Archive or delete a branch

In Abstract, a branch is where you can safely explore and edit designs on your own working copy of the main branch. This is where all of your work and progress is tracked while it is ongoing and how past work is recorded for later reference. Archiving or deleting a branch should happen rarely, when you're sure you won't move forward with that work.

We always recommend that you archive branches instead of deleting them, because archived work is easily recoverable if you need to access it later. If a branch is stale, we recommend archiving that branch.

Deleting a branch deletes it forever. Deleted branches are unrecoverable. Archiving a branch stores it in the branch archive in case you'd like to reference it later.

Who can archive, delete, or transfer branches

When you create a branch, you become the owner of the branch. Branch owners can archive or delete their own branches.

Admin contributors in your organization are able to archive any user's branches, but only the branch owner can delete a branch.

If a member of your organization has left the team and has open branches remaining, any contributor user can transfer branch ownership to themselves.

Archive a branch

To delete or archive a branch:

1. Open the Abstract desktop app
2. Select the project with the branch you’d like to archive
3. Select Branches from the left side pane
4. Select the branch you'd like to archive
5. Click the  icon at the top right of the screen.
6. Select Archive....

Unarchive a branch

You can restore a previously archived branch if you want to continue work where you left off.

1. Open the Abstract desktop app
2. Select the project with the branch you’d like to unarchive
3. Select Branches from the left side pane
4. Select the Archived tab to view the archived branches in the project
5. Use the search bar, author filter, or scroll to locate the archived branch that you want to reopen
6. Click the icon at the far right side of the branch name
7. Select Unarchive to reopen the branch

Pro Tip: If you want to keep working from a branch that had been merged rather than archived, follow the steps 1-6 above and select New Child Branch... to create a copy of that branch which you can work in.

Delete a branch

To delete a branch:

1. Open the Abstract desktop app
2. Select the project with the branch you’d like to delete
3. Select Branches from the left side pane
4. Select the branch you'd like to delete.
5. Click the  icon at the top
6. Select Delete...
7. In the warning modal, select Delete Branch