How to restore untracked files from stash?

Restoring Untracked Files from Stash

In the world of Git, the stash command is a powerful tool that allows you to temporarily save your local changes, including both tracked and untracked files, and then restore them later. However, when it comes to restoring untracked files from the stash, the process is a bit different compared to restoring tracked files.

Understanding the Stash

The Git stash is a way to temporarily save your local changes, including both staged and unstaged modifications, as well as any untracked files, without committing them to the repository. This is particularly useful when you need to switch to a different branch or task, but you don't want to lose the work you've done.

When you run the git stash command, Git creates a new stash entry that contains the following information:

1. Tracked Files: The changes made to the tracked files in your working directory.
2. Staged Changes: The changes that have been staged for the next commit.
3. Untracked Files: Any new files that are not yet being tracked by Git.

The stash acts like a stack, where the most recent stash entry is on top, and you can apply or drop these stash entries as needed.

Restoring Untracked Files from Stash

Restoring untracked files from the stash is a bit different from restoring tracked files. This is because Git has a specific way of handling untracked files, and it needs to be careful not to overwrite any existing files in your working directory.

Here's the step-by-step process to restore untracked files from the stash:

1. List the Stash Entries: First, you need to list the available stash entries to identify the one you want to restore. You can do this using the git stash list command:

$ git stash list
stash@{0}: WIP on main: 1234567 Commit message
stash@{1}: WIP on main: 7654321 Another commit message

2. Apply the Stash: To apply a specific stash entry, use the git stash apply command, followed by the stash reference (e.g., stash@{0} for the most recent stash):

$ git stash apply stash@{0}

This command will restore the tracked and staged changes from the stash, but it will not restore the untracked files.

3. Restore Untracked Files: To restore the untracked files from the stash, you need to use the git stash pop command. This command will apply the stash and then remove the stash entry from the stack:

$ git stash pop

The git stash pop command will restore both the tracked/staged changes and the untracked files from the stash. If there are any conflicts between the stashed changes and your current working directory, Git will prompt you to resolve them before completing the operation.

Here's a Mermaid diagram that illustrates the process of restoring untracked files from the stash:

In summary, to restore untracked files from the stash, you need to use the git stash pop command, which will apply the entire stash, including both tracked/staged changes and untracked files, to your working directory. This ensures that all the changes you had previously stashed are restored, including any untracked files.