mit Kanonen auf Spatzen schießen
to use wildly disproportionate means; to take a sledgehammer to crack a nut
Origin
The exact origin is not definitively clear; the image of the stark mismatch between cannon and sparrow appears among others in a poem by Anastasius Grün (Anton von Auersperg, 1831), and the phrase was politically popularised in the 19th century.
Building blocks
Words in this expression
Examples
Wegen eines Tippfehlers eine – das heißt mit Kanonen auf Spatzen .
A formal warning over a single typo — that's using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.