Git: Dealing with .pack Files

TL;DR

You’ve downloaded a Git repository and it’s full of .pack files instead of the actual code? This usually happens when you clone a repo without fetching all the branches or tags, or if the repo has been partially transferred. Here’s how to fix it.

Steps

1. Understand .pack Files
• .pack files are compressed bundles of Git objects (commits, trees, blobs). They save space and speed up operations.
• Seeing lots of .pack files usually means Git hasn’t fully unpacked the repository data yet.
2. Fetch All Data

The most common solution is to fetch all branches and tags from the remote repository.

git fetch --all

This command downloads everything without merging it into your local branches. It will unpack the .pack files as it goes.

3. Prune Remote-Tracking Branches

Sometimes, old remote-tracking branches can cause issues. Pruning removes these.

git prune

4. Garbage Collection

Git’s garbage collection process cleans up loose objects and optimizes the repository. Run this after fetching and pruning.

git gc --prune=now --aggressive

• --prune=now removes unreachable objects immediately.
• --aggressive performs more thorough optimization (takes longer).
5. Check Disk Space

Make sure you have enough free disk space. Unpacking the repository can require significant space.

• Use df -h on Linux/macOS or check your drive properties in Windows to see available space.
6. Shallow Clone (If Applicable)

If you intentionally did a shallow clone (e.g., with git clone --depth 1), you’ll need to increase the depth or fetch all history.

• To fetch all history after a shallow clone:

  git fetch --unshallow

7. Verify the Repository

After running these steps, check if your repository contains the actual code files and directories.

• List the contents of the repository:

  ls -la .git/objects

  (Linux/macOS) or use File Explorer in Windows. You should see unpacked objects instead of just .pack files.

8. Clone Again (Last Resort)

If all else fails, try cloning the repository again from scratch.