This informational message appears when running 'git init' in a directory that already contains a Git repository. It is harmless and does not overwrite any existing data, commits, or configuration.
When you run `git init` in a directory that already contains a `.git` folder (an existing Git repository), Git displays the message "Reinitialized existing Git repository in /path/to/repo/.git/". This is not an error but an informational message confirming that Git recognized the existing repository. According to the official Git documentation: "Running git init in an existing repository is safe. It will not overwrite things that are already there." The primary purpose of rerunning `git init` is to pick up newly added templates (such as hook scripts) or to move the repository to another location when using the `--separate-git-dir` flag. In practice, running `git init` on an existing repo essentially does nothing harmful. Your commits, branches, remote configurations, staged changes, and other repository data remain completely intact. The command mainly refreshes the template directory contents if you're using a custom template.
First, confirm that your existing repository data is safe:
git status
git log --oneline -5
git branch -a
git remote -vAll your commits, branches, and remotes should be exactly as they were before running git init.
Running git init on an existing repository is safe and essentially does nothing destructive. According to Git documentation:
- It will NOT overwrite existing configuration
- It will NOT delete commits or branches
- It will NOT change remote settings
- It MAY copy new template files (like hook scripts) if your template directory has been updated
The main use case for rerunning git init is to pick up newly added templates, such as pre-commit hooks from a team template directory.
If you're seeing this message unexpectedly, you might have a parent directory that's also a Git repository:
# Check current directory
ls -la .git
# Check parent directories for .git folders
ls -la ../.git 2>/dev/null
ls -la ../../.git 2>/dev/nullIf a parent directory has a .git folder, you may have nested repositories. Consider whether this is intentional.
If you're writing automation scripts and want to avoid this message, check for an existing repository first:
# Only initialize if not already a git repo
if [ ! -d ".git" ]; then
git init
fiOr use git rev-parse to check more reliably (handles worktrees):
if ! git rev-parse --git-dir > /dev/null 2>&1; then
git init
fiIf your goal was to completely reset the repository and start with a clean history (losing all commits), you need to delete the .git directory first:
# WARNING: This permanently deletes ALL git history!
rm -rf .git
git initCaution: This destroys your entire commit history, branches, and stash. Only do this if you truly want to start from scratch. Consider creating a backup first:
cp -r .git .git-backup### What Actually Gets Reinitialized?
When you run git init on an existing repository, Git performs these actions:
1. Template files are copied - Files from the template directory (typically /usr/share/git-core/templates) are copied to .git if they don't already exist. This is useful for distributing shared hook scripts across a team.
2. Nothing is overwritten - Existing files in .git are never overwritten, including:
- config (your repository settings)
- HEAD (current branch pointer)
- objects/ (all your commits and files)
- refs/ (branches and tags)
- Custom hooks you've added
### Using Templates Effectively
You can use git init reinitialization to update hooks from a template directory:
# Initialize with a custom template
git init --template=/path/to/my-template
# Later, to pick up template updates
git init --template=/path/to/my-template### The --separate-git-dir Option
One legitimate use of rerunning git init is to relocate the .git directory:
# Move .git to a different location
git init --separate-git-dir=/path/to/new-locationThis leaves a .git file (not directory) that points to the new location.
### Differences from git clone
If you git clone a repository, it creates a fresh local copy. Running git init afterward won't "re-clone" or sync with the remote—it just acknowledges the existing repo.
### Why Scripts Sometimes Include git init
Many CI/CD systems and build scripts include git init as a defensive measure. It's harmless on existing repos and ensures a repository exists on fresh checkouts. The "Reinitialized" message can be safely ignored in these contexts.
warning: BOM detected in file, this may cause issues
UTF-8 Byte Order Mark (BOM) detected in file
fatal: Server does not support --shallow-exclude
Server does not support --shallow-exclude
warning: filtering out blobs larger than limit
Git partial clone filtering large blobs warning
fatal: Server does not support --shallow-since
Server does not support --shallow-since in Git
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Connection closed by remote host when connecting to Git server