How to restore locally deleted files in git

When using Git for version control, we sometimes delete some local files by mistake. If these files are not backed up before being added to the Git repository, then these files will be permanently deleted, which is a very bad thing.

However, you will be pleasantly surprised to find that no matter which branch you delete the file on, Git will store it in a special area called the Git staging area, which provides us with the ability to restore these files. possible.

So how do we recover local deleted files?

Restore the latest version of the deleted file

Assume that the file you deleted is named file.txt, then you can restore the latest version of this file through the following command:

$ git checkout HEAD -- file.txt

In this command, the git checkout command is used to check out the version of the specified file or directory from the Git repository. And HEAD means to check out the latest submitted version and save it to the work area.

This means that the data you recover will be the last copy saved after the last commit, but when the file was deleted. Before running this command, make sure you have not committed your changes, otherwise you will revert to an older version and overwrite your latest code.

Restore earlier versions of files

In addition to restoring the latest versions of files, you can also check out earlier versions in the repository. To do this, run the following command:

$ git log -- file.txt

This command will list all changes made to this file in the Git repository and provide information about the file if you are ready to restore a specific version. After the changes are listed, you'll see a line of commit records, each with a hash at the beginning.

Copy the hash of the version you want to check out and use the following command:

$ git checkout <commit-hash> -- file.txt</commit-hash>

This command works the same as before. However, this time you use a specific commit hash instead of HEAD. This will restore the version of the file as it was at the time of the specified commit.

Prevent file loss

Although Git can help you recover deleted files, it is still recommended that you back up new files before adding them or changing old files. Backups protect against unpredictable loss of data, but also allow you to easily browse previous versions to better understand the historical development of your code.

Additionally, to protect against failures or data loss in your Git repository, you should consider using cloud storage or other backup solutions to preserve a complete version of your code base in the event of recovering from a larger data loss.

When using Git for version control, remember that gentleness is better than arbitrary deletion of files. Arbitrary deletion of files can lead to data loss, which will be an expensive and unnecessary mistake. If you're not sure how to use Git for version control, find numerous resources on this powerful tool so you always have the knowledge and skills to protect your code base.

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