How to fix fatal: unable to write sha1 file: Disk quota exceeded in Git

What this error means

When Git stores data, it creates object files (blobs, trees, commits) in the `.git/objects` directory. Each object is stored as a file named by its SHA-1 hash. This error appears when the operating system refuses to create new files because your user account has exceeded its allocated disk quota. Disk quotas are limits imposed by system administrators on shared systems (university servers, web hosting, corporate networks) to prevent any single user from consuming all available disk space. Unlike "No space left on device" (which means the entire filesystem is full), "Disk quota exceeded" specifically means **your account's allocation is full**, even though the physical disk may have plenty of space remaining. This error commonly occurs during: - `git clone` of large repositories - `git fetch` or `git pull` with many new objects - `git commit` when adding large files - `git gc` (garbage collection) which may temporarily increase space usage before cleanup

Typical symptoms

• Git clone fails partway through with 'Disk quota exceeded'
• Git fetch or pull operations fail when receiving new objects
• Git commit fails when creating new object files
• Git operations that previously worked now fail consistently
• The error mentions 'sha1 file' or '.git/objects'
• Other programs also fail with disk quota errors
• Running 'quota' command shows you're at or over your limit

Common causes

1. User disk quota on shared system is exhausted (most common)
2. Large repository clone consuming entire quota allocation
3. Accumulated Git objects from many repositories over time
4. Large files tracked in Git history consuming quota
5. Git reflog and stale objects taking up space
6. Home directory filled with non-Git files
7. Quota set too low for development work
8. CI/CD environment with restrictive per-job quotas

How to fix "fatal: unable to write sha1 file: Disk quota exceeded"

# Standard quota command (Linux)
quota -s

# Or with more detail
quota -v

# On some systems
repquota -u $USER

Disk quotas for user alice (uid 1001):
     Filesystem  blocks   quota   limit   grace   files   quota   limit
      /dev/sda1   4900M   5000M   5500M            15234   0       0

# Find largest directories in home
du -sh ~/* 2>/dev/null | sort -hr | head -20

# Find large files
find ~ -type f -size +10M -exec ls -lh {} \; 2>/dev/null | sort -k5 -hr | head -20

# Check Git repository sizes
find ~ -name ".git" -type d -exec du -sh {} \; 2>/dev/null | sort -hr

# Navigate to your repository
cd /path/to/repo

# Remove old reflog entries (keeps only recent history)
git reflog expire --expire=now --all

# Garbage collect unreachable objects
git gc --prune=now --aggressive

# Check the size before and after
du -sh .git

for repo in $(find ~ -name ".git" -type d); do
  echo "Cleaning $repo"
  git -C "$(dirname $repo)" gc --prune=now
done

# Clear package manager caches
npm cache clean --force
pip cache purge
yarn cache clean

# Remove old log files
find ~ -name "*.log" -mtime +30 -delete

# Clear temporary files
rm -rf ~/.cache/* /tmp/$USER-*

# Remove unused node_modules (be careful!)
find ~ -name "node_modules" -type d -prune -exec rm -rf {} \;

# Clone only the latest commit
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/user/repo.git

# Clone with limited history
git clone --depth 100 https://github.com/user/repo.git

# Clone only a specific branch
git clone --depth 1 --single-branch --branch main https://github.com/user/repo.git

# Deepen the history gradually
git fetch --deepen=100

# Or convert to full clone (if you have space)
git fetch --unshallow

# Check available filesystems
df -h

# Clone to a shared or project directory (if available)
git clone https://github.com/user/repo.git /shared/projects/repo

# Or use /tmp for temporary work (WARNING: may be cleared on reboot)
git clone https://github.com/user/repo.git /tmp/repo

ln -s /shared/projects/repo ~/repo

Advanced notes

# Check both block and inode usage
quota -vs

# Install Git LFS
git lfs install

# Track large file types
git lfs track "*.psd"
git lfs track "*.zip"

# Verify tracking
cat .gitattributes

# Create a maintenance script
cat > ~/bin/git-cleanup.sh << 'EOF'
#!/bin/bash
for repo in $(find ~ -name ".git" -type d 2>/dev/null); do
  dir=$(dirname "$repo")
  echo "Cleaning $dir"
  git -C "$dir" reflog expire --expire=now --all
  git -C "$dir" gc --prune=now
done
EOF
chmod +x ~/bin/git-cleanup.sh

# Check SSH directory size
du -sh ~/.ssh

# Remove old known_hosts entries
ssh-keygen -R old-server.example.com

# GitLab CI example - use shallow clones
variables:
  GIT_DEPTH: 10
  GIT_STRATEGY: fetch

# GitHub Actions - shallow checkout
- uses: actions/checkout@v4
  with:
    fetch-depth: 1

# Check filesystem space (full disk)
df -h ~

# Check your quota (quota exceeded)
quota -s

Frequently asked questions

What does "EDQUOT" mean?

git/objects directory. Each object is stored as a file named by its SHA-1 hash. This error appears when the operating system refuses to create new files because your user account has exceeded its allocated disk quota.

How do I fix "EDQUOT"?

This error occurs when Git cannot write object files because your user account has exceeded its disk quota. The fix involves either freeing up space within your quota, requesting a quota increase from your system administrator, or cleaning up Git-specific storage like old objects and large files.

What causes "EDQUOT"?

User disk quota on shared system is exhausted (most common) Large repository clone consuming entire quota allocation Accumulated Git objects from many repositories over time

Is the "EDQUOT" error serious?

It is a medium-severity error — more of a blocker than a risk. The steps above resolve it.

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Official resources & further reading

• 📚Git Official Documentation
• 📖
  git-gc Documentation - Cleanup unnecessary files and optimize repository(Official Docs)
• 📖
  git-reflog Documentation - Manage reflog information(Official Docs)
• 📖
  git-clone --depth - Create a shallow clone with limited history(Official Docs)
• 📖
  Git Large File Storage (LFS) - Managing large files in Git(Official Docs)
• 📖
  quota(1) - Display disk usage and limits(Official Docs)
• 💬
  Git error: unable to write sha1 filename disk quota exceeded - Stack Overflow(Stack Overflow)