How to Undo 'git add' Before Commit?

Last Updated : 27 Jun, 2024

To undo a 'git add' before committing, you can use the 'git reset' command. This command unstages the changes that you previously added with 'git add', but it doesn't discard the changes from your working directory. This allows you to make further modifications to the files or decide later whether you want to include them in a future commit.

You have a Git repository named 'convert-klm-to-miles' with three files: 'index.css' , 'index.html', and 'index.js'. You accidentally staged index.html using git add, but you want to unstage it before committing you can use the following steps:

Steps to Undo 'git add' Before Commit?

Step 1: Navigate to your repository

Open your terminal or Git and navigate to the `convert-klm-to-miles` directory.

cd convert-klm-to-miles

Step 2: Check the status

This command check the current status of the working directory and staging area.

git status

If `git status` keeps showing "nothing to commit, working tree clean," ensure you have actually saved the changes to 'index.html' in your text editor.

Step 3: Stages the changes using `git add`

using the `git add` to stage the changes and then undoing the `git add` if any necessary.

git add index.html

Check the status again:

Step 4: Unstage the changes using `git reset`

Use this command line `git reset HEAD <file> ` is used to unstage changes that have been added to the staging area with `git add`.

git reset HEAD index.html

Again check the status:

Step 5: Stage the changes again

If you decide to stage `index.html` again. Means Again changes the Stages.

git add index.html

Step 6: Commit the changes

When you run git commit -m "Update index.html", Git takes all the changes that have been staged (usually done with git add) and packages them into a commit with the message "Update index.html". This commit is then added to the history of your repository.

git commit -m  "Update index.html"

Step 7: Push the changes to the remove repository

The command `git push origin master` uploads your local repository changes to the remote repository named `origin` and updates the `master` branch with these changes on the remote server.

git push origin master

Conclusion

To undo a mistaken 'git add' before committing, use 'git reset HEAD <file>'. This command removes the file from the staging area while keeping changes in your working directory intact. Once unstaged, you can decide whether to stage the file again or proceed without it in your next commit. Always verify changes with 'git status' and commit carefully to maintain a clean project history.