---
name: "git-lost-found"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "git-man"
version: "1:1.7.10.4-1+wheezy3"
release: "Debian 7 (Wheezy)"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/git-lost-found"
---

# git-lost-found(1)

Recover lost refs that luckily have not yet been pruned

## NAME

git-lost-found - Recover lost refs that luckily have not yet been pruned

## SYNOPSIS

```
git lost-found
```

## DESCRIPTION

**NOTE**: this command is deprecated. Use [**git-fsck**(1)](/git-fsck/1.md) with the option *--lost-found* instead.

Finds dangling commits and tags from the object database, and creates refs to them in the .git/lost-found/ directory. Commits and tags that dereference to commits are stored in .git/lost-found/commit, and other objects are stored in .git/lost-found/other.

## OUTPUT

Prints to standard output the object names and one-line descriptions of any commits or tags found.

## EXAMPLE

Suppose you run *git tag -f* and mistype the tag to overwrite. The ref to your tag is overwritten, but until you run *git prune*, the tag itself is still there.

```
$ git lost-found
[1ef2b196d909eed523d4f3c9bf54b78cdd6843c6] GIT 0.99.9c
...
```

Also you can use gitk to browse how any tags found relate to each other.

```
$ gitk $(cd .git/lost-found/commit && echo ??*)
```

After making sure you know which the object is the tag you are looking for, you can reconnect it to your regular .git/refs hierarchy.

```
$ git cat-file -t 1ef2b196
tag
$ git cat-file tag 1ef2b196
object fa41bbce8e38c67a218415de6cfa510c7e50032a
type commit
tag v0.99.9c
tagger Junio C Hamano <junkio@cox.net> 1131059594 -0800
GIT 0.99.9c
This contains the following changes from the "master" branch, since
...
$ git update-ref refs/tags/not-lost-anymore 1ef2b196
$ git rev-parse not-lost-anymore
1ef2b196d909eed523d4f3c9bf54b78cdd6843c6
```

## GIT

Part of the [**git**(1)](/git/1.md) suite