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Remove deleted files from github pull request?


I deleted some files locally that were machine generated, but also being tracked. After deletion some time ago, I made multiple commits and made a pull request.

However, contributors want me to remove that deletion part from the commit.

How can I fix that?

Most times I get this error: (git rm, git checkout etc)

error: pathspec 'filepath' did not match any file(s) known to git.

File was deleted locally.


Solution

  • Find the commit where you deleted the file:

    git log -n1 -- path/to/file
    

    Restore the file from one commit before the one that deleted it:

    # ~1 means "one commit before"
    git checkout DELETION_COMMIT_HASH~1 -- path/to/file
    

    Repeat for each removed file you want to restore.

    Commit, and push to the branch to update the Pull Request (adding one commit).