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Git error: Cannot delete branch 'some-branch' checked out at 'some-location'

Oct 22, 2022 · 1 min read · Post a comment

While I was playing around with the Git flow, I received the following error: error: Cannot delete branch <some-branch> checked out at <some-location> as I was trying to remove a local branch that I was working on. Obviously you can’t remove a branch where HEAD is currently pointing at. And for the solution, pretty straightforward.

Prerequisites

  • Git

Solution

Step 1. Check out another branch. For instance:

git checkout main

Step 2. Pull any changes.

git pull

Step 3. Remove the local branch causing the error.

git branch -D feature1

Step 4. Optionally, delete the remote branch as well.

git push origin -d feature1

Conclusion

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