6 git-reset - Reset current HEAD to the specified state
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>]
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.
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.)
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>...`.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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`
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.
67 If `-N` is specified, removed paths are marked as intent-to-add (see
71 Resets the index and working tree. Any changes to tracked files in the
72 working tree since `<commit>` are discarded.
75 Resets the index and updates the files in the working tree that are
76 different between `<commit>` and `HEAD`, but keeps those which are
77 different between the index and working tree (i.e. which have changes
78 which have not been added).
79 If a file that is different between `<commit>` and the index has
80 unstaged changes, reset is aborted.
82 In other words, `--merge` does something like a `git read-tree -u -m <commit>`,
83 but carries forward unmerged index entries.
86 Resets index entries and updates files in the working tree that are
87 different between `<commit>` and `HEAD`.
88 If a file that is different between `<commit>` and `HEAD` has local
89 changes, reset is aborted.
91 --[no-]recurse-submodules::
92 When the working tree is updated, using --recurse-submodules will
93 also recursively reset the working tree of all active submodules
94 according to the commit recorded in the superproject, also setting
95 the submodules' HEAD to be detached at that commit.
98 See "Reset, restore and revert" in linkgit:git[1] for the differences
99 between the three commands.
108 Be quiet, only report errors. The default behavior is set by the
109 `reset.quiet` config option. `--quiet` and `--no-quiet` will
110 override the default behavior.
112 --pathspec-from-file=<file>::
113 Pathspec is passed in `<file>` instead of commandline args. If
114 `<file>` is exactly `-` then standard input is used. Pathspec
115 elements are separated by LF or CR/LF. Pathspec elements can be
116 quoted as explained for the configuration variable `core.quotePath`
117 (see linkgit:git-config[1]). See also `--pathspec-file-nul` and
118 global `--literal-pathspecs`.
120 --pathspec-file-nul::
121 Only meaningful with `--pathspec-from-file`. Pathspec elements are
122 separated with NUL character and all other characters are taken
123 literally (including newlines and quotes).
126 Do not interpret any more arguments as options.
129 Limits the paths affected by the operation.
131 For more details, see the 'pathspec' entry in linkgit:gitglossary[7].
140 $ git add frotz.c filfre.c
143 $ git pull git://info.example.com/ nitfol <4>
146 <1> You are happily working on something, and find the changes
147 in these files are in good order. You do not want to see them
148 when you run `git diff`, because you plan to work on other files
149 and changes with these files are distracting.
150 <2> Somebody asks you to pull, and the changes sound worthy of merging.
151 <3> However, you already dirtied the index (i.e. your index does
152 not match the `HEAD` commit). But you know the pull you are going
153 to make does not affect `frotz.c` or `filfre.c`, so you revert the
154 index changes for these two files. Your changes in working tree
156 <4> Then you can pull and merge, leaving `frotz.c` and `filfre.c`
157 changes still in the working tree.
159 Undo a commit and redo::
163 $ git reset --soft HEAD^ <1>
165 $ git commit -a -c ORIG_HEAD <3>
168 <1> This is most often done when you remembered what you
169 just committed is incomplete, or you misspelled your commit
170 message, or both. Leaves working tree as it was before "reset".
171 <2> Make corrections to working tree files.
172 <3> "reset" copies the old head to `.git/ORIG_HEAD`; redo the
173 commit by starting with its log message. If you do not need to
174 edit the message further, you can give `-C` option instead.
176 See also the `--amend` option to linkgit:git-commit[1].
178 Undo a commit, making it a topic branch::
181 $ git branch topic/wip <1>
182 $ git reset --hard HEAD~3 <2>
183 $ git switch topic/wip <3>
186 <1> You have made some commits, but realize they were premature
187 to be in the `master` branch. You want to continue polishing
188 them in a topic branch, so create `topic/wip` branch off of the
190 <2> Rewind the master branch to get rid of those three commits.
191 <3> Switch to `topic/wip` branch and keep working.
193 Undo commits permanently::
197 $ git reset --hard HEAD~3 <1>
200 <1> The last three commits (`HEAD`, `HEAD^`, and `HEAD~2`) were bad
201 and you do not want to ever see them again. Do *not* do this if
202 you have already given these commits to somebody else. (See the
203 "RECOVERING FROM UPSTREAM REBASE" section in linkgit:git-rebase[1]
204 for the implications of doing so.)
206 Undo a merge or pull::
211 CONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in nitfol
212 Automatic merge failed; fix conflicts and then commit the result.
213 $ git reset --hard <2>
214 $ git pull . topic/branch <3>
215 Updating from 41223... to 13134...
217 $ git reset --hard ORIG_HEAD <4>
220 <1> Try to update from the upstream resulted in a lot of
221 conflicts; you were not ready to spend a lot of time merging
222 right now, so you decide to do that later.
223 <2> "pull" has not made merge commit, so `git reset --hard`
224 which is a synonym for `git reset --hard HEAD` clears the mess
225 from the index file and the working tree.
226 <3> Merge a topic branch into the current branch, which resulted
228 <4> But you decided that the topic branch is not ready for public
229 consumption yet. "pull" or "merge" always leaves the original
230 tip of the current branch in `ORIG_HEAD`, so resetting hard to it
231 brings your index file and the working tree back to that state,
232 and resets the tip of the branch to that commit.
234 Undo a merge or pull inside a dirty working tree::
239 Merge made by recursive.
240 nitfol | 20 +++++----
242 $ git reset --merge ORIG_HEAD <2>
245 <1> Even if you may have local modifications in your
246 working tree, you can safely say `git pull` when you know
247 that the change in the other branch does not overlap with
249 <2> After inspecting the result of the merge, you may find
250 that the change in the other branch is unsatisfactory. Running
251 `git reset --hard ORIG_HEAD` will let you go back to where you
252 were, but it will discard your local changes, which you do not
253 want. `git reset --merge` keeps your local changes.
256 Interrupted workflow::
258 Suppose you are interrupted by an urgent fix request while you
259 are in the middle of a large change. The files in your
260 working tree are not in any shape to be committed yet, but you
261 need to get to the other branch for a quick bugfix.
264 $ git switch feature ;# you were working in "feature" branch and
265 $ work work work ;# got interrupted
266 $ git commit -a -m "snapshot WIP" <1>
269 $ git commit ;# commit with real log
271 $ git reset --soft HEAD^ ;# go back to WIP state <2>
275 <1> This commit will get blown away so a throw-away log message is OK.
276 <2> This removes the 'WIP' commit from the commit history, and sets
277 your working tree to the state just before you made that snapshot.
278 <3> At this point the index file still has all the WIP changes you
279 committed as 'snapshot WIP'. This updates the index to show your
280 WIP files as uncommitted.
282 See also linkgit:git-stash[1].
284 Reset a single file in the index::
286 Suppose you have added a file to your index, but later decide you do not
287 want to add it to your commit. You can remove the file from the index
288 while keeping your changes with git reset.
291 $ git reset -- frotz.c <1>
292 $ git commit -m "Commit files in index" <2>
293 $ git add frotz.c <3>
296 <1> This removes the file from the index while keeping it in the working
298 <2> This commits all other changes in the index.
299 <3> Adds the file to the index again.
301 Keep changes in working tree while discarding some previous commits::
303 Suppose you are working on something and you commit it, and then you
304 continue working a bit more, but now you think that what you have in
305 your working tree should be in another branch that has nothing to do
306 with what you committed previously. You can start a new branch and
307 reset it while keeping the changes in your working tree.
311 $ git switch -c branch1
315 $ git switch -c branch2 <2>
316 $ git reset --keep start <3>
319 <1> This commits your first edits in `branch1`.
320 <2> In the ideal world, you could have realized that the earlier
321 commit did not belong to the new topic when you created and switched
322 to `branch2` (i.e. `git switch -c branch2 start`), but nobody is
324 <3> But you can use `reset --keep` to remove the unwanted commit after
325 you switched to `branch2`.
327 Split a commit apart into a sequence of commits::
329 Suppose that you have created lots of logically separate changes and committed
330 them together. Then, later you decide that it might be better to have each
331 logical chunk associated with its own commit. You can use git reset to rewind
332 history without changing the contents of your local files, and then successively
333 use `git add -p` to interactively select which hunks to include into each commit,
334 using `git commit -c` to pre-populate the commit message.
337 $ git reset -N HEAD^ <1>
339 $ git diff --cached <3>
340 $ git commit -c HEAD@{1} <4>
343 $ git diff --cached <7>
347 <1> First, reset the history back one commit so that we remove the original
348 commit, but leave the working tree with all the changes. The -N ensures
349 that any new files added with `HEAD` are still marked so that `git add -p`
351 <2> Next, we interactively select diff hunks to add using the `git add -p`
352 facility. This will ask you about each diff hunk in sequence and you can
353 use simple commands such as "yes, include this", "No don't include this"
354 or even the very powerful "edit" facility.
355 <3> Once satisfied with the hunks you want to include, you should verify what
356 has been prepared for the first commit by using `git diff --cached`. This
357 shows all the changes that have been moved into the index and are about
359 <4> Next, commit the changes stored in the index. The `-c` option specifies to
360 pre-populate the commit message from the original message that you started
361 with in the first commit. This is helpful to avoid retyping it. The
362 `HEAD@{1}` is a special notation for the commit that `HEAD` used to be at
363 prior to the original reset commit (1 change ago).
364 See linkgit:git-reflog[1] for more details. You may also use any other
365 valid commit reference.
366 <5> You can repeat steps 2-4 multiple times to break the original code into
367 any number of commits.
368 <6> Now you've split out many of the changes into their own commits, and might
369 no longer use the patch mode of `git add`, in order to select all remaining
371 <7> Once again, check to verify that you've included what you want to. You may
372 also wish to verify that git diff doesn't show any remaining changes to be
374 <8> And finally create the final commit.
380 The tables below show what happens when running:
383 git reset --option target
386 to reset the `HEAD` to another commit (`target`) with the different
387 reset options depending on the state of the files.
389 In these tables, `A`, `B`, `C` and `D` are some different states of a
390 file. For example, the first line of the first table means that if a
391 file is in state `A` in the working tree, in state `B` in the index, in
392 state `C` in `HEAD` and in state `D` in the target, then `git reset --soft
393 target` will leave the file in the working tree in state `A` and in the
394 index in state `B`. It resets (i.e. moves) the `HEAD` (i.e. the tip of
395 the current branch, if you are on one) to `target` (which has the file
399 working index HEAD target working index HEAD
400 ----------------------------------------------------
409 working index HEAD target working index HEAD
410 ----------------------------------------------------
419 working index HEAD target working index HEAD
420 ----------------------------------------------------
429 working index HEAD target working index HEAD
430 ----------------------------------------------------
439 working index HEAD target working index HEAD
440 ----------------------------------------------------
449 working index HEAD target working index HEAD
450 ----------------------------------------------------
458 `reset --merge` is meant to be used when resetting out of a conflicted
459 merge. Any mergy operation guarantees that the working tree file that is
460 involved in the merge does not have a local change with respect to the index
461 before it starts, and that it writes the result out to the working tree. So if
462 we see some difference between the index and the target and also
463 between the index and the working tree, then it means that we are not
464 resetting out from a state that a mergy operation left after failing
465 with a conflict. That is why we disallow `--merge` option in this case.
467 `reset --keep` is meant to be used when removing some of the last
468 commits in the current branch while keeping changes in the working
469 tree. If there could be conflicts between the changes in the commit we
470 want to remove and the changes in the working tree we want to keep,
471 the reset is disallowed. That's why it is disallowed if there are both
472 changes between the working tree and `HEAD`, and between `HEAD` and the
473 target. To be safe, it is also disallowed when there are unmerged
476 The following tables show what happens when there are unmerged
480 working index HEAD target working index HEAD
481 ----------------------------------------------------
482 X U A B --soft (disallowed)
490 working index HEAD target working index HEAD
491 ----------------------------------------------------
492 X U A A --soft (disallowed)
499 `X` means any state and `U` means an unmerged index.
503 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite