How do I undo 'git add' before commit?

Answer 1

Git has commands for every action imaginable, but it needs extensive knowledge to get things right and because of that it is counter-intuitive at best...

What you did before:

• Changed a file and used git add ., or git add .

What you want:

• Remove the file from the index, but keep it versioned and left with uncommitted changes in working copy:

  git reset head 
  

• Reset the file to the last state from HEAD, undoing changes and removing them from the index:

  # Think `svn revert ` IIRC.
  git reset HEAD 
  git checkout 
  
  # If you have a `` named like ``, use:
  git checkout -- 
  

  This is needed since git reset --hard HEAD won't work with single files.

• Remove from index and versioning, keeping the un-versioned file with changes in working copy:

  git rm --cached 
  

• Remove from working copy and versioning completely:

  git rm