Git Quick Reference

I’m just getting started using git and so far I’ve used mostly GitHub Desktop and WebStorm’s built-in git support. I’m adding some common commands here as a quick reference for myself when I need/want to use terminal instead.

• Remove a file from version control (untrack)

   git rm --cached --force [path/to/file]
  

• Add a single file

  git add [path/to/file]
  

• Add all files (excluding those in .gitignore)

  git add .
  

• Switch branch

  git checkout <<branch name>>
  

• Commit pending changes

  git commit -m "<<Commit Message>>"
  

• Get latest from remote

  git pull
  

• Create and switch to new branch, leaving unstaged pending changes in workspace. Then stage changes.

  git checkout -b <<branch name>>
  git add *
  

• Push changes to remote where the branch doesn’t exist yet

  git push --set-upstream origin <<branch-name>>
  

• Undo local changes to a tracked file

  git checkout -- <<File Name1>> <<File Name2>>
  

• List remote branches that are not tracked locally

  git fetch
  git branch -r
  

  OR

  git remote show <remote-name>
  

• After fetching remote branches, check one of them out locally

  git checkout -b <branch-name> <name-of-remote>/<branch-name>
  

Moving committed changes to a new branch

I sometimes accidentally commit changes on the master branch locally. If that is a protected branch on the remote server that you cannot commit directly to, you need to move these changes to another branch and rollback master.

Note: Any changes not committed will be lost.

git branch newbranch      # Create a new branch, saving the desired commits
git reset --hard HEAD~3   # Move master back by 3 commits (GONE from master)
git checkout newbranch    # Go to the new branch that still has the desired commits

But do make sure how many commits to go back. Alternatively, you can instead of HEAD~3, simply provide the hash of the commit (or the reference like origin/master) you want to “revert back to” on the master (/current) branch, e.g:

git reset --hard a1b2c3d4

Similar approach with slightly different commands

git checkout -b newbranch # Create a new branch that includes the desired commits (current state of master)
git checkout master       # Switch back to master
git reset --hard HEAD~1   # Move master back by 1 commit (GONE from master)
git checkout newbranch    # Go to the new branch that still has the desired commits