Git Essential Commands: Stash, Reset, Branch & More

Global Configuration

Set up your Git identity before making commits. This information appears in your commit history.

# Set your name and email globally
git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "your.email@example.com"

# Verify your settings
git config --global --list

Stash Commands

Git stash temporarily saves your uncommitted changes so you can switch branches or pull updates without losing work.

Basic Stash Operations

# Save current changes to stash
git stash

# Save with a descriptive message
git stash save "WIP: feature login form"

# List all stashes
git stash list

# Apply the most recent stash (keeps it in stash list)
git stash apply

# Apply and remove the most recent stash
git stash pop

Working with Multiple Stashes

# Apply a specific stash
git stash apply stash@{2}

# Show changes in a specific stash
git stash show -p stash@{0}

# Create a patch file from a stash
git stash show -p stash@{0} > my-changes.patch

# Drop a specific stash
git stash drop stash@{1}

# Clear all stashes (use with caution!)
git stash clear

Stash includes tracked files by default. Use git stash -u to include untracked files, or git stash -a to include ignored files too.

Reset Commands

Git reset moves the HEAD pointer and optionally modifies the staging area and working directory. Use carefully—especially --hard.

Undo the Last Commit

# Soft reset: undo commit, keep changes staged
git reset --soft HEAD~1

# Mixed reset (default): undo commit, unstage changes, keep files
git reset HEAD~1

# Hard reset: undo commit AND delete changes (DANGEROUS!)
git reset --hard HEAD~1

Reset to Match Remote

# Discard all local commits and match remote exactly
git fetch origin
git reset --hard origin/main

# Reset a single file to match remote
git checkout origin/main -- path/to/file.js

Warning: git reset --hard permanently deletes uncommitted changes. Always stash or commit important work first.

Branch Management

Create and Switch Branches

# Create a new branch and switch to it
git checkout -b feature/new-feature

# Modern alternative (Git 2.23+)
git switch -c feature/new-feature

# Push new branch to remote
git push -u origin feature/new-feature

List and Delete Branches

# List local branches
git branch

# List all branches (including remote)
git branch -a

# Delete a local branch
git branch -d feature/old-feature

# Force delete (if not merged)
git branch -D feature/old-feature

# Delete remote branch
git push origin --delete feature/old-feature

Merge Branches

# Merge feature branch into main
git checkout main
git merge feature/new-feature

# See conflicted files after a merge conflict
git status

# Abort a merge with conflicts
git merge --abort

Creating Patches

Patches are useful for sharing changes via email or applying fixes across repositories.

# Create a patch from the last commit
git format-patch -1 HEAD

# Create a patch from the last 3 commits
git format-patch -3 HEAD

# Create a patch with a custom output file
git format-patch -1 HEAD --stdout > fix-bug-123.patch

# Apply a patch
git apply fix-bug-123.patch

# Apply a patch as a commit (preserves author info)
git am fix-bug-123.patch

Viewing History

# View commit history
git log --oneline

# View history with graph
git log --oneline --graph --all

# See who changed each line of a file
git blame path/to/file.js

# GUI blame viewer
git gui blame path/to/file.js

# Search commit messages
git log --grep="bug fix"

# Find commits that changed a specific file
git log --follow -- path/to/file.js

Hide Files from Git Status

Sometimes you need to modify a tracked file locally without Git constantly showing it as changed (e.g., local config overrides).

# Tell Git to ignore changes to a tracked file
git update-index --assume-unchanged path/to/config.js

# Resume tracking changes
git update-index --no-assume-unchanged path/to/config.js

# List all files marked as assume-unchanged
git ls-files -v | grep '^h'

This is different from .gitignore, which only works for untracked files. Use --assume-unchanged for tracked files you want to modify locally.

Submodules

# Add a submodule
git submodule add https://github.com/user/repo.git path/to/submodule

# Initialize submodules after cloning
git submodule init
git submodule update

# Update all submodules to latest
git submodule update --remote --merge

# Clone a repo with submodules
git clone --recurse-submodules https://github.com/user/repo.git

Miscellaneous Commands

# Amend the last commit message
git commit --amend -m "New commit message"

# Amend the last commit author
git commit --amend --author="New Name <new@email.com>"

# Get a file from another branch
git checkout other-branch -- path/to/file.js

# Rename a file (and track the rename)
git mv old-name.js new-name.js

# Cherry-pick a specific commit
git cherry-pick abc1234

# Clean untracked files (dry run first!)
git clean -n  # preview what will be deleted
git clean -f  # actually delete

Quick Reference Table

Next Steps

• Learn about Git Rebase for cleaner history
• Explore Git workflows (Gitflow, trunk-based)
• Set up Git hooks for automation

Need help with Git workflows for your team? Contact us for consulting.