Contributor problem

[rayeedhasan2001]

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So my friend and I worked on a project
He pushed the project first
Then he transferred ownership to me
I want to remove all his traces from the repository
In the settings>Collaborators, it shows that no one has contributed to this project
But in the repository where the project files are listed on that page, this shows contributors-> my friend's account
Now I want to remove his id from that page
I don't understand the issue because in collaborators there is nobody
but in contributors in the main page , his id is shown

What to do ???

[ghost]

The issue you're describing relates to the "Contributors" section on the repository main page, which is different from the "Collaborators" setting. Here's how this works and what you can do:

Contributors Section:

The contributors listed on the main page are determined by the commit history of the repository. GitHub automatically identifies contributors based on commits made to the repository.
Since your friend pushed the initial commits, their contributions are still visible in the commit history, which is why their account is shown under the "Contributors" section.
Collaborators Section:

The "Collaborators" section in the repository settings shows users who currently have access to the repository. Since you've removed your friend as a collaborator, their name no longer appears here.
How to Remove Your Friend from the Contributors Section
To remove your friend's account from the "Contributors" section:

Rewrite the Commit History:

You can rewrite the commit history to remove all commits associated with your friend's account. This is a complex process and involves using tools like git rebase or git filter-branch. Be cautious, as this will rewrite the repository's history and invalidate all previous clones or forks of the repository.
For more information on rewriting history, check out GitHub's guide on rewriting history.
Push the Changes to GitHub:

After rewriting the history locally, you will need to force-push the changes to the remote repository (git push --force).
Inform Collaborators:

If other people have cloned the repository, they will need to re-clone it after the history is rewritten.
Also check it
Removing a collaborator from a personal repository

[Pix3lexe]

Contributors are users who appear in the commit history. Since your friend made commits and pushed the project he is listed as a contributor. If you really want him not to be listed as a contributor you have to rewrite the commit history. You can create a local repository, copy the content over there and force push its branch over to the real repository. If you need more help let me know.

[QuanjianSong]

Hello, I have already done that, but this person still appears in the contributors list. However, when I click on it, the profile is no longer visible. I’m wondering if this is due to some kind of caching effect, and if so, how long it might take to update?

[luoxyhappy]

Hello, I have already done that, but this person still appears in the contributors list. However, when I click on it, the profile is no longer visible. I’m wondering if this is due to some kind of caching effect, and if so, how long it might take to update?

Me too. How long did you wait to update?

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[ShekhFaisal26]

This is a common point of confusion — the “Contributors” section on a GitHub repository’s main page doesn’t show current collaborators, but rather a historical list of commit authors.

Even if you remove someone from Collaborators or Transfer Ownership, their name may still appear as a Contributor if any commits in the repository’s history were made under their GitHub account.

🧠 Why This Happens
Collaborators → means people who currently have write access to the repo.
Contributors → means anyone whose commits are part of the repository’s Git history.

So, your friend still appears there because:

1.They authored one or more commits before transferring ownership.
2.Those commits still exist in your Git history with their email/username as the author.
GitHub automatically calculates contributors from commit metadata — it’s not editable manually.

🔧 How to Remove Their Name

You have two options, depending on what you want to achieve:

Option 1: Keep History (Recommended)
If you don’t mind them appearing as a past contributor:
✅ Do nothing — it’s normal and doesn’t give them access anymore.
Their name will stay listed as a historical contributor, but they can’t modify the repo.

Option 2: Remove Their Commits (Advanced)
If you must remove all traces (e.g., for privacy or ownership reasons):

1.Reassign commit authorship using:

git filter-branch --env-filter '
OLD_EMAIL="old@example.com"
CORRECT_NAME="Your Name"
CORRECT_EMAIL="your@example.com"
if [ "$GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL" = "$OLD_EMAIL" ]
then
export GIT_COMMITTER_NAME="$CORRECT_NAME"
export GIT_COMMITTER_EMAIL="$CORRECT_EMAIL"
fi
if [ "$GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL" = "$OLD_EMAIL" ]
then
export GIT_AUTHOR_NAME="$CORRECT_NAME"
export GIT_AUTHOR_EMAIL="$CORRECT_EMAIL"
fi
' --tag-name-filter cat -- --branches --tags

2.Force-push the rewritten history:

git push --force --tags origin main

⚠️ Warning: This rewrites your repo history and will change commit hashes — avoid it if others have already cloned or forked your repo.

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