Introduction

Git tracks every change to your repository, including file deletions. If a file was deleted in a past commit, you can find exactly when it was removed, who deleted it, and even recover its contents. The key tools are git log with --diff-filter=D and --all flags.

Find When a Specific File Was Deleted

git log --all -- path/to/deleted-file.txt

This shows the full commit history for that file, including the commit where it was deleted. The last commit in the output is the deletion commit.

1# Example output:
2commit a1b2c3d (HEAD -> main)
3Author: Alice <[email protected]>
4Date:   Mon Jan 15 10:30:00 2024
5
6    Remove deprecated config file

Add --oneline for a compact view:

1git log --all --oneline -- path/to/deleted-file.txt
2# a1b2c3d Remove deprecated config file
3# f4e5d6c Update config values
4# b7a8c9d Add initial config

Find All Deleted Files

List every file deletion across the entire repository history:

git log --diff-filter=D --summary

This shows all commits that deleted files, with delete mode lines indicating which files were removed:

1commit a1b2c3d
2Author: Alice <[email protected]>
3Date:   Mon Jan 15 10:30:00 2024
4
5    Clean up deprecated files
6
7 delete mode 100644 config/old-settings.yml
8 delete mode 100644 src/deprecated-module.js

For a more concise output showing only filenames:

1git log --diff-filter=D --name-only --pretty=format:"%h %s"
2# a1b2c3d Clean up deprecated files
3# config/old-settings.yml
4# src/deprecated-module.js

Find Who Deleted a File

git log --diff-filter=D --pretty=format:"%h %an %ad %s" -- path/to/file
# a1b2c3d Alice Mon Jan 15 10:30:00 2024 Remove deprecated config file

The format placeholders:

• %h — short commit hash
• %an — author name
• %ad — author date
• %s — commit subject

Recover a Deleted File

Once you know the deletion commit, recover the file from the commit before it:

1# Find the deletion commit
2git log --diff-filter=D --oneline -- path/to/file.txt
3# a1b2c3d Remove deprecated config file
4
5# Recover from the commit before deletion (a1b2c3d~1 = parent of a1b2c3d)
6git checkout a1b2c3d~1 -- path/to/file.txt
7
8# Or using git restore (Git 2.23+)
9git restore --source=a1b2c3d~1 -- path/to/file.txt

The ~1 suffix means "the parent commit." This retrieves the file as it existed just before deletion.

Search for a Deleted File by Name

If you do not remember the full path:

1# Search for any deleted file matching a pattern
2git log --diff-filter=D --summary | grep "delete mode.*filename"
3
4# Search for deleted files containing "config" in the name
5git log --diff-filter=D --name-only --pretty=format:"" | grep config
6
7# More precise: list all deleted files ever
8git log --diff-filter=D --name-only --pretty=format:"" | sort -u

View the Contents of a Deleted File

1# Show the file at a specific commit
2git show a1b2c3d~1:path/to/file.txt
3
4# Show the file at the last commit before deletion
5git log --diff-filter=D --oneline -- path/to/file.txt | head -1
6# a1b2c3d Remove deprecated config file
7
8git show a1b2c3d~1:path/to/file.txt

View the Deletion Diff

See exactly what was in the file when it was deleted:

git show a1b2c3d -- path/to/file.txt

This shows the diff for that commit, including all the removed lines (prefixed with -).

Using git bisect to Find When a File Disappeared

For complex histories, git bisect can pinpoint the exact commit:

1git bisect start
2git bisect bad HEAD              # File is missing now
3git bisect good v1.0             # File existed at v1.0
4
5# At each step, check if the file exists:
6# test -f path/to/file.txt && git bisect good || git bisect bad
7
8# Automated:
9git bisect run test -f path/to/file.txt

Diff Filter Options Reference

Combine filters: --diff-filter=DR shows deleted and renamed files.

Common Pitfalls

• File moved, not deleted: If a file was renamed or moved, git log -- old/path shows it as deleted. Use git log --follow -- new/path to track a file across renames, or --diff-filter=R to find renames.
• Shallow clones: git clone --depth=1 does not include full history. The deletion commit may not exist in a shallow clone. Use git fetch --unshallow to get the full history.
• The --all flag: Without --all, git log only searches the current branch. The file might have been deleted on a different branch. Always use --all when searching across the entire repository.
• Case sensitivity: On case-insensitive filesystems (macOS, Windows), path/to/File.txt and path/to/file.txt may refer to the same file. Git tracks the exact case used at commit time.
• Recovering to working directory: git checkout <commit> -- file stages the recovered file and adds it to the working directory. You still need to commit it to make the recovery permanent.

Summary

• Use git log --all -- path/to/file to find when a specific file was deleted
• Use git log --diff-filter=D --summary to list all file deletions across history
• Recover deleted files with git checkout <commit>~1 -- path/to/file
• Use git show <commit>~1:path/to/file to view deleted file contents without recovering
• Always include --all to search across all branches