Any way to recover from `git rm * -r -f` if no commits were made?

Question

I don't know if this is the best place to ask it, but I have a serious problem.

I've worked 3 months on a project. And planned to go to GIT.

I did a git init, a month back. A few days after the init I've renamed the project.

After that I accidentally did these commands.

git rm * -r -f - Because some 'deletes' weren't staged for commit
git reset --hard - Because I thought I was able to reset to before the git rm.

I didn't know that git was able to remove files and haven't committed anything.

Am I able to get my files back, and how?

@DaveHarding I've edited it. `Am I able to get my files back, and how?` — user3489690, Apr 02 '14 at 14:01
http://stackoverflow.com/questions/13698978/git-undoing-git-rm — usha, Apr 02 '14 at 14:08
@user3489690 there is no such thing as a "trash bin" in a normal file system, those are features of specific OSs or desktop environments. — Yuval Adam, Apr 02 '14 at 14:12
If you `git add`-ed various files, you may be able to get them back, but they will have funny names (SHA-1 names). That might still be useful. See [this answer](http://stackoverflow.com/a/9928789/1256452). — torek, Apr 02 '14 at 18:05

score 2 · Accepted Answer · edited May 23 '17 at 12:28

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Thanks to @torek and Recover dangling blobs in git. I've got my files back!

I did a git fsck --lost-found and all my files were in .git/lost-found/other

I've created a new xcode project and after one hour of work, everything is working again!

edited May 23 '17 at 12:28

Community

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answered Apr 04 '14 at 12:42

user3489690

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score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 02 '14 at 14:08

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Since you never committed anything, the files are gone.

You can confirm this using git reflog and verifying that no commits were ever made.

The reflog for an empty repository looks like this:

$ git reflog
fatal: bad default revision 'HEAD'

as opposed to a repository with a single commit:

$ git reflog
a1b2c3d HEAD@{0}: commit (initial): Initial commit

answered Apr 02 '14 at 14:08

Yuval Adam

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Reflog only shows the initial commit which was made 1 month ago – user3489690 Apr 02 '14 at 14:35
Then sorry mate. Anything that isn't in the reflog is unrecoverable. – Yuval Adam Apr 02 '14 at 14:37

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 02 '14 at 14:38

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If you're using an IDE like Eclipse that has a local history, you can try that (restore from local history). If you had something like a maven build that also generated a sources jar, then you can try it as well.

Otherwise, sorry your files are gone. Next time: commit early, commit often.

answered Apr 02 '14 at 14:38

ptyx

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I don't know xcode - but you can try undo. Check if you have a time machine configured as well (or any other sort of backup). – ptyx Apr 02 '14 at 16:15
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The phrase "commit early, commit often" deserves to be in *every* git manual! – Roland Smith Apr 02 '14 at 20:58
@RolandSmith and its variations in every source control manual! – ptyx Apr 03 '14 at 16:12

Any way to recover from `git rm * -r -f` if no commits were made?

3 Answers3