This warning appears when using git clone --filter=blob:limit with large binary files. It indicates blobs exceeding the specified size limit are being excluded from the partial clone.
What causes "warning: filtering out blobs larger than limit"?
Using git clone --filter=blob:limit=<size> with a repository containing large files Server successfully applying blob size filtering during partial clone Repository contains binary assets (images, videos, build artifacts) exceeding your filter size
Is the "warning: filtering out blobs larger than limit" error serious?
It is a low-severity error — more of a blocker than a risk. The steps above resolve it.

Official resources & further reading