Adding and Updating Files

How to add new files and update existing files in Git

Adding and Updating Files

Git tracks changes to files through explicit commands. You need to tell Git which files to include in your next commit.

Adding New Files

Single File

# Add a specific new file
git add newfile.txt

Multiple Files

# Add multiple specific files
git add file1.txt file2.txt file3.txt

# Add all files with a pattern
git add *.js

# Add all files in a directory
git add src/

All New Files

# Add all new and modified files
git add .

# Add all files in the repository
git add -A

Updating Existing Files

Track Changes

When you modify existing files, Git detects the changes but doesn't automatically stage them:

# Edit an existing file
echo "new content" >> existing-file.txt

# Check status
git status

# Add the changes
git add existing-file.txt

Update All Modified Files

# Add all modified tracked files (not new files)
git add -u

# Add all files (new, modified, deleted)
git add -A

The git add Command Options

Basic Options

OptionDescription
git add <file>Add specific file
git add .Add all files in current directory
git add -AAdd all changes (new, modified, deleted)
git add -uAdd only modified and deleted files

Interactive Options

OptionDescription
git add -iInteractive mode
git add -pPatch mode (partial staging)
git add -nDry run (show what would be added)

Interactive Adding

Interactive Mode

git add -i

This opens a menu where you can:

  1. Stage files
  2. Update files
  3. Revert files
  4. Add untracked files
  5. Patch mode
  6. Diff
  7. Quit
  8. Help

Patch Mode

git add -p filename.txt

Stage parts of a file:

  • y - stage this hunk
  • n - don't stage this hunk
  • s - split into smaller hunks
  • e - manually edit the hunk
  • q - quit
  • ? - help

Workflow Examples

Adding a New Feature

# Create new files
touch feature.js feature.css feature.html

# Add them to staging
git add feature.*

# Commit the feature
git commit -m "Add new feature files"

Updating Existing Code

# Modify existing files
echo "// Bug fix" >> app.js
echo "/* Updated styles */" >> styles.css

# Add all modified files
git add -u

# Commit the updates
git commit -m "Fix bug in app.js and update styles"

Selective Staging

# Make changes to multiple files
echo "feature A" >> app.js
echo "feature B" >> app.js  
echo "bug fix" >> utils.js

# Stage only the utils.js fix
git add utils.js
git commit -m "Fix critical bug in utils"

# Stage the app.js changes later
git add app.js
git commit -m "Add features A and B"

File States

Understanding file states helps with adding/updating:

Untracked → Staged → Committed
            ↑
Modified → Staged → Committed

Check File States

# See which files are in which state
git status

# See detailed information
git status -s

Status codes:

  • ?? - Untracked
  • A - Added (staged)
  • M - Modified
  • D - Deleted
  • MM - Modified, staged, then modified again

Best Practices

1. Review Before Adding

# Check what you're about to add
git status
git diff

# Then add
git add specific-file.txt

# Good: Related files
git add auth.js auth.css auth.html
git commit -m "Implement authentication"

# Bad: Unrelated files  
git add .
git commit -m "Various changes"

3. Use Descriptive Commits

# Add specific changes for focused commits
git add database.js
git commit -m "Add user database connection"

git add ui.css  
git commit -m "Update button styles"

4. Test Before Adding

# Test your changes first
npm test

# If tests pass, add and commit
git add .
git commit -m "Add feature X with tests passing"

Common Scenarios

Add All Except Certain Files

# Add everything except one file
git add .
git reset HEAD unwanted-file.txt

# Or use .gitignore for permanent exclusion
echo "unwanted-file.txt" >> .gitignore

Add Part of a File

# Use patch mode to add only some changes
git add -p large-file.js

Undo Adding

# Unstage a file
git reset HEAD filename.txt

# Unstage all files
git reset HEAD

Tracking File Changes

See What's Changed

# See unstaged changes
git diff

# See staged changes  
git diff --staged

# See changes in specific file
git diff filename.txt

File History

# See commit history for a file
git log -- filename.txt

# See detailed changes over time
git log -p -- filename.txt

Advanced Adding

Add with Message

# Add and commit in one step (only for tracked files)
git commit -am "Update existing files"

Force Add Ignored Files

# Add a file that's in .gitignore
git add -f ignored-file.txt

Dry Run

# See what would be added without adding
git add -n .

Next Steps