Add Files With Local Changes Cannot Be Removed as a Git TIL

README.md

@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ pairing with smart people at Hashrocket.
 
 For a steady stream of TILs, [sign up for my newsletter](https://crafty-builder-6996.ck.page/e169c61186).
 
-_1607 TILs and counting..._
+_1608 TILs and counting..._
 
 See some of the other learning resources I work on:
 - [Ruby Operator Lookup](https://www.visualmode.dev/ruby-operators)
@@ -327,6 +327,7 @@ If you've learned something here, support my efforts writing daily TILs by
 - [Exclude A File From A Diff Output](git/exclude-a-file-from-a-diff-output.md)
 - [Excluding Files Locally](git/excluding-files-locally.md)
 - [Extend Git With Custom Commands](git/extend-git-with-custom-commands.md)
+- [Files With Local Changes Cannot Be Removed](git/files-with-local-changes-cannot-be-removed.md)
 - [Find And Remove Files That Match A Name](git/find-and-remove-files-that-match-a-name.md)
 - [Find The Date That A File Was Added To The Repo](git/find-the-date-that-a-file-was-added-to-the-repo.md)
 - [Find The Initial Commit](git/find-the-initial-commit.md)

git/files-with-local-changes-cannot-be-removed.md

@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+# Files With Local Changes Cannot Be Removed
+
+This is a nice quality-of-life feature in `git` that should help you avoid
+accidentally discarding changes that won't be retrievable.
+
+```bash
+❯ git rm .tool-versions
+error: the following file has local modifications:
+    .tool-versions
+(use --cached to keep the file, or -f to force removal)
+```
+
+My `.tool-versions` file has some local changes. I don't realize that and I go
+to issue a `git rm` command on that file. Instead of quietly wiping out my
+changes, `git` lets me know I'm doing something destructive (these local
+changes won't be in the diff or the reflog).
+
+I can force the removal if I know what I'm doing with the `-f` flag. Or I can
+take the two step approach of calling `git restore` on that file and then `git
+rm`.
+
+The `--cached` flag is also interesting because it doesn't actually delete the
+file from my file system, but it does stage the file deletion with `git`. That
+means the file now shows up as one of my untracked files.
+
+See `man git-rm` for more details.