How to remove a file from the git index

Question

How do I remove a file from a git repositorie's index without removing the file from the working tree?

If I had a file ./notes.txt that was being tracked by git, I could run git rm notes.txt. But that would remove the file. I'd rather want git just to stop tracking the file.

score 54 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 09 '10 at 13:54

54

You could just use git rm --cached notes.txt. This will keep the file but remove it from the index.

answered Sep 09 '10 at 13:54

Gert

9,994

score 3 · Answer 2 · edited Jul 31 '18 at 09:41

3

git reset HEAD <file> for removing a particular file.

and git reset HEAD for removing all files from the git index.

edited Jul 31 '18 at 09:41

Jeff Schaller

67,283
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answered Jul 31 '18 at 08:27

Abdul Gafoor

131

That answer appeared 8 years after Gert's solution, has semantic of git reset command changed since that time? – Kamil Apr 26 '19 at 06:36

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 27 '22 at 18:42

0

git restore --staged <file> worked fine for me

answered Nov 27 '22 at 18:42

emmguyot

1

How to remove a file from the git index

3 Answers3