Author: ytianle

Ignore Tracked Files

We are going to use git rm -r --cached <file path> here.

Ignore file back

When the files are tracked, directly ignoring them in the git ignore doesn't work. The correct steps are:

1. Remove index

   terminal

   git rm --cached <path/to/file>
   git commit -m "Remove tracked file" -- notice there is no add will be needed.
   

2. Update gitignore

   .gitignore

   <path/to/file>/
   **/<path/to/file>
   

Refresh index

You can also use this command to refresh the tracking of the file.

terminal

git rm --cached <path/to/file>
git add .
git commit -m "Refresh the index of the file."

Will this affect the time stamp of the tracked file?

Someone might be curious: will this tracking refreshment affect the timestamp of the file?

The answer is no. Below is a table that can be helpful to explain what it does.

Aspect	Does git rm --cached care?	Explanation
Git index (staging area)	✅ Yes	Primary target: paths are removed from the index
File paths	✅ Yes	Tells Git these paths should no longer be tracked
Current commit diff	✅ Yes	Appears as deleted in the next commit
Permanent removal from repo	⚠️ Depends on usage	Permanent only if not re-added with git add
Working tree files (disk)	❌ No	Files remain on disk
File content	❌ No	Contents are not modified
Existing Git commits	❌ No	Past commits and history are untouched
Rename / move history tracking	❌ No	History can still be associated via content similarity
MkDocs git-revision-date plugins	❌ (Indirect)	Git-based timestamps usually remain intact
OS file timestamps (mtime/ctime)	❌ No	Git ignores filesystem timestamps
Remote repository	❌ No	No effect until commit and push

Restore the change

• Case 1: Already executed git rm -r --cached docs but have not committed yet -> git restore --staged docs.
• Case 2: Have committed, but have not pushed -> git reset --soft HEAD~1.