Common Git Tasks and Git Tips

I’ve been thinking about some of the common git tasks I’ve been struggling with and created a list to help me remember them:

  • Undo staging of a file (undo git add)

    • git reset filename

  • Add all files in a directory

    • git add directory

  • Undo the last commit (not pushed)

    • git reset –hard HEAD~

  • Undo the last commit (was pushed)

    • git revert HEAD

  •  Undo a commit that’s not the most recent one

    • git revert sha1

  • Change branches without commiting files

    • git stash

  • Undo changes made to one file

    • git checkout HEAD~ filename

  • Replace a particular file with one in a different branch

    • git checkout branch filename

  • Look at a remote branch (without detached state)

    • git checkout -b localname remote/branchname

  • When there’s a merge conflict, use mine/theirs to resolve the conflict

    • git checkout –ours filename
    • git checkout –theirs filename

In addition, here are some resources that intermediate git users will find useful:

  • Git Immersion is a great tutorial that walks you through some of the common tasks
  • Githug is a great command-line game to practice git commands

I’d also recommend creating either shell aliases or git aliases for the git commands you use frequently. git autocomplete is a life saver for autocompleting branch names and commands!