docs/content/github/managing-files-in-a-repository/deleting-files-in-a-repository.md

title	intro	redirect_from	versions	permissions
Deleting files in a repository	You can delete an individual file{% if currentVersion == "free-pro-team@latest" or currentVersion ver_gt "enterprise-server@3.0" %} or an entire directory{% endif %} in your repository on {% data variables.product.product_name %}.	[/articles/deleting-files /github/managing-files-in-a-repository/deleting-files /github/managing-files-in-a-repository/deleting-a-file-or-directory]	[{free-pro-team *} {enterprise-server *} {github-ae *}]	People with write permissions can delete files{% if currentVersion == "free-pro-team@latest" or currentVersion ver_gt "enterprise-server@3.0" %} or directories{% endif %} in a repository.

About file{% if currentVersion == "free-pro-team@latest" or currentVersion ver_gt "enterprise-server@3.0" %} and directory{% endif %} deletion

You can delete an individual file in your repository{% if currentVersion == "free-pro-team@latest" or currentVersion ver_gt "enterprise-server@3.0" %} or an entire directory, including all the files in the directory{% endif %}.

If you try to delete a file{% if currentVersion == "free-pro-team@latest" or currentVersion ver_gt "enterprise-server@3.0" %} or directory{% endif %} in a repository that you don’t have write permissions to, we'll fork the project to your user account and help you send a pull request to the original repository after you commit your change. For more information, see "About pull requests."

If the file{% if currentVersion == "free-pro-team@latest" or currentVersion ver_gt "enterprise-server@3.0" %} or directory{% endif %} you deleted contains sensitive data, the data will still be available in the repository's Git history. To completely remove the file from {% data variables.product.product_name %}, you must remove the file from your repository's history. For more information, see "Removing sensitive data from a repository."

Deleting a file

1. Browse to the file in your repository that you want to delete.
2. At the top of the file, click {% octicon "trashcan" aria-label="The trashcan icon" %}. {% data reusables.files.write_commit_message %} {% data reusables.files.choose-commit-email %} {% data reusables.files.choose_commit_branch %} {% data reusables.files.propose_file_change %}

{% if currentVersion == "free-pro-team@latest" or currentVersion ver_gt "enterprise-server@3.0" %}

Deleting a directory

1. Browse to the directory in your repository that you want to delete.
2. In the top-right corner, click {% octicon "kebab-horizontal" aria-label="The horizontal kebab icon" %}, then click Delete directory.
3. Review the files you will delete. {% data reusables.files.write_commit_message %} {% data reusables.files.choose-commit-email %} {% data reusables.files.choose_commit_branch %} {% data reusables.files.propose_file_change %} {% endif %}