How Do I Recover a Dropped Stash in Git?

Better Stack Team

Updated on June 24, 2024

Recovering a dropped stash in Git involves identifying the commit associated with the dropped stash and creating a new branch or applying the stash directly. Here's how you can do it:

Identify the Dropped Stash: First, you need to find the commit associated with the dropped stash. You can do this by inspecting the reflog:
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```
git reflog
```
Look for entries that mention "stash" or "drop" to find the commit where the stash was dropped. Each entry in the reflog includes a commit hash associated with a stash action.
Recover the Stash: Once you've identified the commit hash associated with the dropped stash, you can either create a new branch at that commit or apply the stash directly.
Option 1: Create a New Branch: Create a new branch at the commit where the stash was dropped:
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```
git checkout -b <new-branch-name> <commit-hash>
```
Replace <new-branch-name> with the desired name for the new branch, and <commit-hash> with the hash of the commit where the stash was dropped.
Option 2: Apply the Stash: If you want to apply the dropped stash directly to your working directory, you can use the git stash apply command with the commit hash of the dropped stash:
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```
git stash apply <commit-hash>
```
Replace <commit-hash> with the hash of the commit where the stash was dropped.
Review and Resolve Conflicts (if any): After recovering the stash, review the changes and resolve any conflicts that may arise. Use git status to check the status of your working directory and git diff to inspect changes.
Commit Changes (if necessary): Once you've resolved any conflicts and verified the changes, you can commit them to the repository:
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```
git add .
git commit -m "Recover dropped stash"
```
Push Changes (if necessary): If you're working with a remote repository and you want to push the recovered changes, use the git push command:
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```
git push origin <branch-name>
```
Replace <branch-name> with the name of the branch you're working on.

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