Git Emergency
I lost a stash (drop, clear or pop gone wrong)
Severity Annoying
What just happened
Stashes are stored as commits. git stash drop/clear only removes the reference, the commit stays in the database until the next garbage collection.
Potential risks
- git gc can delete it for good: don't run it now.
Before you run anything
- Don't run git gc or git prune until you found it.
Recovery steps
- 1
List lost commits that look like stashes
Stashes have messages like “WIP on main” or “On main: …”.
Safe$ git fsck --no-reflog | awk '/dangling commit/ {print $3}' | xargs git log --no-walk --oneline - 2
Look inside the right one
Check it is your work.
Safe$ git stash show -p <hash> - 3
Apply it back
It comes back as uncommitted changes.
Safe$ git stash apply <hash>
These procedures are provided for information only. Read each command and adapt it to your situation before running it. Disclaimer
Other disasters
🪓 I deleted my branch🚨 I pushed directly to main💥 I ran git reset --hard🧨 I overwrote a colleague's commits🔑 I pushed my .env file to GitHub🔀 I made a bad merge👻 I lost uncommitted changes🎯 I committed on the wrong branch🎈 I'm in “detached HEAD” state⚔️ I'm stuck in a merge conflict🚫 My push is rejected (non-fast-forward)🌀 My rebase went wrong🐘 GitHub rejects a file over 100 MB🥸 I committed with the wrong name or email🗑️ I deleted a file and committed it⏪ I want to undo my last commit✏️ I amended a commit that was already pushed🧹 Too many messy commits to clean up📮 I pushed to the wrong branch🧭 I rebased onto the wrong branch🔁 I need back the changes I reverted📦 git stash pop gave me a conflict🙈 I committed a file that should be ignored🔠 Git doesn't see my file rename (upper/lower case)🧨 I ran git clean -fd by mistake🩻 My repository is corrupted🙃 I forgot to pull before pushing👯 Duplicated lines of code after a merge➖ I added a file I didn't want to (git add)✏️ I made a typo in a commit message✂️ My commit does too many things🫥 I pulled and my code disappeared🍒 I cherry-picked the wrong commit☁️ I deleted a branch on GitHub / GitLab👥 I pushed with the wrong GitHub account🚚 The repository was renamed or moved🏷️ I tagged the wrong commit🌊 Git says every file is modified, but I changed nothing📦 I committed node_modules (or a build folder)📂 I ran git init in the wrong folder🧨 My pull request has conflicts⏳ My pull request is behind main📝 I have to apply review changes to my PR🧳 My PR shows commits that aren't mine🎯 I opened my PR against the wrong branch🚨 A merged PR broke main🚪 I closed my PR (or deleted its branch) by mistake🔴 The checks of my PR are failing🐘 My PR is too big to review🍴 My fork is behind the original repository