---
stage: Data Stores
group: Tenant Scale
info: "To determine the technical writer assigned to the Stage/Group associated with this page, see https://handbook.gitlab.com/handbook/product/ux/technical-writing/#assignments"
---

# Manage projects **(FREE ALL)**

Most work in GitLab is done in a [project](../../user/project/index.md). Files and
code are saved in projects, and most features are in the scope of projects.

## View all projects for the instance

To view all projects for the GitLab instance:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to**.
1. Select **Explore**.

On the left sidebar, **Projects** is selected. On the right, the list shows
all projects for the instance.

If you are not authenticated, then the list shows public projects only.

## View projects you are a member of

To view projects you are a member of:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to**.
1. Select **Your work**.

On the left sidebar, **Projects** is selected. On the list, on the **Yours** tab,
all the projects you are a member of are displayed.

## View personal projects

Personal projects are projects created under your personal namespace.

For example, if you create an account with the username `alex`, and create a project
called `my-project` under your username, the project is created at `https://gitlab.example.com/alex/my-project`.

To view your personal projects:

1. On the left sidebar, select your avatar and then your username.
1. On the left sidebar, select **Personal projects**.

## View starred projects

To view projects you have [starred](#star-a-project):

1. On the left sidebar, select your avatar and then your username.
1. On the left sidebar, select **Starred projects**.

## Edit project name and description

Use the project general settings to edit your project details.

Prerequisites:

- You must have at least the Maintainer role for the project.

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your project.
1. Select **Settings > General**.
1. In the **Project name** text box, enter your project name. See the [limitations on project names](../../user/reserved_names.md).
1. In the **Project description** text box, enter your project description. The description is limited to 2,000 characters.
1. Under **Project avatar**, to change your project avatar, select **Choose file**.

## Star a project

You can add a star to projects you use frequently to make them easier to find.

To add a star to a project:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your project.
1. In the upper-right corner of the page, select **Star**.

## Delete a project

> - Default deletion behavior for projects changed to [delayed project deletion](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/32935) in GitLab 12.6.
> - Default deletion behavior for projects changed to [immediate deletion](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/220382) in GitLab 13.2.
> - Default deletion behavior for projects on the Premium and Ultimate tier changed to [delayed project deletion](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/389557) in GitLab 16.0.
> - Default deletion behavior changed to delayed deletion on the Premium and Ultimate tier [on GitLab.com](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/393622) and [on self-managed](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/119606) in GitLab 16.0.

You can mark a project to be deleted.
After you delete a project:

- Projects in personal namespaces are deleted immediately.
- Projects in groups are deleted after a retention period.

Prerequisites:

- You must have the Owner role for a project.

To delete a project:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your project.
1. Select **Settings > General**.
1. Expand **Advanced**.
1. In the **Delete this project** section, select **Delete project**.
1. On the confirmation dialog, enter the project name and select **Yes, delete project**.

This action deletes the project and all associated resources (such as issues and merge requests).

You can also [delete projects using the Rails console](#delete-a-project-using-console).

### Delayed project deletion **(PREMIUM ALL)**

> - [Enabled for projects in personal namespaces](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/89466) in GitLab 15.1.
> - [Disabled for projects in personal namespaces](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/95495) in GitLab 15.3.
> - Enabled delayed deletion by default and removed the option to delete immediately [on GitLab.com](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/393622) and [on self-managed](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/119606) in GitLab 16.0.

Prerequisites:

- You must have the Owner role for the project.

Projects in a group (not a personal namespace) can be deleted after a delay period.

On self-managed instances, group administrators can define a deletion delay period of between 1 and 90 days.
On SaaS, there is a non-adjustable default retention period of seven days.

You can [view projects that are pending deletion](#view-projects-pending-deletion),
and use the Rails console to
[find projects that are pending deletion](#find-projects-that-are-pending-deletion).

### Delete a project immediately **(PREMIUM ALL)**

> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/191367) in GitLab 14.1.
> - Option to delete projects immediately from the Admin Area and as a group setting removed [on GitLab.com](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/393622) and [on self-managed](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/119606) in GitLab 16.0.

Prerequisites:

- You must have the Owner role for the project.
- The project must be [marked for deletion](#delete-a-project).

If you don't want to wait for delayed deletion, you can delete a project immediately. To do this, perform the steps for [deleting a projects](#delete-a-project) again.

In the first cycle of deleting a project, the project is moved to the delayed deletion queue and automatically deleted after the retention period has passed.
If during this delayed deletion time you run a second deletion cycle, the project is deleted immediately.

To immediately delete a project marked for deletion:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your project.
1. Select **Settings > General**.
1. Expand **Advanced**.
1. In the **Delete this project** section, select **Delete project**.
1. On the confirmation dialog, enter the project name and select **Yes, delete project**.

### View projects pending deletion **(PREMIUM ALL)**

> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/37014) in GitLab 13.3 for Administrators.
> - [Tab renamed](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/347468) from **Deleted projects** in GitLab 14.6.
> - [Available to all users](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/346976) in GitLab 14.8 [with a flag](../../administration/feature_flags.md) named `project_owners_list_project_pending_deletion`. Enabled by default.
> - [Generally available](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/351556) in GitLab 14.9. [Feature flag `project_owners_list_project_pending_deletion`](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/351556) removed.

To view a list of all projects that are pending deletion:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to**.
1. Select **View all my projects**.
1. Based on your GitLab version:
   - GitLab 14.6 and later: select the **Pending deletion** tab.
   - GitLab 14.5 and earlier: select the **Deleted projects** tab.

Each project in the list shows:

- The time the project was marked for deletion.
- The time the project is scheduled for final deletion.
- A **Restore** link to stop the project being eventually deleted.

## View project activity

To view the activity of a project:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your project.
1. Select **Manage > Activity**.
1. Optional. To filter activity by contribution type, select a tab:

   - **All**: All contributions by project members.
   - **Push events**: Push events in the project.
   - **Merge events**: Accepted merge requests in the project.
   - **Issue events**: Issues opened and closed in the project.
   - **Comments**: Comments posted by project members.
   - **Designs**: Designs added, updated, and removed in the project.
   - **Team**: Members who joined and left the project.

## Search in projects

To search through your projects, on the left sidebar, select **Search or go to**.
GitLab filters as you type.

You can also look for the projects you [starred](#star-a-project) (**Starred projects**).

You can **Explore** all public and internal projects available in GitLab.com, from which you can filter by visibility,
through **Trending**, best rated with **Most stars**, or **All** of them.

You can sort projects by:

- Name
- Created date
- Updated date
- Owner

You can also choose to hide or show archived projects.

### Filter projects by language

> - [Introduced](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/385465) in GitLab 15.9 [with a flag](../../administration/feature_flags.md) named `project_language_search`. Enabled by default.
> - [Generally available](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/merge_requests/110956) in GitLab 15.9. Feature flag `project_language_search` removed.

You can filter projects by the programming language they use. To do this:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to**.
1. Select either:
   - **View all your projects**, to filter your projects.
   - **Explore**, to filter all projects you can access.
1. From the **Language** dropdown list, select the language you want to filter projects by.

A list of projects that use the selected language is displayed.

## Rename a repository

A project's repository name defines its URL and its place on the file disk
where GitLab is installed.

Prerequisites:

- You must be an administrator or have the Maintainer or Owner role for the project.

NOTE:
When you change the repository path, users may experience issues if they push to, or pull from, the old URL. For more information, see
[redirects when renaming repositories](../project/repository/index.md#what-happens-when-a-repository-path-changes).

To rename a repository:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your project.
1. Select **Settings > General**.
1. Expand **Advanced**.
1. In the **Change path** text box, edit the path.
1. Select **Change path**.

## Access the project overview page by using the project ID

> Project ID [moved](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/431539) to the Actions menu in GitLab 16.7.

To access a project by using the project ID instead of its name,
go to `https://gitlab.example.com/projects/<id>`.

To copy the project ID:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your project.
1. On the project overview page, in the upper-right corner, select **Actions** (**{ellipsis_v}**).
1. Select **Copy project ID**.

For example, if in your personal namespace `alex` you have a project `my-project` with the ID `123456`, you can access the project
either at `https://gitlab.example.com/alex/my-project` or `https://gitlab.example.com/projects/123456`.

You might also need the project ID if you want to interact with it using the [GitLab API](../../api/index.md).

## Who can view the Project overview page

When you select a project, the **Project overview** page shows the project contents.

For public projects, and members of internal and private projects
with [permissions to view the project's code](../permissions.md#project-members-permissions),
the project landing page shows:

- A [`README` or index file](repository/index.md#readme-and-index-files).
- A list of directories in the project's repository.

For users without permission to view the project's code, the landing page shows:

- The wiki homepage.
- The list of issues in the project.

## Leave a project

> The button to leave a project [moved](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/-/issues/431539) to the Actions menu in GitLab 16.7.

When you leave a project:

- You are no longer a project member and cannot contribute.
- All the issues and merge requests that were assigned
  to you are unassigned.

Prerequisites:

- You can leave a project this way only when a project is part of a group under a [group namespace](../namespace/index.md).
- You must be a [direct member](members/index.md#membership-types) of the project.

To leave a project:

1. On the left sidebar, select **Search or go to** and find your project.
1. On the project overview page, in the upper-right corner, select **Actions** (**{ellipsis_v}**).
1. Select **Leave project**, then **Leave project** again.

## Add a compliance framework to a project **(PREMIUM)**

You can add compliance frameworks to projects in a group that has a [compliance framework](../group/compliance_frameworks.md).

## Manage project access through LDAP groups

You can [use LDAP to manage group membership](../group/access_and_permissions.md#manage-group-memberships-via-ldap).

You cannot use LDAP groups to manage project access, but you can use the following workaround.

Prerequisites:

- You must [integrate LDAP with GitLab](../../administration/auth/ldap/index.md).
- You must be an administrator.

1. [Create a group](../group/index.md#create-a-group) to track membership of your project.
1. [Set up LDAP synchronization](../../administration/auth/ldap/ldap_synchronization.md) for that group.
1. To use LDAP groups to manage access to a project,
   [add the LDAP-synchronized group as a member](../group/manage.md) to the project.

## Project aliases **(PREMIUM SELF)**

GitLab repositories are usually accessed with a namespace and a project name. When migrating
frequently accessed repositories to GitLab, however, you can use project aliases to access those
repositories with the original name. Accessing repositories through a project alias reduces the risk
associated with migrating such repositories.

This feature is only available on Git over SSH. Also, only GitLab administrators can create project
aliases, and they can only do so through the API. For more information, see the
[Project Aliases API documentation](../../api/project_aliases.md).

After an administrator creates an alias for a project, you can use the alias to clone the
repository. For example, if an administrator creates the alias `gitlab` for the project
`https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab`, you can clone the project with
`git clone git@gitlab.com:gitlab.git` instead of `git clone git@gitlab.com:gitlab-org/gitlab.git`.

## Troubleshooting

When working with projects, you might encounter the following issues, or require alternate methods to complete specific tasks.

### `An error occurred while fetching commit data`

When you visit a project, the message `An error occurred while fetching commit data` might be displayed
if you use an ad blocker in your browser. The solution is to disable your ad blocker
for the GitLab instance you are trying to access.

### Find projects using an SQL query

While in [a Rails console session](../../administration/operations/rails_console.md#starting-a-rails-console-session), you can find and store an array of projects based on a SQL query:

```ruby
# Finds projects that end with '%ject'
projects = Project.find_by_sql("SELECT * FROM projects WHERE name LIKE '%ject'")
=> [#<Project id:12 root/my-first-project>>, #<Project id:13 root/my-second-project>>]
```

### Clear a project's or repository's cache

If a project or repository has been updated but the state is not reflected in the UI, you may need to clear the project's or repository's cache.
You can do so through [a Rails console session](../../administration/operations/rails_console.md#starting-a-rails-console-session) and one of the following:

WARNING:
Commands that change data can cause damage if not run correctly or under the right conditions. Always run commands in a test environment first and have a backup instance ready to restore.

```ruby
## Clear project cache
ProjectCacheWorker.perform_async(project.id)

## Clear repository .exists? cache
project.repository.expire_exists_cache
```

### Find projects that are pending deletion

If you need to find all projects marked for deletion but that have not yet been deleted,
[start a Rails console session](../../administration/operations/rails_console.md#starting-a-rails-console-session) and run the following:

```ruby
projects = Project.where(pending_delete: true)
projects.each do |p|
  puts "Project ID: #{p.id}"
  puts "Project name: #{p.name}"
  puts "Repository path: #{p.repository.full_path}"
end
```

### Delete a project using console

If a project cannot be deleted, you can attempt to delete it through [Rails console](../../administration/operations/rails_console.md#starting-a-rails-console-session).

WARNING:
Commands that change data can cause damage if not run correctly or under the right conditions. Always run commands in a test environment first and have a backup instance ready to restore.

```ruby
project = Project.find_by_full_path('<project_path>')
user = User.find_by_username('<username>')
ProjectDestroyWorker.new.perform(project.id, user.id, {})
```

If this fails, display why it doesn't work with:

```ruby
project = Project.find_by_full_path('<project_path>')
project.delete_error
```

### Toggle a feature for all projects within a group

While toggling a feature in a project can be done through the [projects API](../../api/projects.md),
you may need to do this for a large number of projects.

To toggle a specific feature, you can [start a Rails console session](../../administration/operations/rails_console.md#starting-a-rails-console-session)
and run the following function:

WARNING:
Commands that change data can cause damage if not run correctly or under the right conditions. Always run commands in a test environment first and have a backup instance ready to restore.

```ruby
projects = Group.find_by_name('_group_name').projects
projects.each do |p|
  ## replace <feature-name> with the appropriate feature name in all instances
  state = p.<feature-name>

  if state != 0
    puts "#{p.name} has <feature-name> already enabled. Skipping..."
  else
    puts "#{p.name} didn't have <feature-name> enabled. Enabling..."
    p.project_feature.update!(<feature-name>: ProjectFeature::PRIVATE)
  end
end
```

To find features that can be toggled, run `pp p.project_feature`.
Available permission levels are listed in
[concerns/featurable.rb](https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/gitlab/blob/master/app/models/concerns/featurable.rb).

## Related topics

- [Import a project](../../user/project/import/index.md).
- [Connect an external repository to GitLab CI/CD](../../ci/ci_cd_for_external_repos/index.md).
- [Fork a project](repository/forking_workflow.md#create-a-fork).
- Adjust [project visibility](../../user/public_access.md#change-project-visibility) and [permissions](settings/project_features_permissions.md#configure-project-features-and-permissions).
- [Limitations on project and group names](../../user/reserved_names.md#limitations-on-project-and-group-names)