How do you restoreBranches that You Deleted from the /branches screen in a repo in Github?

[kchalmershappymoney]

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Hello - I deleted a branch from within the "branches" web page in my repo on the Github webpage. The branch was called "add_new_databricks_jobs" - I cannot find documentation for how you can recover a branch specifically when you deleted it this way. Can you help please?

Thank you!

[anteroselin]

When you delete a branch, you are only deleting a reference to the commit at the tip of that branch. The commits themselves are still present in the repository.

Here's a step-by-step guide on how to recover a deleted branch. This assumes that you have at least a clone of the repository with the commits which were in the branch:

Open a terminal and change to the directory where your project is located.

Use the following command to look at all commits across all branches, along with their comments:

git log --all --decorate --oneline --graph

This will give you a long list of every commit made in every branch in your repository.

Look for the commit that was the head of the deleted branch. This will be the last commit that was made to the branch. You should recognize it by the commit message. Once you find it, make a note of the commit hash (the long string of numbers and letters next to each commit).

Once you have the hash of the commit that was at the tip of the branch, use the following command to create a new branch with this commit as the head:

git checkout -b add_new_databricks_jobs <commit-hash>

Replace with the actual hash of the commit.

This command will create a new branch with the same name as the deleted one and move you into it.

If you want to push this branch to the remote repository, use the following command:

git push origin add_new_databricks_jobs

That's it! Your branch should be restored.

Please note that these instructions will only work if the commits that were on the branch still exist in your local repository. If you have garbage collected your repo (git gc), or if the branch was only present in a different clone of the repository that you do not have access to, then this process will not work. In that case, you would need to find a copy of that branch in a different clone of the repository.

Also, be aware that if you had any uncommitted changes in your working directory or index when the branch was deleted, those changes would not have been part of any commit, and thus will not be recoverable using this method.

[Bechuana1]

hello, the easiest solution is to Open the repository in GitHub where the branch was deleted.

1. Click on the "Code" tab to view the repository's code.

2. In the dropdown menu next to the branch selector, click on the branch selector and select the branch that was deleted.

GitHub will display a message indicating that the branch was deleted and provide an option to restore it.

3. Click on the "Restore branch" button.
4. GitHub will recreate the deleted branch with all its commit history.

[allanjs88]

Hello,

1. In Github go to Activity
   
2. Select Branch Deletions
   
3. Look the name of the branch and click in ... at the end
   
4. Click in Restore Branch

[6034903]

thanks saved my day

[Rahim-bot]

not all heros wear capes

[PrinstonZod]

Thank you so much, man. Just saved my job

[MichaelKazembe]

i was stressing over this after my code broke and i didnt know to recover some code. Thank you very much

[Aspiand]

Thanks

[pankaj4u4m]

Goto all branched and click activity of any one branch

Then click activity from all branched

then click ... to restore deleted branch

[Bikram-DoorDash]

Here, some deleted branches have only "Compare changes" option while others have "restore branch" option.

[NyxianNetwork]

To recover a deleted branch on GitHub, you can try the following steps:

1. Check Local Repository: If you have a local copy of the branch, you can simply push it back to GitHub:

   git push origin add_new_databricks_jobs

2. Use Git Reflog: If the branch was deleted locally, you can use git reflog to find the last commit reference of the branch:

   git reflog

   Look for the last commit hash associated with "add_new_databricks_jobs," then create a new branch from it:

   git checkout -b add_new_databricks_jobs <commit-hash>
   git push origin add_new_databricks_jobs

3. Contact GitHub Support: If you don’t have a local copy and can't find the commit hash, GitHub Support may be able to help recover the branch history for you.

[Rahim-bot]

Damn bro , you also saved my project

…

---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Eugene Ofarn-Uba ***@***.***> Date: Thu, 17 Apr 2025 at 17:00 Subject: Re: [community/community] How do you restoreBranches that You Deleted from the /branches screen in a repo in Github? (Discussion #55884) To: community/community ***@***.***> Cc: Ktata Abderrahim ***@***.***>, Comment < ***@***.***> Thank you so much, man. Just saved my job — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#55884 (reply in thread)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/BONIOK7ZYJ75T5FTFQQXP3T2Z7FZJAVCNFSM6AAAAAAYHA4CPKVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43URDJONRXK43TNFXW4Q3PNVWWK3TUHMYTEOBWHE2DENQ> . You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[imeligilani]

You saved my project man.