Recovering Lost Commits or Branches

Losing commits or branches in Git can be a frustrating experience, but fortunately, Git provides several strategies and techniques to help recover them.

Recovering Lost Commits with Git Reflog

Git reflog (reference log) is a powerful tool that keeps a record of all the local branch updates and other Git operations. It can be extremely useful for recovering lost commits. Follow these steps to recover lost commits using Git reflog:

• First, make sure you are in the repository where the lost commits were made.

• Run the following command to view the reflog:

git reflog

• The reflog will display a history of all branch updates and other Git operations. Identify the commit hash or the branch name that you want to recover.

• Once you have identified the commit or branch, use the following command to restore it:

git checkout <commit or branch>

For example, to restore a lost commit with the hash abcdef1, run:

git checkout abcdef1

Recovering Lost or Orphaned Commits with Git fsck

Git fsck (file system consistency check) is another powerful tool that can help recover lost or orphaned commits.

It scans the Git object database and identifies any dangling commits that are not reachable from any branch or tag. Follow these steps to recover lost or orphaned commits using Git fsck:

• Make sure you are in the repository where the lost or orphaned commits exist.

• Run the following command to perform the fsck check:

git fsck --lost-found

• Git fsck will display any dangling commits with their corresponding commit hashes. Take note of the commit hash of the lost commit you want to recover.

• Create a new branch at the lost commit using the following command:

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

Replace <branch-name> with the desired name for the new branch and <commit-hash> with the commit hash you noted earlier.

• Switch to the newly created branch using:

git checkout <branch-name>

Recovering Deleted Branches

Accidentally deleting a branch can happen, but Git provides a way to recover them as long as they were not explicitly pruned. Follow these steps to recover a deleted branch:

• Identify the commit hash or the reference where the deleted branch last pointed to. This can be found in the Git reflog or by inspecting the commit history.

• Use the following command to recreate the deleted branch:

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

Replace <branch-name> with the name of the deleted branch and <commit-hash> with the commit hash or reference you identified earlier.

• If you want to switch to the recovered branch, use the following command:

git checkout <branch-name>