How to Recover Deleted Files from GitHub

Git and GitHub maintain full version history, so you can recover deleted files in several ways—depending on where and how the file was deleted.

Table of Contents

✅ Scenario 1: Recover a Deleted File Using Git (Local Repository)

If you deleted the file locally but haven’t committed yet:

git checkout -- path/to/your-file.txt

This restores the file from the last commit.

✅ Scenario 2: Recover a Deleted File from a Past Commit

If the file was deleted and committed, find the commit where it was still present:

Step 1: Use Git Log to Locate the File’s History

git log -- path/to/your-file.txt

This shows commits that affected the file.

Step 2: Restore the File from a Previous Commit

Copy the commit hash and run:

git checkout <commit-hash>^ -- path/to/your-file.txt

This checks out the file from before it was deleted. Then commit the restored file:

git add path/to/your-file.txt
git commit -m "Restore deleted file"

✅ Scenario 3: Recover from GitHub Web Interface

If the file was pushed and deleted on GitHub:

Go to the repository on GitHub
Click the “Commits” tab
Browse to the commit before the file was deleted
Click the commit and browse the repository at that point
Locate the file, click on it, and click “Raw”
Copy the contents and manually restore it in your local repo

✅ Scenario 4: Use GitHub Desktop (Optional)

If you’re using GitHub Desktop:

Open the repo in GitHub Desktop
Go to History
Find the commit that deleted the file
Right-click the previous commit and choose “Revert This Commit” or manually copy the file’s contents

🧠 Bonus: Use `git restore` (Modern Git)

If you’re using Git 2.23+:

git restore path/to/your-file.txt

Or from a specific commit:

git restore --source <commit-hash> path/to/your-file.txt

⚠️ Notes

If the deletion was part of a merge, recovering may require checking multiple branches or using git reflog
Always double-check your commit history before force pushing restored content

📋 Summary

Scenario	Recovery Method
Deleted locally, not committed	`git checkout -- file.txt` or `git restore file.txt`
Deleted in a past commit	`git log` → `git checkout <hash>^ -- file.txt`
Deleted and pushed to GitHub	Restore via GitHub UI or revert commit
Using GitHub Desktop	View history → restore file from older commit