Recovering Data by Using Git Commands

Git’s built-in history tracking and reflog functionality serve as a powerful “time machine” for your repository. In this guide, you’ll learn how to:

Restore deleted commits
Undo recent commits
Recover deleted branches

These techniques help you safely navigate and recover from mistakes in your Git workflow.

1. Restoring a Deleted Commit

When a commit disappears (e.g., via a force-push or a branch deletion), Git’s reflog can track its SHA-1 hash.

git reflog

This displays a chronological list of all HEAD movements. Locate the desired commit hash in the reflog output.

git checkout <commit-hash>

You’re now in a “detached HEAD” state. To preserve this commit on a branch:

git checkout -b restore-branch <commit-hash>

This creates a new branch named restore-branch pointing at the recovered commit.

Note

By default, Git keeps reflog entries for 90 days. If you don’t find your commit, it may have been pruned. Configure retention with gc.reflogExpire.

2. Undoing the Last Commit

If you simply want to undo the very last commit on your current branch, use git reset. Choose between a soft or hard reset based on whether you need to preserve your worktree and index.

Reset Type	Description	Command
Soft	Undo commit, keep changes staged	`git reset --soft HEAD~1`
Mixed	Undo commit, unstage changes (default behavior)	`git reset HEAD~1`
Hard	Undo commit and discard staged & working changes	`git reset --hard HEAD~1`

2.1 Soft Reset

git reset --soft HEAD~1

Moves the branch pointer back by one commit.
Leaves your working directory and index untouched.

2.2 Hard Reset

git reset --hard HEAD~1

Moves the branch pointer back by one commit.
Resets both your index and working directory to the new HEAD.

Warning

git reset --hard irreversibly discards all uncommitted changes. Make sure you really want to lose those changes.

For more on reset modes, see Git Reset Documentation.

3. Recovering a Deleted Branch

Accidentally deleted a branch? You can bring it back if its commits still exist in the reflog.

View the reflog:
```
git reflog
```
Find the commit hash where your branch last pointed.

Recreate the branch:

git checkout -b <branch-name> <commit-hash>

Your deleted branch is now restored, complete with its history.

Links and References

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