I have a folder which I'd like to remove in my remote repository. I'd like to delete it, but keep the folder in my computer
git rm --cached -r somedir
Will stage the deletion of the directory, but doesn't touch anything on disk. This works also for a file, like:
git rm --cached somefile.ext
Afterwards you may want to add somedir/
or somefile.ext
to your .gitignore
file so that git doesn't try to add it back.
I would just:
Move the folder out of your working tree
git rm the folder, commit the change
Add to .gitignore (or .git/info/excludes), commit the change
Move the folder back
git rm -r
Success story sharing
git rm --cached path/to/file