Untracked vs tracked files in Git - Practice Questions

Challenge - 5 Problems

🧠 Conceptual

intermediate

Identify tracked and untracked files

You run git status and see some files listed under 'Untracked files' and others under 'Changes not staged for commit'. What does this mean about these files?

A Files under 'Untracked files' are deleted; files under 'Changes not staged for commit' are new files.

B Files under 'Untracked files' are committed; files under 'Changes not staged for commit' are untracked.

C Files under 'Untracked files' are staged for commit; files under 'Changes not staged for commit' are ignored by Git.

D Files under 'Untracked files' are new and not added to Git; files under 'Changes not staged for commit' are tracked but modified.

💡 Hint

Think about whether Git knows about the file or not.

Untracked files are new files Git has not been told to track yet. Modified tracked files are known to Git but have changes not yet staged.

💻 Command Output

intermediate

Output of git status with untracked files

What is the output of git status after creating a new file notes.txt but before adding it?

Git

$ touch notes.txt
$ git status

A

On branch main
Untracked files:
  (use "git add <file>..." to include in what will be committed)

	notes.txt

nothing added to commit but untracked files present (use "git add" to track)

B

On branch main
Changes to be committed:
  (use "git restore --staged <file>..." to unstage)

	new file:   notes.txt

C

On branch main
nothing to commit, working tree clean

D fatal: not a git repository (or any of the parent directories): .git

💡 Hint

The file is new and not added yet.

New files show under 'Untracked files' until added with git add.

🔀 Workflow

advanced

Correct workflow to track a new file

You created a new file app.log but want Git to track it. Which sequence of commands correctly tracks and commits this file?

A

git push origin main
 git add app.log

B

git add app.log
 git commit -m "Add app.log"

C

git commit -m "Add app.log"
 git add app.log

D

git rm app.log
 git commit -m "Remove app.log"

💡 Hint

Think about the order: add first, then commit.

You must add the file to the staging area before committing it.

❓ Troubleshoot

advanced

Why is a new file not showing as untracked?

You created a new file secret.txt but git status does not show it as untracked. What is the most likely reason?

A The file is listed in .gitignore, so Git ignores it.

B The file is already committed and tracked.

C The file has syntax errors.

D Git is not installed on your system.

💡 Hint

Check if Git is told to ignore the file.

Files listed in .gitignore do not show as untracked because Git ignores them.

✅ Best Practice

expert

Best practice for handling large untracked log files

Your project generates large log files that should not be tracked by Git. What is the best practice to handle these files?

A Rename the log files to .txt to make Git track them.

B Commit the log files regularly to keep history of logs.

C Add the log files to .gitignore to prevent tracking and accidental commits.

D Delete the log files manually before every commit.

💡 Hint

Think about avoiding clutter and large files in Git.

Adding large generated files to .gitignore keeps the repo clean and avoids unnecessary commits.