Here are several ways to delete all branches except main:

Delete all local branches except main

Safe approach:

git branch | grep -v "main" | xargs git branch -D

Or if you're currently on main:

git branch | grep -v "\*" | xargs git branch -D

More explicit version

git branch | grep -v -E "main|\*" | xargs -r git branch -D

The -E flag allows extended regex, and -r prevents xargs from running if there's no input.

Step-by-step approach

First, switch to main:

git checkout main

Then delete all other branches:

git branch | grep -v "main" | xargs git branch -D

If you also want to clean up remote tracking branches

git branch -r | grep -v "main" | sed 's/origin\///' | xargs -r git push origin --delete

All-in-one command

git checkout main && git branch | grep -v "main" | xargs git branch -D

Important notes:

• Using -D (capital D) force deletes branches, even if they have unmerged changes
• Using -d (lowercase d) only deletes merged branches (safer)
• Always make sure you're not deleting branches with important unmerged work
• Consider running git branch first to see what branches exist before deleting them

If you want the safer version that only deletes merged branches:

git checkout main && git branch --merged | grep -v "main" | xargs git branch -d