Git Cheat Sheet · Changes

Unstage

Q: Does git restore --staged delete my changes?

No. Only git restore , without --staged, discards the changes in the working copy.

Q: How do I remove from the index a file that should be ignored?

git rm --cached stops tracking it without deleting it from disk. Then add it to .gitignore.

git restore --staged <file>

To remove a file from the index without touching its content, run git restore --staged <file>. Your changes are kept: they simply go back to "unstaged" and will not go into the next commit.

By Julien Dudek, author of Merathon · published on 4 November 2026

What it does

Removes changes from the index without losing them: they become "unstaged" again.

A use case

You staged a local configuration file by mistake.

On the command line

git restore --staged <file>: Unstages a file (Git 2.23 and later).
git restore --staged .: Empties the whole index.
git reset <file>: Older syntax, equivalent.
git restore --staged -p <file>: Unstages only some blocks.

In Merathon

Hover the file in "Staged" and click the minus button ("Unstage"), or right-click → "Unstage".
"Unstage all" empties the index; from the diff, "Unstage hunk" or "Unstage lines".

Frequently asked questions

Does git restore --staged delete my changes?

No. Only git restore <file>, without --staged, discards the changes in the working copy.

How do I remove from the index a file that should be ignored?

git rm --cached <file> stops tracking it without deleting it from disk. Then add it to .gitignore.