How do you stash an untracked file?
To stash your working directory including untracked files (especially those that are in the .gitignore) then you probably want to use this cmd:
git stash --include-untracked
Alternatively, you can use the shorthand -u instead of --include-untracked, or simply git stash --all which stashes all files, including untracked and ignored files. This bahaviour changed in 2018, so make sure your git is up to date.
Warning: there seems to be (or have been) situations in which contents of ignored directories could be deleted permanently. See this archived website for more information.
In git bash, stashing of untracked files is achieved by using the command
git stash --include-untracked
# or
git stash -u
http://git-scm.com/docs/git-stash
git stash removes any untracked or uncommited files from your workspace. And you can revert git stash by using following commands
git stash pop
This will place the file back in your local workspace.
My experience
I had to perform a modification to my gitIgnore file to avoid movement of .classpath and .project files into remote repo. I am not allowed to move this modified .gitIgnore in remote repo as of now.
.classpath and .project files are important for eclipse - which is my java editor.
I first of all selectively added my rest of the files and committed for staging. However, final push cannot be performed unless the modified .gitIgnore fiels and the untracked files viz. .project and .classpath are not stashed.
I used
git stash
for stashing the modified .gitIgnore file.
For stashing .classpath and .project file, I used
git stash --include-untracked
and it removed the files from my workspace. Absence of these files takes away my capability of working on my work location in eclipse. I proceeded on with completing the procedure for pushing the committed files to remote. Once this was done successfully, I used
git stash pop
This pasted the same files back in my workspace. This gave back to me my ability to work on the same project in eclipse. Hope this brushes aside misconceptions.
As of git 1.7.7, git stash accepts the --include-untracked option (or short-hand -u). To include untracked files in your stash, use either of the following commands:
git stash --include-untracked
# or
git stash -u
Warning, doing this will permanently delete your files if you have any directory/ entries in your gitignore file.*
Add the file to the index:
git add path/to/untracked-file
git stash
The entire contents of the index, plus any unstaged changes to existing files, will all make it into the stash.