How to delete git commits but keep changes?

@kaley 

To delete or remove git commits while keeping the changes, you can use the interactive rebase feature provided by Git. Here are the steps to accomplish this:

1. Open the terminal or Git Bash.
2. Navigate to the repository directory using the cd command.
3. Run the following command to start the interactive rebase process:

1

git rebase -i HEAD~N

Replace N with the number of commits you want to remove. For example, if you want to remove the last three commits, use HEAD~3.

1. A text editor will open with a list of commits. Leave the word "pick" in front of the commits you want to keep intact. Change the word "pick" to "drop" or simply delete the line for the commits you want to delete.
2. Save and close the text editor.
3. Git will perform the rebase, and the selected commits will be removed.

Please note that rewriting Git history can have consequences if other people have cloned the repository. So, it's recommended to avoid using this method if your commits have already been pushed to a shared repository.

@kaley 

Additionally, after removing the commits using interactive rebase, you may need to force push your changes to the remote repository if you have already pushed the commits you removed.

To force push the changes:

1

git push origin <branch-name> --force

Replace <branch-name> with the name of the branch from which you removed the commits.

However, do exercise caution while using the --force flag as it rewrites history and can potentially cause issues for collaborators working on the same branch. It's advisable to communicate with other team members before force pushing changes to a shared repository.