diff --git a/Tools/gulp/tasks/deleteBuildDirs.js b/Tools/gulp/tasks/deleteBuildDirs.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7ce7ea8f7e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tools/gulp/tasks/deleteBuildDirs.js
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+const utils = require('../utils');
+const rootDir = utils.rootDir();
+const fs = require('fs-extra');
+
+module.exports = {
+	src: '',
+	fn: async function() {
+		await fs.remove(`${rootDir}/CliClient/tests-build`);
+		await fs.remove(`${rootDir}/CliClient/build`);
+	},
+};
diff --git a/gulpfile.js b/gulpfile.js
index 3299ea485a..d40f3bf33b 100644
--- a/gulpfile.js
+++ b/gulpfile.js
@@ -5,8 +5,13 @@ const tasks = {
 	copyLib: require('./Tools/gulp/tasks/copyLib'),
 	tsc: require('./Tools/gulp/tasks/tsc'),
 	updateIgnoredTypeScriptBuild: require('./Tools/gulp/tasks/updateIgnoredTypeScriptBuild'),
+	deleteBuildDirs: require('./Tools/gulp/tasks/deleteBuildDirs'),
 };
 
 utils.registerGulpTasks(gulp, tasks);
 
 gulp.task('build', gulp.series('copyLib', 'tsc', 'updateIgnoredTypeScriptBuild'));
+
+// The clean task removes build directories and copy back the library. This is useful
+// when switching from one branch to another.
+gulp.task('clean', gulp.series('deleteBuildDirs', 'copyLib'));
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index 8cd8735e44..983c8bf726 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
     "generatePluginTypes": "rm -rf ./plugin_types && node node_modules/typescript/bin/tsc --declaration --declarationDir ./plugin_types --project tsconfig.json",
     "setupNewRelease": "node ./Tools/setupNewRelease",
     "linkChecker": "linkchecker https://joplinapp.org",
+    "clean": "npm run clean",
     "postinstall": "cd Tools && npm i && cd .. && cd ReactNativeClient && npm i && cd .. && cd ElectronClient && npm i && cd .. && cd CliClient && npm i && cd .. && gulp build"
   },
   "husky": {