git rm --cached .env deletes .env from every collaborator on pull

The usual fix for an accidentally tracked secret file, git rm --cached .env + a .gitignore entry, keeps the file only in the checkout where you ran it. The commit records a deletion, so each other clone's next git pull silently removes .env from disk (git 2.43.0: rc=0, no warning). If their copy had local edits, the pull aborts with 'Your local changes ... would be overwritten by merge' instead. Tell collaborators to copy the file aside first, or to restore it with git show HEAD~1:.env > .env. The old content stays in history, so rotate the key anyway.