How do I undo 'git add' before commit?

Answer 1

You can undo git add before commit with

git reset <file>

which will remove it from the current index (the "about to be committed" list) without changing anything else.

You can use

git reset

without any file name to unstage all due changes. This can come in handy when there are too many files to be listed one by one in a reasonable amount of time.

In old versions of Git, the above commands are equivalent to git reset HEAD <file> and git reset HEAD respectively, and will fail if HEAD is undefined (because you haven't yet made any commits in your repository) or ambiguous (because you created a branch called HEAD, which is a stupid thing that you shouldn't do). This was changed in Git 1.8.2, though, so in modern versions of Git you can use the commands above even prior to making your first commit:

"git reset" (without options or parameters) used to error out when you do not have any commits in your history, but it now gives you an empty index (to match non-existent commit you are not even on).

Documentation: git reset

Answer 2

Here's a way to avoid this vexing problem when you start a new project:

• Create the main directory for your new project.
• Run git init.
• Now create a .gitignore file (even if it's empty).
• Commit your .gitignore file.

Git makes it really hard to do git reset if you don't have any commits. If you create a tiny initial commit just for the sake of having one, after that you can git add -A and git reset as many times as you want in order to get everything right.

Another advantage of this method is that if you run into line-ending troubles later and need to refresh all your files, it's easy:

• Check out that initial commit. This will remove all your files.
• Then check out your most recent commit again. This will retrieve fresh copies of your files, using your current line-ending settings.

Answer 3

Just type git reset it will revert back and it is like you never typed git add . since your last commit. Make sure you have committed before.

Answer 4

Suppose I create a new file, newFile.txt:

Suppose I add the file accidentally, git add newFile.txt:

Now I want to undo this add, before commit, git reset newFile.txt:

Answer 5

To clarify: git add moves changes from the current working directory to the staging area (index).

This process is called staging. So the most natural command to stage the changes (changed files) is the obvious one:

git stage

git add is just an easier-to-type alias for git stage

Pity there is no git unstage nor git unadd commands. The relevant one is harder to guess or remember, but it is pretty obvious:

git reset HEAD --

We can easily create an alias for this:

git config --global alias.unadd 'reset HEAD --'
git config --global alias.unstage 'reset HEAD --'

And finally, we have new commands:

git add file1
git stage file2
git unadd file2
git unstage file1

Personally I use even shorter aliases:

git a # For staging
git u # For unstaging

Answer 6

git rm --cached . -r

will "un-add" everything you've added from your current directory recursively