Git move all untracked files and folders to directory out of git? [duplicate]

Question

I got PC from previous developer. There are many untracked files and folders (>400) in git. Project should work without them, but I don't want to delete or stash them. Maybe I'll have some usage later.

Is there way to move them with structure to Backup folder out of git?

Answer 1

Based on this answer, you can do something like follow assuming your can use bash command (I guess you can do this in git prompt).

cd $Git_Repo
for file in $(git ls-files --others --exclude-standard); do mkdir -p ../backup/$(dirname $file) ; mv $file ../backup/$file ; done

The last command loops on all untracked files, creates structure (dirname) in backup destination folder file. It moves file where it needs.

NOTE: If you have filenames with spaces, you have to specify the delimiter IFS for bash during your command (source). Do not forget to unset this after. The command becomes

cd $Git_Repo
IFS=$'\n'
for file in $(git ls-files --others --exclude-standard); do mkdir -p ../backup/$(dirname $file) ; mv $file ../backup/$file ; done
unset IFS

Answer 2

rsync -R `git ls-files --others` ../Backup

git ls-files --others lists untracked files including ignored; if you want to exclude files listed in .gitignore add --exclude-standard.

rsync -R copies the listed files into ../Backup directory preserving paths.

After that cleanup worktree with git clean -fd or even git clean -fdx.