The Challenge
You’ve made changes to your Git repository that you no longer want to keep. How can you effectively discard these unstaged modifications?
The Solution
Git provides a straightforward way to remove unstaged changes using the git restore command.
- Discard all unstaged changes in the current directory: To remove all unstaged modifications in your working directory and its subdirectories, use:
git restore .This command reverts all tracked files in the current directory and below to their last committed state.
- Discard changes for a specific file: If you want to discard changes for a particular file, specify its path:
git restore path/to/fileThis restores the specified file to its state in the last commit.
Important Notes:
- These commands only affect tracked files. Untracked files (new files not yet added to Git) will not be affected.
- Use these commands with caution, as the discarded changes cannot be recovered.
- If you’re unsure about the changes you’re about to discard, you can first review them using
git diff.
Alternative for older Git versions:
If you’re using an older version of Git that doesn’t support git restore, you can use git checkout instead:
- For all files:
git checkout -- . - For a specific file:
git checkout -- path/to/file
By using these commands, you can quickly clean up your working directory and remove unwanted changes.
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