accidentally removed all files noted in .gitignore and I want them back

Question

I ran the following command and it was a disaster.

$ git clean -xfd
=>
Removing config/application.yml
Removing config/honeybadger.yml
Removing log/development.log
Removing log/production.log
Removing notes.rb
Removing public/assets/global/plugins/angularjs/plugins/angular-file-upload/uploads/
Removing public/assets/global/plugins/icheck/demo/css/custom.styl
Removing public/assets/global/plugins/icheck/demo/js/custom.js
Removing test/controllers/calculators/
Removing tmp/

It promptly removed all the files that were not tracked by git (desired). But it also removed all files that were important, but ignored in my .gitignore. How would I get those files back?

It's [not looking very good](http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6267180/can-i-undo-a-git-clean-fdx) right now. — Tim Biegeleisen, Nov 20 '15 at 05:30
However, were _any_ of these _ever_ tracked, and therefore possibly present in some branch, somewhere? If so, you might be able to recover some version of these files. — Tim Biegeleisen, Nov 20 '15 at 05:30
Thanks for the link, Tim. I don't think they were. I've definitely learned my lesson. — thedanotto, Nov 20 '15 at 05:32
Well not so fast, are these files which only ever existed on your local machine _and_ did you never back them up somewhere else? — Tim Biegeleisen, Nov 20 '15 at 05:33
Some smart IDEs do track local changes as well. If you have been using one, there is some hope. — Samir, Nov 20 '15 at 05:34

score 0 · Answer 1 · answered Nov 20 '15 at 05:39

Unless you have other safeguards in place (like Time Machine or some other hard-drive backup system), it would be impossible to restore said deleted files normally.

If that is indeed the case, I'd turn the computer off as soon as possible, and send the hard-drive to a restoration lab to restore the files (they can do it if you haven't rewrote the drive space with other data). Of course, it depends on how badly you want those files.

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Nov 20 '15 at 12:49

0

git checkout -- .gitignore

If you have deleted the file before adding it to the index or committing it, it is unfortunately lost and you'll have to recreate it (using your favorite text editor).

answered Nov 20 '15 at 12:49

Logeshkumar

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accidentally removed all files noted in .gitignore and I want them back

2 Answers2