Documentation/git-reset.txt

   1 git-reset(1)
   2 ============
   3
   4 NAME
   5 ----
   6 git-reset - Reset current HEAD to the specified state
   7
   8 SYNOPSIS
   9 --------
  10 [verse]
  11 'git reset' [-q] [<tree-ish>] [--] <pathspec>...
  12 'git reset' [-q] [--pathspec-from-file=<file> [--pathspec-file-nul]] [<tree-ish>]
  13 'git reset' (--patch | -p) [<tree-ish>] [--] [<pathspec>...]
  14 'git reset' [--soft | --mixed [-N] | --hard | --merge | --keep] [-q] [<commit>]
  15
  16 DESCRIPTION
  17 -----------
  18 In the first three forms, copy entries from `<tree-ish>` to the index.
  19 In the last form, set the current branch head (`HEAD`) to `<commit>`,
  20 optionally modifying index and working tree to match.
  21 The `<tree-ish>`/`<commit>` defaults to `HEAD` in all forms.
  22
  23 'git reset' [-q] [<tree-ish>] [--] <pathspec>...::
  24 'git reset' [-q] [--pathspec-from-file=<file> [--pathspec-file-nul]] [<tree-ish>]::
  25         These forms reset the index entries for all paths that match the
  26         `<pathspec>` to their state at `<tree-ish>`.  (It does not affect
  27         the working tree or the current branch.)
  28 +
  29 This means that `git reset <pathspec>` is the opposite of `git add
  30 <pathspec>`. This command is equivalent to
  31 `git restore [--source=<tree-ish>] --staged <pathspec>...`.
  32 +
  33 After running `git reset <pathspec>` to update the index entry, you can
  34 use linkgit:git-restore[1] to check the contents out of the index to
  35 the working tree. Alternatively, using linkgit:git-restore[1]
  36 and specifying a commit with `--source`, you
  37 can copy the contents of a path out of a commit to the index and to the
  38 working tree in one go.
  39
  40 'git reset' (--patch | -p) [<tree-ish>] [--] [<pathspec>...]::
  41         Interactively select hunks in the difference between the index
  42         and `<tree-ish>` (defaults to `HEAD`).  The chosen hunks are applied
  43         in reverse to the index.
  44 +
  45 This means that `git reset -p` is the opposite of `git add -p`, i.e.
  46 you can use it to selectively reset hunks. See the ``Interactive Mode''
  47 section of linkgit:git-add[1] to learn how to operate the `--patch` mode.
  48
  49 'git reset' [<mode>] [<commit>]::
  50         This form resets the current branch head to `<commit>` and
  51         possibly updates the index (resetting it to the tree of `<commit>`) and
  52         the working tree depending on `<mode>`. If `<mode>` is omitted,
  53         defaults to `--mixed`. The `<mode>` must be one of the following:
  54 +
  55 --
  56 --soft::
  57         Does not touch the index file or the working tree at all (but
  58         resets the head to `<commit>`, just like all modes do). This leaves
  59         all your changed files "Changes to be committed", as `git status`
  60         would put it.
  61
  62 --mixed::
  63         Resets the index but not the working tree (i.e., the changed files
  64         are preserved but not marked for commit) and reports what has not
  65         been updated. This is the default action.
  66 +
  67 If `-N` is specified, removed paths are marked as intent-to-add (see
  68 linkgit:git-add[1]).
  69
  70 --hard::
  71         Resets the index and working tree. Any changes to tracked files in the
  72         working tree since `<commit>` are discarded.  Any untracked files or
  73         directories in the way of writing any tracked files are simply deleted.
  74
  75 --merge::
  76         Resets the index and updates the files in the working tree that are
  77         different between `<commit>` and `HEAD`, but keeps those which are
  78         different between the index and working tree (i.e. which have changes
  79         which have not been added).
  80         If a file that is different between `<commit>` and the index has
  81         unstaged changes, reset is aborted.
  82 +
  83 In other words, `--merge` does something like a `git read-tree -u -m <commit>`,
  84 but carries forward unmerged index entries.
  85
  86 --keep::
  87         Resets index entries and updates files in the working tree that are
  88         different between `<commit>` and `HEAD`.
  89         If a file that is different between `<commit>` and `HEAD` has local
  90         changes, reset is aborted.
  91
  92 --[no-]recurse-submodules::
  93         When the working tree is updated, using --recurse-submodules will
  94         also recursively reset the working tree of all active submodules
  95         according to the commit recorded in the superproject, also setting
  96         the submodules' HEAD to be detached at that commit.
  97 --
  98
  99 See "Reset, restore and revert" in linkgit:git[1] for the differences
 100 between the three commands.
 101
 102
 103 OPTIONS
 104 -------
 105
 106 -q::
 107 --quiet::
 108 --no-quiet::
 109         Be quiet, only report errors. The default behavior is set by the
 110         `reset.quiet` config option. `--quiet` and `--no-quiet` will
 111         override the default behavior.
 112
 113 --pathspec-from-file=<file>::
 114         Pathspec is passed in `<file>` instead of commandline args. If
 115         `<file>` is exactly `-` then standard input is used. Pathspec
 116         elements are separated by LF or CR/LF. Pathspec elements can be
 117         quoted as explained for the configuration variable `core.quotePath`
 118         (see linkgit:git-config[1]). See also `--pathspec-file-nul` and
 119         global `--literal-pathspecs`.
 120
 121 --pathspec-file-nul::
 122         Only meaningful with `--pathspec-from-file`. Pathspec elements are
 123         separated with NUL character and all other characters are taken
 124         literally (including newlines and quotes).
 125
 126 \--::
 127         Do not interpret any more arguments as options.
 128
 129 <pathspec>...::
 130         Limits the paths affected by the operation.
 131 +
 132 For more details, see the 'pathspec' entry in linkgit:gitglossary[7].
 133
 134 EXAMPLES
 135 --------
 136
 137 Undo add::
 138 +
 139 ------------
 140 $ edit                                     <1>
 141 $ git add frotz.c filfre.c
 142 $ mailx                                    <2>
 143 $ git reset                                <3>
 144 $ git pull git://info.example.com/ nitfol  <4>
 145 ------------
 146 +
 147 <1> You are happily working on something, and find the changes
 148     in these files are in good order.  You do not want to see them
 149     when you run `git diff`, because you plan to work on other files
 150     and changes with these files are distracting.
 151 <2> Somebody asks you to pull, and the changes sound worthy of merging.
 152 <3> However, you already dirtied the index (i.e. your index does
 153     not match the `HEAD` commit).  But you know the pull you are going
 154     to make does not affect `frotz.c` or `filfre.c`, so you revert the
 155     index changes for these two files.  Your changes in working tree
 156     remain there.
 157 <4> Then you can pull and merge, leaving `frotz.c` and `filfre.c`
 158     changes still in the working tree.
 159
 160 Undo a commit and redo::
 161 +
 162 ------------
 163 $ git commit ...
 164 $ git reset --soft HEAD^      <1>
 165 $ edit                        <2>
 166 $ git commit -a -c ORIG_HEAD  <3>
 167 ------------
 168 +
 169 <1> This is most often done when you remembered what you
 170     just committed is incomplete, or you misspelled your commit
 171     message, or both.  Leaves working tree as it was before "reset".
 172 <2> Make corrections to working tree files.
 173 <3> "reset" copies the old head to `.git/ORIG_HEAD`; redo the
 174     commit by starting with its log message.  If you do not need to
 175     edit the message further, you can give `-C` option instead.
 176 +
 177 See also the `--amend` option to linkgit:git-commit[1].
 178
 179 Undo a commit, making it a topic branch::
 180 +
 181 ------------
 182 $ git branch topic/wip          <1>
 183 $ git reset --hard HEAD~3       <2>
 184 $ git switch topic/wip          <3>
 185 ------------
 186 +
 187 <1> You have made some commits, but realize they were premature
 188     to be in the `master` branch.  You want to continue polishing
 189     them in a topic branch, so create `topic/wip` branch off of the
 190     current `HEAD`.
 191 <2> Rewind the master branch to get rid of those three commits.
 192 <3> Switch to `topic/wip` branch and keep working.
 193
 194 Undo commits permanently::
 195 +
 196 ------------
 197 $ git commit ...
 198 $ git reset --hard HEAD~3   <1>
 199 ------------
 200 +
 201 <1> The last three commits (`HEAD`, `HEAD^`, and `HEAD~2`) were bad
 202     and you do not want to ever see them again.  Do *not* do this if
 203     you have already given these commits to somebody else.  (See the
 204     "RECOVERING FROM UPSTREAM REBASE" section in linkgit:git-rebase[1]
 205     for the implications of doing so.)
 206
 207 Undo a merge or pull::
 208 +
 209 ------------
 210 $ git pull                         <1>
 211 Auto-merging nitfol
 212 CONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in nitfol
 213 Automatic merge failed; fix conflicts and then commit the result.
 214 $ git reset --hard                 <2>
 215 $ git pull . topic/branch          <3>
 216 Updating from 41223... to 13134...
 217 Fast-forward
 218 $ git reset --hard ORIG_HEAD       <4>
 219 ------------
 220 +
 221 <1> Try to update from the upstream resulted in a lot of
 222     conflicts; you were not ready to spend a lot of time merging
 223     right now, so you decide to do that later.
 224 <2> "pull" has not made merge commit, so `git reset --hard`
 225     which is a synonym for `git reset --hard HEAD` clears the mess
 226     from the index file and the working tree.
 227 <3> Merge a topic branch into the current branch, which resulted
 228     in a fast-forward.
 229 <4> But you decided that the topic branch is not ready for public
 230     consumption yet.  "pull" or "merge" always leaves the original
 231     tip of the current branch in `ORIG_HEAD`, so resetting hard to it
 232     brings your index file and the working tree back to that state,
 233     and resets the tip of the branch to that commit.
 234
 235 Undo a merge or pull inside a dirty working tree::
 236 +
 237 ------------
 238 $ git pull                         <1>
 239 Auto-merging nitfol
 240 Merge made by recursive.
 241  nitfol                |   20 +++++----
 242  ...
 243 $ git reset --merge ORIG_HEAD      <2>
 244 ------------
 245 +
 246 <1> Even if you may have local modifications in your
 247     working tree, you can safely say `git pull` when you know
 248     that the change in the other branch does not overlap with
 249     them.
 250 <2> After inspecting the result of the merge, you may find
 251     that the change in the other branch is unsatisfactory.  Running
 252     `git reset --hard ORIG_HEAD` will let you go back to where you
 253     were, but it will discard your local changes, which you do not
 254     want.  `git reset --merge` keeps your local changes.
 255
 256
 257 Interrupted workflow::
 258 +
 259 Suppose you are interrupted by an urgent fix request while you
 260 are in the middle of a large change.  The files in your
 261 working tree are not in any shape to be committed yet, but you
 262 need to get to the other branch for a quick bugfix.
 263 +
 264 ------------
 265 $ git switch feature  ;# you were working in "feature" branch and
 266 $ work work work      ;# got interrupted
 267 $ git commit -a -m "snapshot WIP"                 <1>
 268 $ git switch master
 269 $ fix fix fix
 270 $ git commit ;# commit with real log
 271 $ git switch feature
 272 $ git reset --soft HEAD^ ;# go back to WIP state  <2>
 273 $ git reset                                       <3>
 274 ------------
 275 +
 276 <1> This commit will get blown away so a throw-away log message is OK.
 277 <2> This removes the 'WIP' commit from the commit history, and sets
 278     your working tree to the state just before you made that snapshot.
 279 <3> At this point the index file still has all the WIP changes you
 280     committed as 'snapshot WIP'.  This updates the index to show your
 281     WIP files as uncommitted.
 282 +
 283 See also linkgit:git-stash[1].
 284
 285 Reset a single file in the index::
 286 +
 287 Suppose you have added a file to your index, but later decide you do not
 288 want to add it to your commit. You can remove the file from the index
 289 while keeping your changes with git reset.
 290 +
 291 ------------
 292 $ git reset -- frotz.c                      <1>
 293 $ git commit -m "Commit files in index"     <2>
 294 $ git add frotz.c                           <3>
 295 ------------
 296 +
 297 <1> This removes the file from the index while keeping it in the working
 298     directory.
 299 <2> This commits all other changes in the index.
 300 <3> Adds the file to the index again.
 301
 302 Keep changes in working tree while discarding some previous commits::
 303 +
 304 Suppose you are working on something and you commit it, and then you
 305 continue working a bit more, but now you think that what you have in
 306 your working tree should be in another branch that has nothing to do
 307 with what you committed previously. You can start a new branch and
 308 reset it while keeping the changes in your working tree.
 309 +
 310 ------------
 311 $ git tag start
 312 $ git switch -c branch1
 313 $ edit
 314 $ git commit ...                            <1>
 315 $ edit
 316 $ git switch -c branch2                     <2>
 317 $ git reset --keep start                    <3>
 318 ------------
 319 +
 320 <1> This commits your first edits in `branch1`.
 321 <2> In the ideal world, you could have realized that the earlier
 322     commit did not belong to the new topic when you created and switched
 323     to `branch2` (i.e. `git switch -c branch2 start`), but nobody is
 324     perfect.
 325 <3> But you can use `reset --keep` to remove the unwanted commit after
 326     you switched to `branch2`.
 327
 328 Split a commit apart into a sequence of commits::
 329 +
 330 Suppose that you have created lots of logically separate changes and committed
 331 them together. Then, later you decide that it might be better to have each
 332 logical chunk associated with its own commit. You can use git reset to rewind
 333 history without changing the contents of your local files, and then successively
 334 use `git add -p` to interactively select which hunks to include into each commit,
 335 using `git commit -c` to pre-populate the commit message.
 336 +
 337 ------------
 338 $ git reset -N HEAD^                        <1>
 339 $ git add -p                                <2>
 340 $ git diff --cached                         <3>
 341 $ git commit -c HEAD@{1}                    <4>
 342 ...                                         <5>
 343 $ git add ...                               <6>
 344 $ git diff --cached                         <7>
 345 $ git commit ...                            <8>
 346 ------------
 347 +
 348 <1> First, reset the history back one commit so that we remove the original
 349     commit, but leave the working tree with all the changes. The -N ensures
 350     that any new files added with `HEAD` are still marked so that `git add -p`
 351     will find them.
 352 <2> Next, we interactively select diff hunks to add using the `git add -p`
 353     facility. This will ask you about each diff hunk in sequence and you can
 354     use simple commands such as "yes, include this", "No don't include this"
 355     or even the very powerful "edit" facility.
 356 <3> Once satisfied with the hunks you want to include, you should verify what
 357     has been prepared for the first commit by using `git diff --cached`. This
 358     shows all the changes that have been moved into the index and are about
 359     to be committed.
 360 <4> Next, commit the changes stored in the index. The `-c` option specifies to
 361     pre-populate the commit message from the original message that you started
 362     with in the first commit. This is helpful to avoid retyping it. The
 363     `HEAD@{1}` is a special notation for the commit that `HEAD` used to be at
 364     prior to the original reset commit (1 change ago).
 365     See linkgit:git-reflog[1] for more details. You may also use any other
 366     valid commit reference.
 367 <5> You can repeat steps 2-4 multiple times to break the original code into
 368     any number of commits.
 369 <6> Now you've split out many of the changes into their own commits, and might
 370     no longer use the patch mode of `git add`, in order to select all remaining
 371     uncommitted changes.
 372 <7> Once again, check to verify that you've included what you want to. You may
 373     also wish to verify that git diff doesn't show any remaining changes to be
 374     committed later.
 375 <8> And finally create the final commit.
 376
 377
 378 DISCUSSION
 379 ----------
 380
 381 The tables below show what happens when running:
 382
 383 ----------
 384 git reset --option target
 385 ----------
 386
 387 to reset the `HEAD` to another commit (`target`) with the different
 388 reset options depending on the state of the files.
 389
 390 In these tables, `A`, `B`, `C` and `D` are some different states of a
 391 file. For example, the first line of the first table means that if a
 392 file is in state `A` in the working tree, in state `B` in the index, in
 393 state `C` in `HEAD` and in state `D` in the target, then `git reset --soft
 394 target` will leave the file in the working tree in state `A` and in the
 395 index in state `B`.  It resets (i.e. moves) the `HEAD` (i.e. the tip of
 396 the current branch, if you are on one) to `target` (which has the file
 397 in state `D`).
 398
 399 ....
 400 working index HEAD target         working index HEAD
 401 ----------------------------------------------------
 402  A       B     C    D     --soft   A       B     D
 403                           --mixed  A       D     D
 404                           --hard   D       D     D
 405                           --merge (disallowed)
 406                           --keep  (disallowed)
 407 ....
 408
 409 ....
 410 working index HEAD target         working index HEAD
 411 ----------------------------------------------------
 412  A       B     C    C     --soft   A       B     C
 413                           --mixed  A       C     C
 414                           --hard   C       C     C
 415                           --merge (disallowed)
 416                           --keep   A       C     C
 417 ....
 418
 419 ....
 420 working index HEAD target         working index HEAD
 421 ----------------------------------------------------
 422  B       B     C    D     --soft   B       B     D
 423                           --mixed  B       D     D
 424                           --hard   D       D     D
 425                           --merge  D       D     D
 426                           --keep  (disallowed)
 427 ....
 428
 429 ....
 430 working index HEAD target         working index HEAD
 431 ----------------------------------------------------
 432  B       B     C    C     --soft   B       B     C
 433                           --mixed  B       C     C
 434                           --hard   C       C     C
 435                           --merge  C       C     C
 436                           --keep   B       C     C
 437 ....
 438
 439 ....
 440 working index HEAD target         working index HEAD
 441 ----------------------------------------------------
 442  B       C     C    D     --soft   B       C     D
 443                           --mixed  B       D     D
 444                           --hard   D       D     D
 445                           --merge (disallowed)
 446                           --keep  (disallowed)
 447 ....
 448
 449 ....
 450 working index HEAD target         working index HEAD
 451 ----------------------------------------------------
 452  B       C     C    C     --soft   B       C     C
 453                           --mixed  B       C     C
 454                           --hard   C       C     C
 455                           --merge  B       C     C
 456                           --keep   B       C     C
 457 ....
 458
 459 `reset --merge` is meant to be used when resetting out of a conflicted
 460 merge. Any mergy operation guarantees that the working tree file that is
 461 involved in the merge does not have a local change with respect to the index
 462 before it starts, and that it writes the result out to the working tree. So if
 463 we see some difference between the index and the target and also
 464 between the index and the working tree, then it means that we are not
 465 resetting out from a state that a mergy operation left after failing
 466 with a conflict. That is why we disallow `--merge` option in this case.
 467
 468 `reset --keep` is meant to be used when removing some of the last
 469 commits in the current branch while keeping changes in the working
 470 tree. If there could be conflicts between the changes in the commit we
 471 want to remove and the changes in the working tree we want to keep,
 472 the reset is disallowed. That's why it is disallowed if there are both
 473 changes between the working tree and `HEAD`, and between `HEAD` and the
 474 target. To be safe, it is also disallowed when there are unmerged
 475 entries.
 476
 477 The following tables show what happens when there are unmerged
 478 entries:
 479
 480 ....
 481 working index HEAD target         working index HEAD
 482 ----------------------------------------------------
 483  X       U     A    B     --soft  (disallowed)
 484                           --mixed  X       B     B
 485                           --hard   B       B     B
 486                           --merge  B       B     B
 487                           --keep  (disallowed)
 488 ....
 489
 490 ....
 491 working index HEAD target         working index HEAD
 492 ----------------------------------------------------
 493  X       U     A    A     --soft  (disallowed)
 494                           --mixed  X       A     A
 495                           --hard   A       A     A
 496                           --merge  A       A     A
 497                           --keep  (disallowed)
 498 ....
 499
 500 `X` means any state and `U` means an unmerged index.
 501
 502 GIT
 503 ---
 504 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite