How to remove these non existing files from Git?

Question

MS Word did create these files automatically while the files were opened. I accidentially committed these files. After closing MS Word the files have been deleted automatically. Now Git still shows the files and I cannot remove, add or checkout them. How to remove these files from the repository?

Changes not staged for commit: (use "git add/rm <file>..." to update what will be committed) (use "git checkout -- <file>..." to discard changes in working directory) deleted: NonProject/GameObjectSetupInstructions/RaceScene/~$VFX.docx deleted: NonProject/GameObjectSetupInstructions/RaceScene/~$ceSceneLighting.docx modified: NonProject/GameObjectSetupInstructions/RaceScene/~$ceSceneSetup.docx $ git checkout NonProject/GameObjectSetupInstructions/RaceScene/~$VFX.docx error: pathspec 'NonProject/GameObjectSetupInstructions/RaceScene/~.docx' did not match any file(s) known to git $ git rm --cached NonProject/GameObjectSetupInstructions/RaceScene/~$VFX.docx fatal: pathspec 'NonProject/GameObjectSetupInstructions/RaceScene/~.docx' did not match any files $ git rm NonProject/GameObjectSetupInstructions/RaceScene/~$VFX.docx fatal: pathspec 'NonProject/GameObjectSetupInstructions/RaceScene/~.docx' did not match any files

Try git add 'NonProject/GameObjectSetupInstructions/RaceScene/~$VFX.docx'? — evolutionxbox
– evolutionxbox, Commented Jan 10, 2022 at 10:36
That worked! I always tried to use "" instead of ''. I thought it's equivalent... Anyway thank you so much. — MasterMax
– MasterMax, Commented Jan 10, 2022 at 10:55
@MasterMax the tilde ~ was likely being interpreted as your home directory. Try cd ~ or cd ~/Documents. — Adam
– Adam, Commented Jan 10, 2022 at 11:24

1615903 · Accepted Answer · 2022-01-10 12:03:56Z

In bash, when you use a variable in a command it is prefixed with a $. Therefore, when you type:

git rm NonProject/GameObjectSetupInstructions/RaceScene/~$VFX.docx

Bash tries to replace $VFX with a variable VFX. When it isn't found, empty string is used instead, as you can see in the error message:

fatal: pathspec 'NonProject/GameObjectSetupInstructions/RaceScene/~.docx' did not match any files

Note that $VFX has disappeared.

The solution is to quote the path with single quotes, which prevents variable substitution:

git rm 'NonProject/GameObjectSetupInstructions/RaceScene/~$VFX.docx'

Doesn't the replacement happen when using double-quotes too?
@evolutionxbox: for bash, yes. Different shells have different rules, so it can get messy, but that's why the single quotes worked.
I tried double quotes first and it did not work in my Git shell. Single quotes worked.

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