git (sourcetree) go back to commit that has not been pushed and was 'reversed' accidentally

Question

I'm still quite new to git revisioning and maybe just lost plenty of work (but I hope there is a way to go back, that's why I'm asking here).

I use SourceTree on OsX for git revisioning. I didn't commit for quite a long while and now just wanted to commit plenty of changes. I selected to push immediately after the commit. When the push took very long, I checked my folder and noticed that I accidentally had selected a big build folder that should not be checked in. So I cancelled the push (I got a message something like commit was successful but push was not).

So, even though I interrupted the push, I still saw this commit in my master branch. I wanted to undo this, so I could commit again (this time without the build folder). I rightclicked on the commit and there was a 'Reverse commit...' option, which I clicked. But instead of removing this revision, it added another revision labeled 'Revert "Name of the commit i wanted to undo"'.

Bad thing is - now all my local changes seem to have gone and my files are on the state from one month ago.

since the commit (of which I cancelled the push) is still in the list, I wonder if I can somehow go back there? Is there any chance to get the local changes I made during last month back? I do have a backup of my files, but that's also almost two weeks old.

This is how sourcetree currently looks like:

as you can see, the previous successful commit/push i made was on may 20. Then today I tried to commit/push new features, but interrupted during pushing. Then i 'reversed' this (interrupted) commit, which aparently reset all my local files to the state from may 20. Sourcetree shows that there are 2 Pushs to make (which I assume are the interrupted push and the push for the 'reverse' commit).

Is there any way I can go back to my local state I had right before committing today?

Thank you so much

Solution

First undo the revert commit, throwing away the changes it created:

git reset --hard HEAD^

Then undo the updated render graphics commit, but keep those changes in your working tree (your local files):

git reset HEAD^

Comments

[matthias_buehlmann]

i want to go back to my local, uncommited changes from before the commit today. Those that i commited (but not pushed) in the 'updated render graphics loupe...' commit. Will this do it?

[matthias_buehlmann]

I don't want to leave my local files as they are now (as they are currently in the state as of may 20!). I want them to be in the state as they were when I commited (but not pushed!) today

[matthias_buehlmann]

I need the local changes from before the first commit today. not the local changes as they are right now. or let's say, i need the commit labeled 'updated render graphics' - which I did not push to remote however

[Klas Mellbourn]

@user1282931 ok, I updated the answer to reflect that you want remove both commits, but keep the state of the files after the first commit.

[matthias_buehlmann]

great - and this works even though the commits were not pushed to remote? I will try this, thank you. Is it enough to make a full copy of the folder containing the .git folder to have a backup of the current state, in case I mess up even more? :)

[Klas Mellbourn]

@user1282931 Yes, it is enough. Git repository information is completely inside the .git folder (unless you have a really weird setup)

[matthias_buehlmann]

It worked! I could kiss you! :) just for my understanding. When I committed the changes the first time, they were saved somewhere locally (where?) then I reversed this commit, which reset all my local files to the state of the previous commit and removed local changes - but the files I commited previously were still locally available somewhere?

[Klas Mellbourn]

@user1282931 Glad that it worked. Don't forget to mark my answer as accepted ;) Every commit you do effectively stores a complete image of your local files the git repository (under the .git folder). So you can always go back to the state of your local files as they were at a particular commit

[matthias_buehlmann]

and this image is deleted as soon as the commit is pushed successfully to remote, or will it take space on my disk forever?

[Klas Mellbourn]

@user1282931 It will take space on your disk forever. Eventually Git packs your commits so they don't take up that much space.

[Klas Mellbourn]

let us continue this discussion in chat