recover lost file

I am looking for a lost file that was accidentally deleted about 18 months ago. The docs I consulted are version 2.42.1. The git on my machine is version 2.34.1

I followed the instructions on this page” https://git-scm.com/book/en/v2/Git-Tools-Searching , the section “Line Log Search”. But I got an error.

malikarumi@Tetuoan2:~/Projects/hattie$ git grep titlesplit malikarumi@Tetuoan2:~/Projects/hattie$ git grep filesplit malikarumi@Tetuoan2:~/Projects/hattie$ git log -L :titlesplit fatal: -L argument not 'start,end:file' or ':funcname:file': :titlesplit malikarumi@Tetuoan2:~/Projects/hattie$ git log -L :titlesplit: fatal: -L argument not 'start,end:file' or ':funcname:file': :titlesplit:

I don’t know the purpose of the colon. Is it a boundary marker? Does it belong at the front of the search object, the end, or both? 'start,end:file' sounds like the error message expects me to provide a start and an end, to which the obvious reply is - If I knew where it was, I wouldn’t be trying to find it.

What is the correct syntax?

Is there another search option?

Thanx

--- “None of you has faith until he loves for his brother or his neighbor what he loves for himself.”