gitversion-control

How to unstage large number of files without deleting the content

I accidentally added a lot of temporary files using git add -A

I managed to unstage the files using the following commands and managed to remove the dirty index. 

git ls-files -z | xargs -0 rm -f
git diff --name-only --diff-filter=D -z | xargs -0 git rm --cached

The above commands are listed in the git help rm. But sadly, my files were also deleted on execution, even though I had given cache option. How can I clear the index without losing the content?

Also it would be helpful if someone can explain the way this pipe operation works.

Solution

  • git reset

    If all you want is to undo an overzealous "git add" run:

    git reset

    Your changes will be unstaged and ready for you to re-add as you please.

    DO NOT RUN git reset --hard.

    It will not only unstage your added files, but will revert any changes you made in your working directory. If you created any new files in working directory, it will not delete them though.