Troubleshooting misplaced .git directory (nothing to commit)

Question

I started getting this message. No matter what I edit and try to commit, it says there is nothing to commit. Looks like git does not see my working directory and looking somewhere else.

If I run git status it outputs the same:

nothing to commit (working directory clean)

If I create new branch and edit something, then same thing happens. This started happening when I needed to fix merge clashes. When I wanted to merge my one branch with master branch, I had to manually fix it and I needed my files to look exactly as in that branch overwriting master branch those same files. So I added those files and it let me merge it. But then no matter what I change it shows as there is nothing to commit.

What could be done here?

Try looking at `.gitignore` files in the checkout, if any. Perhaps the files you are listed as ignored. — user4815162342, Feb 27 '14 at 12:02
Where should I find such file? As I dont see it anywhere in .git directory — Andrius, Feb 27 '14 at 12:36
Yeah, I actually had the .gitignore problem: I had a subfolder which I wanted to ignore named the same way as the main folder on a branch... — alisa, Jan 30 '17 at 22:36
Remove `.git` directory using cmd `rm -rf .git` and again reinitialize using `git init` — anandchaugule, Feb 14 '19 at 14:20

score 22 · Accepted Answer · answered Feb 28 '14 at 06:55

22

Found what was wrong. I don't understand how, but .git directory path somehow was changed to other path than I was working in. So then anything I changed was not checked, because git was checking in other place. I noticed it, when I reinitialized it and it showed that it reinitialized entirely different directory. When I cd .. from my current directory and cd to it back again and then reinitialized yet again, then it switched back to correct .git directory and started seeing my changes.

answered Feb 28 '14 at 06:55

Andrius

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Thaks @Andrius for the answer! – Gediminas Šukys Jun 13 '14 at 06:25
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I don't exactly follow. How exactly did you know `git` was looking in the wrong place? And how did you fix this?? I tried `git init` but this didn't change anything... – MichaelChirico Jun 04 '15 at 19:04
Well it was my mistake. I was on different directory than I thought I was. And every time I tried to commit changes, it didn't registered, because i was looking in wrong directory. – Andrius Jun 05 '15 at 06:15

score 14 · Answer 2 · edited Jan 06 '19 at 18:57

14

This must have happened because by mistake you reinitialized git in the same directory. Delete the .git folder using the following command Go to repository you want to upload open the terminal and then use the following commands

remove the .git repository sudo rm -r .git
Now again repeat from initializing git repo using git init
then git commit -m "first commit"
git remote add origin https://github.com/user_name/repo
git push -u origin masterAfter that enter the username and password and you are good to go

edited Jan 06 '19 at 18:57

Lukas Würzburger

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answered Jan 28 '18 at 09:59

Mahi

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Where's the point in duplicating answers? The OP has already found a working solution.... – Nico Haase Jan 28 '18 at 10:15
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@NicoHaase Agree but I was posting for someone new who might have the same problem. Besides I tried to keep my answer tidy and easy to follow. Thanks Anyways. – Mahi Feb 02 '18 at 14:34
`src refspec master does not match any.` I got this fatal error – Giorgi Gvimradze Aug 21 '19 at 20:15

score 7 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 21 '14 at 18:02

7

For people working in public open source projects, if you face this behaviour, it is most likely that the file you are editing is excluded from the git repository using .gitignore. I faced the same behaviour, and after hours I found that the file I was making the change is excluded in .gitignore because it is a settings file, and every one will have their own local version.

answered Jul 21 '14 at 18:02

palerdot

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This is the answer I was looking for. Good thing that you pointed out. – Pritam Banerjee Oct 03 '17 at 08:21

score 3 · Answer 4 · answered Nov 21 '14 at 02:53

3

Check the location whether it's the right location of the git project.

answered Nov 21 '14 at 02:53

Gank

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This was the simple issue for me.. :D – Samitha Chathuranga Aug 15 '15 at 20:24

score 3 · Answer 5 · edited Aug 04 '17 at 08:01

3

On branch master Problem it is committed already nothing to commit (working directory clean) if faced this problem then just only use the following command

git push -u origin master

or

git reset
git add .
git commit -m "your commit message"
git push -u origin master

edited Aug 04 '17 at 08:01

gofr1

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answered Aug 04 '17 at 07:44

Anuj

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score 2 · Answer 6 · answered May 14 '14 at 06:06

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For anyone seeing this problem, the simplest solution I found was to just "git clone" your repo and delete the old directory. This should set up your pathing correctly by default.

answered May 14 '14 at 06:06

kaid

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score 2 · Answer 7 · answered May 05 '16 at 20:24

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I had the same issue. The branch I was working on wasn't being tracked. The fix was:

git push orgin

This fixed it temporarily. To make the changes pertinently I:

git config push.default tracking

answered May 05 '16 at 20:24

Jon Kennedy

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score 2 · Answer 8 · answered Sep 10 '16 at 20:59

2

In my case I had previously initialized a git directory where I was trying to create a new one. I just deleted all the old files and started from scratch.

answered Sep 10 '16 at 20:59

Leviathan

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score 1 · Answer 9 · answered Mar 04 '16 at 10:49

Here is another twist on it. My .gitignore file seemed to have been modified / corrupted so that a file I was ignoring

e.g.

/Project/Folder/StyleCop.cache

got changed to this (Note now 2 separate lines)

/Project/Folder
StyleCop.cache

so git was ignoring any files I added to the project and below.

Very weird, no idea how the .gitignore file was changed, but took me a while to spot. Once fixed, the hundreds of css and js files I added went in.

score 1 · Answer 10 · answered Jun 21 '16 at 08:35

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Encountered this while using SourceTree, fixed it by

First stash your current uncommitted changes.
Apply / Unstash the same changes using Sourcetree.

Worked like a charm.

answered Jun 21 '16 at 08:35

rustylepord

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score 0 · Answer 11 · edited Mar 17 '14 at 23:12

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I just had this problem myself because I was in the wrong folder. I was nested 1 level in, so there were no git files to be found.

When I execute cd .. to the correct directory, I was able to commit, as expected.

edited Mar 17 '14 at 23:12

R3tep

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answered Mar 17 '14 at 22:44

pinkeangstio

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score 0 · Answer 12 · answered Nov 14 '16 at 10:14

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try removing the origin first before adding it again

git remote rm origin
git remote add origin https://github.com/abc/xyz.git

answered Nov 14 '16 at 10:14

khalidh

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score 0 · Answer 13 · answered Jul 01 '17 at 10:27

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Don't try commiting / adding files. Just run the following 2 commands (:

    git remote add origin http://xyzremotedir/xyzgitproject.git
    git push origin master

answered Jul 01 '17 at 10:27

Walk

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score 0 · Answer 14 · edited Feb 17 '18 at 18:47

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Go to your workspace folder

find .git folder
delete the folder and its contents
use git init command to initialize.

Now it will show what all the files can be committed.

edited Feb 17 '18 at 18:47

slfan

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answered Feb 17 '18 at 18:24

Gerald Amalraj

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score 0 · Answer 15 · answered Aug 04 '18 at 19:19

I have faced the same issue with git while working with angular CLI 6.1.2. Angular CLI 6.1.2 automatically initializes .git folder when you create a new angular project using Angular CLI. So when I tried git status - it was not detecting the whole working directory.

I have just deleted the hidden .git folder from my angular working directory and then initialized git repository again with git init. And now, I can see all my files with git status.

score -2 · Answer 16 · edited Sep 15 '17 at 11:49

-2

if .git is already there in your dir, then follow:

rm -rf .git/
git init
git remote add origin http://xyzremotedir/xyzgitproject.git
git commit -m "do commit"
git push origin master

edited Sep 15 '17 at 11:49

bfontaine

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answered Sep 15 '17 at 11:23

anshu agarwal

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That won't work, as the push will fail and more importantly you loose the entire history of the repository. And: this does not answer the question. – jhoepken Sep 15 '17 at 11:33
Please never encourage confused users to `rm -rf .git/`, as that's the one operation `git` can't recover from. – Adam Bliss Jul 15 '19 at 19:05

Troubleshooting misplaced .git directory (nothing to commit)

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