Git Commands

A list of most important and commonly used Git commands for easy reference✨✨

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Basic Snapshotting:

Command	Description
git init	Initialize git in a project
git status	Check status
git add <file>	Add a file to the staging area
git add .	Add all changes that are in the current directory to the staging area
git restore <file>	Discard changes in working directory
git restore --staged <file>	Unstage a file
git restore --staged .	Unstage all files of the current directory that are staged
git rm <file>	Delete a file
git mv <file> <new_file>	Move or rename a file
git commit	Commit changes (multiple line message)
git commit -m "<commit message>"	Commit changes (single line message)
git commit -am "<commit message>"	Stages and Commits together (does’t include untracked files)
git commit --amend -m "<commit message>"	Amend Commits

Inspection & Formation:

Command	Description
git log	Log all the commits
git log -n 5 or git log -5	Last 5 commits
git log --since=2020-07-03	Log everything from that date
git log --until=2021-07-03	Log everything until that date
git log --author="<Author Name>"	Log all commits of this author
git log --grep="<regex>"	Search with regular expression from commit messages
git log <SHA>..<SHA>	Show all logs between those two commits
git log <file>	Log all commits focusing on a specific file or folder
git log -p	Show actual changes with each commit
git log --stat	Show statistics about what was changed in each commit
git log --oneline	Oneline view of all commits
git log --graph	Graph view of all commits
git log --graph --all --oneline --decorate	Nice & simple map view of all commits

Comparison:

Command	Description
git diff	Show differences between the repository and working directory
git diff --staged	Show differences between the repository and the staging
git diff --color-words	Show only words that are different
git diff <branch>..<branch>	Compare branches
git show	Show diff between last two commits
git show <SHA>..<SHA>	Show diff between two specific commits
git show <SHA>..<SHA> --color-words	Show only words that are different

Branching & Merging:

Command	Description
git branch	Show list of the branches (local only)
git branch -r	Show remote branches
git branch -a	Show all branches (local and remote)
git branch <name>	Create branch
git checkout <branch>	Switch branch
git checkout -b <name>	Create and switch branch
git branch --merged	Check what other branches have all of their commits merged into this branch already
git branch --no-merged	Does the opposite of branch --merged
git branch -m <old name> <new name>	Rename branch
git branch -d <branch>	Delete branch
git merge <branch>	Merge a branch into the active branch
git merge <source branch> <target branch>	Merge a branch into a target branch

Rewrite History:

Command	Description
git reset --soft <tree-ish>	Soft reset
git reset <tree-ish>	Mixed reset
git reset --hard <tree-ish>	Hard reset

Temporary Commits:

Command	Description
git stash save "<label>"	Save changes in the stash
git stash list	List stack-order of stashed file changes
git stash show <stash>	Show a stash in diff --stat
git stash show -p <stash>	Show stash in patched version
git stash pop	Remove single stash and apply it to the working directory
git stash pop <stash>	Pop specific stash
git stash apply	Same as stash pop but doesn't delete the stash
git stash clear	Clear all stash
git stash drop	Delete from top of stash stack
git stash drop <stash>	Delete specific stash

Others:

Command	Description
git checkout <SHA> -- <file>	Retrieve old version of a file
git revert <SHA>	Revert a commit
git clean -f	Remove untracked files

Sharing & Updating:

Command	Description
git remote	Manage set of tracked repositories
git remote add <alias> <url>	Add a git URL as an alias
git remote set-url <alias> <url>	Replace a git URL as an alias
git remote -v	Be a little more verbose and show remote url after name
git remote rm <alias>	Remove the remote named "<alias>"
git push -u <alias> <branch name>	Push the branch to remote repository (and track the branch)
git push <alias> <branch name>	Push the branch to the remote repository
git branch --unset-upstream <branch name>	The branch will not tracking anymore
git clone <url>	Create a local copy of a remote repository
git push	Push changes to remote repository of active branch (if a tracking branch)
git fetch	Fetch all changes from a remote repository
git merge	Merge a remote branch into your current branch to bring it up to date
git pull	git fetch + git merge
git branch <branch name> <alias>/<branch name>	Create branch based on remote tracking branch
git push <alias> --delete <branch name>	Remove a branch from the remote repository