How do I remove a directory subtree from the staging area?

Question

I made a new repository, and ran git add -A. I then noticed that there was a folder containing about 100 files that shouldn't have been included, so I added it to .gitignore.

How do I now clear the staging area so that I can add all my files again taking into account the updated .gitignore?

Solution 1

In #git, you said you unintentionally added a directory that should have been ignored, so run

git rm --cached -r directory-name

to recursively remove the tree rooted at directory-name from the index.

Don't forget to update .gitignore!

Solution 2

You can just use the command:

git reset

Solution 3

Make sure you remember to put the s in --global core.excludesfile .gitignore.txt

excludesfile vs excludefile

Maybe this will save someone else the hour I lost...

Comments

[Acorn]

fatal: Failed to resolve 'HEAD' as a valid ref. I assume there's nothing to reset to yet?

[Matthew Flaschen]

@Acorn, right. I didn't realize you haven't committed at all to the new repo yet.

[Jim Mitchener]

In that case I'd just rm -rf .git && git init . and start over.

[Jonathan Allard]

Would -r . be simpler and do the same thing?

[Alexander Mills]

can you mention why the --cached is necessary? I don't see why it is

[Greg Bacon]

@AlexMills The question specified a directory that had been added using git add to the staging area, also known as the cache or index. According to the git rm documentation on --cached: “Use this option to unstage and remove paths only from the index. Working tree files, whether modified or not, will be left alone.”

[Black]

This will reset everything instead of only the specific folder.