Repository keeps appearing in “Top repositories” – cannot be removed

[speefak]

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Hello,

The repository
phpvirtualbox/phpvirtualbox
keeps appearing permanently in the “Top repositories” section in the left sidebar of my GitHub dashboard.

What I have already checked / done:

This is not my repository

No star is set

Watch is set to Participating and @mentions

Ignore was disabled (Stop ignoring)

I am not a collaborator

I am not a member of the organization

Logged out/in, hard refresh, cache cleared

Despite this, the repository remains visible.

Question:
Is there any way to explicitly remove a foreign repository from “Top repositories”, or is this list fully heuristic/cached and not user-configurable?

Thanks for clarification.

[ben-24-0]

Hi, @speefak

You’re not doing anything , this is expected behavior.

The Top repositories section on the GitHub dashboard is generated automatically using internal heuristics. It’s based on things like recent activity, pages you’ve visited, issues or PRs you’ve viewed or interacted with, and other signals that aren’t always obvious. It isn’t limited to repositories you own, star, watch, or belong to.

Because of that, there’s currently no way to explicitly remove a repository from the list, and changing watch or ignore settings doesn’t reliably affect it. The list isn’t user configurable

In most cases the repository will eventually drop off as you spend more time working with other repos, but theres no manual way to force that

Hope that clarifies things 👍🏻

[kartersanamo]

Hey there @speefak

GitHub’s “Top repositories” section is unfortunately not directly user-configurable. It’s generated by internal heuristics based on your recent and historical activity, and sometimes those signals stick around longer than expected.

Even if you’re not a collaborator and haven’t starred the repo, GitHub may still surface it if you have any of the following in its activity history:

• You previously interacted with issues, PRs, or discussions (even one comment can be enough)
• You were @mentioned there at some point
• You are still technically subscribed to notifications for the repository
• You viewed or interacted with it frequently in the past (GitHub does factor browsing/activity patterns)

Things you can still try

While there’s no “Remove from Top Repositories” button, these steps sometimes help reduce its priority over time:

1. Set notifications to “Ignore” again

• Go to the repo → Watch → choose Ignoring
• Even though you already toggled this, leaving it on Ignore long-term can help

2. Check your notifications subscriptions

• Visit: https://github.com/notifications/subscriptions
• If the repo appears there, unsubscribe manually

3. Leave any threads you may be subscribed to

• Open any issue/PR you may have interacted with
• Click “Unsubscribe” in the right sidebar

4. Mark old notifications as Done

• Clear out any lingering notifications related to that repo

5. Give it time

• The sidebar is heavily cached and behavior-based. Once activity and notification signals decay, the repo usually drops off, but this can take days or even weeks.

Bottom line
At the moment, the Top repositories list is heuristic and not directly controllable by users. If none of the above works after some time, your only real option is to contact GitHub Support, as they’re the only ones who can confirm whether something is stuck in their ranking/cache system.

[andreahlert]

Hey @speefak! hope you're doing great!🙂

What’s probably happening is that the “Top repositories” section on your GitHub dashboard isn’t based only on stars or watches. GitHub seems to use other signals too, like repos you’ve visited before, things you interacted with, notifications you opened, or even short bursts of activity. So sometimes a repository keeps showing up even if you never starred it or chose to follow it.

As far as I know, there isn’t a direct way to manually remove a repo from that list. Unwatching it or muting notifications might help a bit, but it’s not guaranteed, since the list is generated automatically.

So yeah it’s more of an algorithmic suggestion than a list you fully control. You’re probably not doing anything wrong; it’s just how GitHub organizes things behind the scenes.

Sorry for the bad news.

[Dharm3112]

Hey! I get how annoying it is to have a repository stubbornly clinging to your sidebar, especially when you're not actively using it.

The "Top Repositories" list on the left side is automatically generated. It's based on how often you access a repository, how recently you've accessed it, and your contributions. Since you've already tried troubleshooting (checking settings, refreshing, etc.), you might have accidentally trained the algorithm to think this repository is important to you because you've been visiting it so often.

Since you've already covered the basics (unwatching, unstarring, ignoring), here's a plan to get rid of it, from simple browser tricks to more advanced algorithmic adjustments.

1. Clear GitHub's Local Storage (in your browser) GitHub stores the sidebar's state in your browser to speed things up. A regular refresh often won't clear this specific data. How to do it: While you're on the GitHub dashboard, open your browser's Developer Tools (usually by pressing F12 or right-clicking and selecting "Inspect"). * Go to the "Application" tab (Chrome/Edge) or "Storage" tab (Firefox). * Expand "Local Storage" and select https://github.com. * In the filter bar, type "dashboard" or "repository." Look for entries like user-dashboard-repositories or similar. * Right-click and delete these entries. * Refresh the page.

2. The "Push-Down" Strategy (for the Algorithm) If the list is cached on GitHub's servers, the best way to remove the stuck item is to make the algorithm think other repositories are more important. The Problem: Every time you check if the unwanted repository is still there, the algorithm sees a recent visit, keeping it at the top. The Solution: Intentionally visit 5-10 other repositories that you actually use. Click around in their "Issues" or "Pull Requests" tabs. This creates a bunch of new "interaction events" that should make the algorithm demote the stuck repository, removing it from the visible list within a few hours.

3. Look for Hidden Interactions with the API Sometimes, the interface might say you're "Not Watching," but an old record might still exist in the background. You can check this using the GitHub CLI or API.

Check Subscriptions: Run this command in your terminal (if you have the GitHub CLI installed) to see if the API thinks you're still subscribed:
gh api user/subscriptions/phpvirtualbox/phpvirtualbox

If it returns data: You have a ghost subscription. Force-delete it with:
gh api -X DELETE user/subscriptions/phpvirtualbox/phpvirtualbox

[speefak]

Thanks for the info and tips, now it’s clear why I didn’t find any buttons or similar options to deactivate it.

[satyam9798]

No — there is currently no explicit way to manually remove a foreign repository from the “Top repositories” section on GitHub.
That list is fully heuristic-driven and not user-configurable.

[samyak2403]

Based on your question about GitHub's "Top repositories" section, here's a clear explanation and solution:

The Issue:
GitHub's "Top repositories" sidebar is algorithmically generated and not directly user-configurable. It's based on your activity patterns (visits, interactions, recent views) rather than just stars or watches.

Why it keeps appearing:

• You've likely visited this repository multiple times recently
• GitHub's algorithm interprets repeated visits as "interest"
• The list is cached and updates gradually, not immediately

Solutions to try:

1. Stop visiting the repository - The most effective approach is to simply avoid clicking on it for several days/weeks. The algorithm should eventually deprioritize it.

2. Generate new activity - Actively work with other repositories you want to see instead. Star, visit, and interact with those repositories to push them higher in the algorithm.

3. Clear GitHub-specific data - Since you've cleared cache, also try:

   • Clear cookies specifically for github.com
   • Try a different browser or incognito mode to verify if it persists

4. Use browser extensions - You could use ad-blocking or CSS-hiding extensions to hide that specific element if it's really bothersome (though this is just cosmetic).

Direct answer: No, there's currently no explicit "remove" or "hide" button for individual repositories in the Top Repositories list. It's entirely heuristic-based, and GitHub doesn't provide manual controls for this specific sidebar.

The repository should naturally drop off once you stop interacting with it and focus activity elsewhere.

[eivindeklund]

I get the same issue with repos I've not visited in forever (many months), and it does not show the repo I've done multiple commits to every day for several weeks. To me, it seems to be a mix of "repos I've done the most commits to ever" and "total activity in a repo I've once interacted at with". Ie, the heuristics are almost completely wrong for those of us that change around what repos we work in.