Restoring a Single File to a Previous State in Git

The Challenge

You need to revert one specific file to its state from a previous commit without affecting other files in your Git repository. How can you achieve this?

The Solution

To restore a file to its previous state, follow these steps:

1. Identify the Target Commit First, find the commit hash of the version you want to restore. Use:

   git log

Commit hashes look like this:

   070cc94d35c1c45fb40c13344583e16f77e77c0b

Note: You can use the first 7 characters (e.g., 070cc94) as a shorthand.

2. Restore the File Use the git checkout command with the commit hash and file path:

   git checkout 070cc94 -- path/to/file.txt

This command:

• Uses -- to separate the commit reference from the file path
• Restores the specified file without changing your current branch

1. Multiple Files (if needed) To restore multiple files from the same commit:

   git checkout 070cc94 -- file1.txt path/to/file2.py

Important Notes:

• This action stages the restored file(s) for commit but doesn’t create a new commit.
• To keep the changes, commit them:

  git commit -m "Restored file.txt to version from commit 070cc94"

• If you decide not to keep the changes, use git restore --staged <file> to unstage, then git restore <file> to discard changes.

Tips:

• Use git show 070cc94:path/to/file.txt to preview a file’s content from a specific commit.
• If you’re unsure about the exact commit, use git log -- path/to/file.txt to see the commit history for a specific file.

By following these steps, you can precisely restore individual files to their previous states without affecting the rest of your repository.

Would you like more information on file restoration or Git history management?