How to Recover Deleted Commit in Git Quickly and Safely

To recover a deleted commit in Git, use git reflog to find the commit's reference, then use git checkout or git cherry-pick to restore it. This works even if the commit is no longer in the branch history.

Syntax

git reflog: Shows a log of all recent HEAD changes, including deleted commits.
git checkout <commit-hash>: Switches to the commit to inspect or recover it.
git cherry-pick <commit-hash>: Applies the deleted commit onto the current branch.

bash

git reflog
git checkout <commit-hash>
git cherry-pick <commit-hash>

Example

This example shows how to find a deleted commit using git reflog and recover it by cherry-picking onto the current branch.

bash

git reflog
# Output shows recent commits with hashes
# Example output line: abc1234 HEAD@{2}: commit: Fix typo in README

git cherry-pick abc1234
# Applies the deleted commit back to your current branch

Output

abc1234 HEAD@{2}: commit: Fix typo in README
[main 9f8e7d6] Fix typo in README
 1 file changed, 1 insertion(+), 1 deletion(-)

Common Pitfalls

• Not using git reflog first to find the commit hash can lead to confusion.
• Trying to recover commits after garbage collection (usually after 30 days) may fail.
• Using git reset --hard without caution can delete commits permanently.

bash

git reset --hard HEAD~1  # This deletes the latest commit

# Wrong recovery attempt:
git checkout HEAD~1  # This moves HEAD but does not recover deleted commit

# Correct recovery:
git reflog  # Find deleted commit hash

git cherry-pick <commit-hash>  # Restore the commit

Quick Reference

Command	Purpose
git reflog	View recent HEAD changes including deleted commits
git checkout	Switch to a specific commit to inspect it
git cherry-pick	Apply a deleted commit back to current branch
git reset --hard	Dangerous: resets branch and deletes commits permanently

Key Takeaways

Use git reflog to find deleted commit hashes quickly.

Recover commits by cherry-picking them onto your branch.

Avoid hard resets without backups to prevent permanent loss.

Deleted commits can be recovered if garbage collection hasn't run.

Always verify commit hashes before applying recovery commands.