Git Cheatsheet

Git Helpers

Interactive, searchable reference of essential git commands organized by category with syntax, descriptions, and examples.

Setup

git config --global user.name "Name"

Set your global username

git config --global user.name "Jane Doe"

git config --global user.email "email"

Set your global email

git config --global user.email "jane@example.com"

git config --list

Show all git configuration settings

git config --list

git init

Initialize a new git repository

git init my-project

git clone <url>

Clone a remote repository

git clone https://github.com/user/repo.git

Staging

git status

Show working tree status

git status

git add <file>

Stage a specific file

git add index.html

git add .

Stage all changes in current directory

git add .

git add -p

Interactively stage chunks of changes

git add -p

git reset HEAD <file>

Unstage a file (keep changes)

git reset HEAD style.css

git rm --cached <file>

Remove file from staging (keep on disk)

git rm --cached secrets.env

Branching

git branch

List all local branches

git branch

git branch <name>

Create a new branch

git branch feature/login

git branch -d <name>

Delete a branch (safe)

git branch -d old-feature

git branch -D <name>

Force delete a branch

git branch -D broken-feature

git branch -a

List all branches (local + remote)

git branch -a

git checkout <branch>

Switch to an existing branch

git checkout main

git checkout -b <branch>

Create and switch to new branch

git checkout -b feature/auth

git switch <branch>

Switch branches (modern syntax)

git switch develop

git switch -c <branch>

Create and switch (modern syntax)

git switch -c feature/api

Merging

git merge <branch>

Merge a branch into current branch

git merge feature/login

git merge --no-ff <branch>

Merge with a merge commit (no fast-forward)

git merge --no-ff feature/auth

git merge --squash <branch>

Squash all commits into one before merging

git merge --squash feature/cleanup

git merge --abort

Abort a merge in progress

git merge --abort

Stashing

git stash

Stash working directory changes

git stash

git stash push -m "msg"

Stash with a descriptive message

git stash push -m "WIP: login form"

git stash list

List all stashes

git stash list

git stash pop

Apply most recent stash and remove it

git stash pop

git stash apply stash@{n}

Apply a specific stash (keep it)

git stash apply stash@{2}

git stash drop stash@{n}

Delete a specific stash

git stash drop stash@{0}

git stash clear

Delete all stashes

git stash clear

Remote

git remote -v

List remote repositories

git remote -v

git remote add <name> <url>

Add a remote repository

git remote add origin https://github.com/user/repo.git

git fetch

Download objects/refs from remote

git fetch origin

git pull

Fetch and merge remote changes

git pull origin main

git push

Push commits to remote

git push origin main

git push -u origin <branch>

Push and set upstream branch

git push -u origin feature/auth

git push --force-with-lease

Force push safely (checks remote state)

git push --force-with-lease

Undoing

git checkout -- <file>

Discard changes in a file

git checkout -- index.html

git restore <file>

Discard changes (modern syntax)

git restore style.css

git reset --soft HEAD~1

Undo last commit, keep changes staged

git reset --soft HEAD~1

git reset --mixed HEAD~1

Undo last commit, unstage changes

git reset --mixed HEAD~1

git reset --hard HEAD~1

Undo last commit, discard changes

git reset --hard HEAD~1

git revert <commit>

Create a new commit that undoes a previous one

git revert a1b2c3d

git clean -fd

Remove untracked files and directories

git clean -fd

Viewing History

git log

Show commit history

git log

git log --oneline

Compact commit history (one line each)

git log --oneline

git log --oneline --graph --all

Visual branch graph

git log --oneline --graph --all

git log -n <num>

Show last N commits

git log -n 5

git log --author="name"

Filter commits by author

git log --author="Jane"

git log -- <file>

Show commits that modified a file

git log -- src/app.js

git show <commit>

Show details of a specific commit

git show a1b2c3d

git diff

Show unstaged changes

git diff

git diff --staged

Show staged changes

git diff --staged

git blame <file>

Show who last modified each line

git blame src/utils.js