Can deleted .git be restored?

The only way you can restore a deleted .git folder is by:

• Cloning it again from somewhere
• Checking your recycling bin or backup (if no remote repository exists)

Since your files are from the online github repository, then its simple. Just clone it again from the directory where you deleted the .git folder:

git init
git remote add origin <repo_address>
git pull origin master

where repo_address can be [email protected]:yourname/yourproject.git

Your local checkout will be back to normal.

If you have uncommitted changes in your working copy you would want to keep, instead of using git pull use git fetch and then git reset --soft your local branch to the remote branch it should be at. The soft reset will not change your working copy

You can clone your repository to another location and simply copy the cloned .git folder to the place of your deleted .git folder.

I think the best bet is to Clone the repo in a throwaway folder. And copy the .git folder from that to your desired folder location (The project folder in which you've deleted .git folder).