Is it possible to move/rename files in Git and maintain their history?

git rename mv
sgargan picture sgargan · Feb 22, 2010 · Viewed 354.5k times · Source

I would like to rename/move a project subtree in Git moving it from

/project/xyz

to 

/components/xyz

If I use a plain git mv project components, then all the commit history for the xyz project gets lost. Is there a way to move this such that the history is maintained?

Answer

Troels Thomsen picture Troels Thomsen · Feb 22, 2010

Git detects renames rather than persisting the operation with the commit, so whether you use git mv or mv doesn't matter.

The log command takes a --follow argument that continues history before a rename operation, i.e., it searches for similar content using the heuristics:

http://git-scm.com/docs/git-log

To lookup the full history, use the following command:

git log --follow ./path/to/file

Related questions

Undo git mv (rename)

What is the right way to undo a rename in git, like: git mv file1 file2

Read More
In a Git repository, how to properly rename a directory?

I think it should work to copy the directory to be renamed to a new directory with desired name, and delete the old directory, and git add, git commit and push everything. But is this the best way?

Read More
How do I rename both a Git local and remote branch name?

I have four branches like master -> origin/regacy, FeatureA -> origin/FeatureA. As you can see, I typed the wrong name. So I want to rename a remote branch name (origin/regacy → origin/legacy or origin/master) …

Read More