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215a7ad1 JH |
1 | git-checkout(1) |
2 | =============== | |
7fc9d69f JH |
3 | |
4 | NAME | |
5 | ---- | |
c4ac525c | 6 | git-checkout - Switch branches or restore working tree files |
7fc9d69f JH |
7 | |
8 | SYNOPSIS | |
9 | -------- | |
71bb1033 | 10 | [verse] |
76cfadfc | 11 | 'git checkout' [-q] [-f] [-m] [<branch>] |
26776c97 JH |
12 | 'git checkout' [-q] [-f] [-m] --detach [<branch>] |
13 | 'git checkout' [-q] [-f] [-m] [--detach] <commit> | |
02ac9837 | 14 | 'git checkout' [-q] [-f] [-m] [[-b|-B|--orphan] <new_branch>] [<start_point>] |
eac5a401 | 15 | 'git checkout' [-f|--ours|--theirs|-m|--conflict=<style>] [<tree-ish>] [--] <paths>... |
b59698ae JH |
16 | 'git checkout' [<tree-ish>] [--] <pathspec>... |
17 | 'git checkout' (-p|--patch) [<tree-ish>] [--] [<paths>...] | |
7fc9d69f JH |
18 | |
19 | DESCRIPTION | |
20 | ----------- | |
b831deda JN |
21 | Updates files in the working tree to match the version in the index |
22 | or the specified tree. If no paths are given, 'git checkout' will | |
23 | also update `HEAD` to set the specified branch as the current | |
76cfadfc | 24 | branch. |
4aaa7027 | 25 | |
37f80025 | 26 | 'git checkout' [<branch>]:: |
181e3725 | 27 | To prepare for working on `<branch>`, switch to it by updating |
e1cdf633 | 28 | the index and the files in the working tree, and by pointing |
181e3725 | 29 | `HEAD` at the branch. Local modifications to the files in the |
e1cdf633 | 30 | working tree are kept, so that they can be committed to the |
181e3725 | 31 | `<branch>`. |
e1cdf633 | 32 | + |
181e3725 NTND |
33 | If `<branch>` is not found but there does exist a tracking branch in |
34 | exactly one remote (call it `<remote>`) with a matching name, treat as | |
00bb4378 CR |
35 | equivalent to |
36 | + | |
37 | ------------ | |
38 | $ git checkout -b <branch> --track <remote>/<branch> | |
39 | ------------ | |
40 | + | |
8d7b558b ÆAB |
41 | If the branch exists in multiple remotes and one of them is named by |
42 | the `checkout.defaultRemote` configuration variable, we'll use that | |
43 | one for the purposes of disambiguation, even if the `<branch>` isn't | |
44 | unique across all remotes. Set it to | |
45 | e.g. `checkout.defaultRemote=origin` to always checkout remote | |
46 | branches from there if `<branch>` is ambiguous but exists on the | |
47 | 'origin' remote. See also `checkout.defaultRemote` in | |
48 | linkgit:git-config[1]. | |
49 | + | |
181e3725 | 50 | You could omit `<branch>`, in which case the command degenerates to |
be94568b | 51 | "check out the current branch", which is a glorified no-op with |
e1cdf633 CR |
52 | rather expensive side-effects to show only the tracking information, |
53 | if exists, for the current branch. | |
54 | ||
02ac9837 | 55 | 'git checkout' -b|-B <new_branch> [<start point>]:: |
4aaa7027 | 56 | |
e1cdf633 CR |
57 | Specifying `-b` causes a new branch to be created as if |
58 | linkgit:git-branch[1] were called and then checked out. In | |
59 | this case you can use the `--track` or `--no-track` options, | |
60 | which will be passed to 'git branch'. As a convenience, | |
61 | `--track` without `-b` implies branch creation; see the | |
62 | description of `--track` below. | |
02ac9837 | 63 | + |
181e3725 | 64 | If `-B` is given, `<new_branch>` is created if it doesn't exist; otherwise, it |
02ac9837 TRC |
65 | is reset. This is the transactional equivalent of |
66 | + | |
67 | ------------ | |
68 | $ git branch -f <branch> [<start point>] | |
69 | $ git checkout <branch> | |
70 | ------------ | |
71 | + | |
72 | that is to say, the branch is not reset/created unless "git checkout" is | |
73 | successful. | |
bb0ceb62 | 74 | |
e1cdf633 | 75 | 'git checkout' --detach [<branch>]:: |
26776c97 | 76 | 'git checkout' [--detach] <commit>:: |
e1cdf633 | 77 | |
181e3725 | 78 | Prepare to work on top of `<commit>`, by detaching `HEAD` at it |
e1cdf633 CR |
79 | (see "DETACHED HEAD" section), and updating the index and the |
80 | files in the working tree. Local modifications to the files | |
81 | in the working tree are kept, so that the resulting working | |
82 | tree will be the state recorded in the commit plus the local | |
83 | modifications. | |
84 | + | |
181e3725 NTND |
85 | When the `<commit>` argument is a branch name, the `--detach` option can |
86 | be used to detach `HEAD` at the tip of the branch (`git checkout | |
87 | <branch>` would check out that branch without detaching `HEAD`). | |
26776c97 | 88 | + |
181e3725 | 89 | Omitting `<branch>` detaches `HEAD` at the tip of the current branch. |
e1cdf633 | 90 | |
b59698ae | 91 | 'git checkout' [<tree-ish>] [--] <pathspec>...:: |
4aaa7027 | 92 | |
b59698ae | 93 | Overwrite paths in the working tree by replacing with the |
181e3725 NTND |
94 | contents in the index or in the `<tree-ish>` (most often a |
95 | commit). When a `<tree-ish>` is given, the paths that | |
96 | match the `<pathspec>` are updated both in the index and in | |
b59698ae | 97 | the working tree. |
c4ac525c | 98 | + |
b831deda JN |
99 | The index may contain unmerged entries because of a previous failed merge. |
100 | By default, if you try to check out such an entry from the index, the | |
db941099 | 101 | checkout operation will fail and nothing will be checked out. |
b831deda | 102 | Using `-f` will ignore these unmerged entries. The contents from a |
38901a48 | 103 | specific side of the merge can be checked out of the index by |
b831deda JN |
104 | using `--ours` or `--theirs`. With `-m`, changes made to the working tree |
105 | file can be discarded to re-create the original conflicted merge result. | |
7fc9d69f | 106 | |
b59698ae JH |
107 | 'git checkout' (-p|--patch) [<tree-ish>] [--] [<pathspec>...]:: |
108 | This is similar to the "check out paths to the working tree | |
109 | from either the index or from a tree-ish" mode described | |
110 | above, but lets you use the interactive interface to show | |
111 | the "diff" output and choose which hunks to use in the | |
112 | result. See below for the description of `--patch` option. | |
113 | ||
114 | ||
7fc9d69f JH |
115 | OPTIONS |
116 | ------- | |
6124aee5 | 117 | -q:: |
f7aec129 | 118 | --quiet:: |
2be7fcb4 | 119 | Quiet, suppress feedback messages. |
6124aee5 | 120 | |
d333f672 NTND |
121 | --progress:: |
122 | --no-progress:: | |
870ebdb9 ECA |
123 | Progress status is reported on the standard error stream |
124 | by default when it is attached to a terminal, unless `--quiet` | |
125 | is specified. This flag enables progress reporting even if not | |
126 | attached to a terminal, regardless of `--quiet`. | |
127 | ||
0270f7c5 | 128 | -f:: |
f7aec129 | 129 | --force:: |
db941099 | 130 | When switching branches, proceed even if the index or the |
181e3725 | 131 | working tree differs from `HEAD`. This is used to throw away |
db941099 JH |
132 | local changes. |
133 | + | |
134 | When checking out paths from the index, do not fail upon unmerged | |
135 | entries; instead, unmerged entries are ignored. | |
0270f7c5 | 136 | |
38901a48 JH |
137 | --ours:: |
138 | --theirs:: | |
139 | When checking out paths from the index, check out stage #2 | |
140 | ('ours') or #3 ('theirs') for unmerged paths. | |
f3030165 SE |
141 | + |
142 | Note that during `git rebase` and `git pull --rebase`, 'ours' and | |
143 | 'theirs' may appear swapped; `--ours` gives the version from the | |
144 | branch the changes are rebased onto, while `--theirs` gives the | |
145 | version from the branch that holds your work that is being rebased. | |
146 | + | |
147 | This is because `rebase` is used in a workflow that treats the | |
148 | history at the remote as the shared canonical one, and treats the | |
149 | work done on the branch you are rebasing as the third-party work to | |
150 | be integrated, and you are temporarily assuming the role of the | |
151 | keeper of the canonical history during the rebase. As the keeper of | |
152 | the canonical history, you need to view the history from the remote | |
153 | as `ours` (i.e. "our shared canonical history"), while what you did | |
154 | on your side branch as `theirs` (i.e. "one contributor's work on top | |
155 | of it"). | |
0270f7c5 | 156 | |
45aaf031 | 157 | -b <new_branch>:: |
181e3725 NTND |
158 | Create a new branch named `<new_branch>` and start it at |
159 | `<start_point>`; see linkgit:git-branch[1] for details. | |
7fc9d69f | 160 | |
45aaf031 | 161 | -B <new_branch>:: |
181e3725 NTND |
162 | Creates the branch `<new_branch>` and start it at `<start_point>`; |
163 | if it already exists, then reset it to `<start_point>`. This is | |
02ac9837 TRC |
164 | equivalent to running "git branch" with "-f"; see |
165 | linkgit:git-branch[1] for details. | |
166 | ||
3240240f SB |
167 | -t:: |
168 | --track:: | |
26d22dc6 JK |
169 | When creating a new branch, set up "upstream" configuration. See |
170 | "--track" in linkgit:git-branch[1] for details. | |
bb0ceb62 | 171 | + |
23f8239b | 172 | If no `-b` option is given, the name of the new branch will be |
fa83a33b JH |
173 | derived from the remote-tracking branch, by looking at the local part of |
174 | the refspec configured for the corresponding remote, and then stripping | |
175 | the initial part up to the "*". | |
181e3725 NTND |
176 | This would tell us to use `hack` as the local branch when branching |
177 | off of `origin/hack` (or `remotes/origin/hack`, or even | |
178 | `refs/remotes/origin/hack`). If the given name has no slash, or the above | |
9188ed89 | 179 | guessing results in an empty name, the guessing is aborted. You can |
23f8239b | 180 | explicitly give a name with `-b` in such a case. |
0746d19a PB |
181 | |
182 | --no-track:: | |
167d7445 | 183 | Do not set up "upstream" configuration, even if the |
181e3725 | 184 | `branch.autoSetupMerge` configuration variable is true. |
0746d19a | 185 | |
969d326d | 186 | -l:: |
26d22dc6 JK |
187 | Create the new branch's reflog; see linkgit:git-branch[1] for |
188 | details. | |
969d326d | 189 | |
32669671 JH |
190 | --detach:: |
191 | Rather than checking out a branch to work on it, check out a | |
192 | commit for inspection and discardable experiments. | |
181e3725 NTND |
193 | This is the default behavior of `git checkout <commit>` when |
194 | `<commit>` is not a branch name. See the "DETACHED HEAD" section | |
32669671 JH |
195 | below for details. |
196 | ||
45aaf031 | 197 | --orphan <new_branch>:: |
181e3725 NTND |
198 | Create a new 'orphan' branch, named `<new_branch>`, started from |
199 | `<start_point>` and switch to it. The first commit made on this | |
feb98d13 EM |
200 | new branch will have no parents and it will be the root of a new |
201 | history totally disconnected from all the other branches and | |
202 | commits. | |
9db5ebf4 | 203 | + |
feb98d13 | 204 | The index and the working tree are adjusted as if you had previously run |
181e3725 NTND |
205 | `git checkout <start_point>`. This allows you to start a new history |
206 | that records a set of paths similar to `<start_point>` by easily running | |
207 | `git commit -a` to make the root commit. | |
9db5ebf4 | 208 | + |
feb98d13 EM |
209 | This can be useful when you want to publish the tree from a commit |
210 | without exposing its full history. You might want to do this to publish | |
211 | an open source branch of a project whose current tree is "clean", but | |
212 | whose full history contains proprietary or otherwise encumbered bits of | |
213 | code. | |
214 | + | |
215 | If you want to start a disconnected history that records a set of paths | |
181e3725 | 216 | that is totally different from the one of `<start_point>`, then you should |
feb98d13 | 217 | clear the index and the working tree right after creating the orphan |
181e3725 | 218 | branch by running `git rm -rf .` from the top level of the working tree. |
feb98d13 EM |
219 | Afterwards you will be ready to prepare your new files, repopulating the |
220 | working tree, by copying them from elsewhere, extracting a tarball, etc. | |
9db5ebf4 | 221 | |
08d595dc NTND |
222 | --ignore-skip-worktree-bits:: |
223 | In sparse checkout mode, `git checkout -- <paths>` would | |
181e3725 NTND |
224 | update only entries matched by `<paths>` and sparse patterns |
225 | in `$GIT_DIR/info/sparse-checkout`. This option ignores | |
226 | the sparse patterns and adds back any files in `<paths>`. | |
08d595dc | 227 | |
1be0659e | 228 | -m:: |
eac5a401 | 229 | --merge:: |
0cf8581e JH |
230 | When switching branches, |
231 | if you have local modifications to one or more files that | |
71bb1033 JL |
232 | are different between the current branch and the branch to |
233 | which you are switching, the command refuses to switch | |
234 | branches in order to preserve your modifications in context. | |
235 | However, with this option, a three-way merge between the current | |
1be0659e JH |
236 | branch, your working tree contents, and the new branch |
237 | is done, and you will be on the new branch. | |
238 | + | |
239 | When a merge conflict happens, the index entries for conflicting | |
240 | paths are left unmerged, and you need to resolve the conflicts | |
d7f078b8 SP |
241 | and mark the resolved paths with `git add` (or `git rm` if the merge |
242 | should result in deletion of the path). | |
0cf8581e JH |
243 | + |
244 | When checking out paths from the index, this option lets you recreate | |
245 | the conflicted merge in the specified paths. | |
1be0659e | 246 | |
eac5a401 | 247 | --conflict=<style>:: |
181e3725 | 248 | The same as `--merge` option above, but changes the way the |
eac5a401 | 249 | conflicting hunks are presented, overriding the |
181e3725 | 250 | `merge.conflictStyle` configuration variable. Possible values are |
eac5a401 JH |
251 | "merge" (default) and "diff3" (in addition to what is shown by |
252 | "merge" style, shows the original contents). | |
1be0659e | 253 | |
4f353658 TR |
254 | -p:: |
255 | --patch:: | |
256 | Interactively select hunks in the difference between the | |
181e3725 | 257 | `<tree-ish>` (or the index, if unspecified) and the working |
4f353658 | 258 | tree. The chosen hunks are then applied in reverse to the |
181e3725 | 259 | working tree (and if a `<tree-ish>` was specified, the index). |
4f353658 TR |
260 | + |
261 | This means that you can use `git checkout -p` to selectively discard | |
a31538e2 | 262 | edits from your current working tree. See the ``Interactive Mode'' |
6cf378f0 | 263 | section of linkgit:git-add[1] to learn how to operate the `--patch` mode. |
091e04bc TG |
264 | + |
265 | Note that this option uses the no overlay mode by default (see also | |
d333f672 | 266 | `--overlay`), and currently doesn't support overlay mode. |
4f353658 | 267 | |
1d0fa898 NTND |
268 | --ignore-other-worktrees:: |
269 | `git checkout` refuses when the wanted ref is already checked | |
270 | out by another worktree. This option makes it check the ref | |
271 | out anyway. In other words, the ref can be held by more than one | |
272 | worktree. | |
273 | ||
9d223d43 NTND |
274 | --overwrite-ignore:: |
275 | --no-overwrite-ignore:: | |
276 | Silently overwrite ignored files when switching branches. This | |
277 | is the default behavior. Use `--no-overwrite-ignore` to abort | |
278 | the operation when the new branch contains ignored files. | |
279 | ||
d333f672 NTND |
280 | --recurse-submodules:: |
281 | --no-recurse-submodules:: | |
181e3725 | 282 | Using `--recurse-submodules` will update the content of all initialized |
1fc458d9 SB |
283 | submodules according to the commit recorded in the superproject. If |
284 | local modifications in a submodule would be overwritten the checkout | |
181e3725 | 285 | will fail unless `-f` is used. If nothing (or `--no-recurse-submodules`) |
1fc458d9 | 286 | is used, the work trees of submodules will not be updated. |
181e3725 NTND |
287 | Just like linkgit:git-submodule[1], this will detach `HEAD` of the |
288 | submodule. | |
1fc458d9 | 289 | |
be4908f1 NTND |
290 | --no-guess:: |
291 | Do not attempt to create a branch if a remote tracking branch | |
292 | of the same name exists. | |
293 | ||
d333f672 NTND |
294 | --overlay:: |
295 | --no-overlay:: | |
091e04bc TG |
296 | In the default overlay mode, `git checkout` never |
297 | removes files from the index or the working tree. When | |
298 | specifying `--no-overlay`, files that appear in the index and | |
181e3725 NTND |
299 | working tree, but not in `<tree-ish>` are removed, to make them |
300 | match `<tree-ish>` exactly. | |
091e04bc | 301 | |
0270f7c5 | 302 | <branch>:: |
0808723b JK |
303 | Branch to checkout; if it refers to a branch (i.e., a name that, |
304 | when prepended with "refs/heads/", is a valid ref), then that | |
305 | branch is checked out. Otherwise, if it refers to a valid | |
181e3725 | 306 | commit, your `HEAD` becomes "detached" and you are no longer on |
0808723b | 307 | any branch (see below for details). |
696acf45 | 308 | + |
181e3725 | 309 | You can use the `@{-N}` syntax to refer to the N-th last |
75ce1495 | 310 | branch/commit checked out using "git checkout" operation. You may |
181e3725 | 311 | also specify `-` which is synonymous to `@{-1}`. |
873c3472 | 312 | + |
181e3725 | 313 | As a special case, you may use `A...B` as a shortcut for the |
873c3472 MG |
314 | merge base of `A` and `B` if there is exactly one merge base. You can |
315 | leave out at most one of `A` and `B`, in which case it defaults to `HEAD`. | |
5e1a2e8c | 316 | |
76cfadfc JK |
317 | <new_branch>:: |
318 | Name for the new branch. | |
319 | ||
320 | <start_point>:: | |
321 | The name of a commit at which to start the new branch; see | |
181e3725 | 322 | linkgit:git-branch[1] for details. Defaults to `HEAD`. |
76cfadfc JK |
323 | |
324 | <tree-ish>:: | |
325 | Tree to checkout from (when paths are given). If not specified, | |
326 | the index will be used. | |
327 | ||
328 | ||
5e1a2e8c | 329 | |
32669671 | 330 | DETACHED HEAD |
5e1a2e8c | 331 | ------------- |
181e3725 | 332 | `HEAD` normally refers to a named branch (e.g. `master`). Meanwhile, each |
be8ef33c | 333 | branch refers to a specific commit. Let's look at a repo with three |
181e3725 | 334 | commits, one of them tagged, and with branch `master` checked out: |
5e1a2e8c | 335 | |
be8ef33c | 336 | ------------ |
39a36827 AH |
337 | HEAD (refers to branch 'master') |
338 | | | |
339 | v | |
be8ef33c JS |
340 | a---b---c branch 'master' (refers to commit 'c') |
341 | ^ | |
342 | | | |
343 | tag 'v2.0' (refers to commit 'b') | |
344 | ------------ | |
345 | ||
346 | When a commit is created in this state, the branch is updated to refer to | |
181e3725 NTND |
347 | the new commit. Specifically, 'git commit' creates a new commit `d`, whose |
348 | parent is commit `c`, and then updates branch `master` to refer to new | |
349 | commit `d`. `HEAD` still refers to branch `master` and so indirectly now refers | |
350 | to commit `d`: | |
5e1a2e8c JH |
351 | |
352 | ------------ | |
be8ef33c JS |
353 | $ edit; git add; git commit |
354 | ||
39a36827 AH |
355 | HEAD (refers to branch 'master') |
356 | | | |
357 | v | |
be8ef33c JS |
358 | a---b---c---d branch 'master' (refers to commit 'd') |
359 | ^ | |
360 | | | |
361 | tag 'v2.0' (refers to commit 'b') | |
5e1a2e8c JH |
362 | ------------ |
363 | ||
be8ef33c JS |
364 | It is sometimes useful to be able to checkout a commit that is not at |
365 | the tip of any named branch, or even to create a new commit that is not | |
366 | referenced by a named branch. Let's look at what happens when we | |
181e3725 | 367 | checkout commit `b` (here we show two ways this may be done): |
cec8d146 JH |
368 | |
369 | ------------ | |
be8ef33c JS |
370 | $ git checkout v2.0 # or |
371 | $ git checkout master^^ | |
372 | ||
373 | HEAD (refers to commit 'b') | |
374 | | | |
375 | v | |
376 | a---b---c---d branch 'master' (refers to commit 'd') | |
377 | ^ | |
378 | | | |
379 | tag 'v2.0' (refers to commit 'b') | |
380 | ------------ | |
5e1a2e8c | 381 | |
181e3725 NTND |
382 | Notice that regardless of which checkout command we use, `HEAD` now refers |
383 | directly to commit `b`. This is known as being in detached `HEAD` state. | |
384 | It means simply that `HEAD` refers to a specific commit, as opposed to | |
be8ef33c | 385 | referring to a named branch. Let's see what happens when we create a commit: |
cec8d146 | 386 | |
cec8d146 | 387 | ------------ |
be8ef33c JS |
388 | $ edit; git add; git commit |
389 | ||
390 | HEAD (refers to commit 'e') | |
391 | | | |
392 | v | |
393 | e | |
394 | / | |
395 | a---b---c---d branch 'master' (refers to commit 'd') | |
396 | ^ | |
397 | | | |
398 | tag 'v2.0' (refers to commit 'b') | |
cec8d146 | 399 | ------------ |
7fc9d69f | 400 | |
181e3725 | 401 | There is now a new commit `e`, but it is referenced only by `HEAD`. We can |
be8ef33c | 402 | of course add yet another commit in this state: |
7fc9d69f | 403 | |
be8ef33c JS |
404 | ------------ |
405 | $ edit; git add; git commit | |
406 | ||
407 | HEAD (refers to commit 'f') | |
408 | | | |
409 | v | |
410 | e---f | |
411 | / | |
412 | a---b---c---d branch 'master' (refers to commit 'd') | |
413 | ^ | |
414 | | | |
415 | tag 'v2.0' (refers to commit 'b') | |
416 | ------------ | |
417 | ||
2de9b711 | 418 | In fact, we can perform all the normal Git operations. But, let's look |
181e3725 | 419 | at what happens when we then checkout `master`: |
be8ef33c JS |
420 | |
421 | ------------ | |
422 | $ git checkout master | |
423 | ||
39a36827 | 424 | HEAD (refers to branch 'master') |
be8ef33c JS |
425 | e---f | |
426 | / v | |
427 | a---b---c---d branch 'master' (refers to commit 'd') | |
428 | ^ | |
429 | | | |
430 | tag 'v2.0' (refers to commit 'b') | |
431 | ------------ | |
432 | ||
433 | It is important to realize that at this point nothing refers to commit | |
181e3725 | 434 | `f`. Eventually commit `f` (and by extension commit `e`) will be deleted |
2de9b711 | 435 | by the routine Git garbage collection process, unless we create a reference |
181e3725 | 436 | before that happens. If we have not yet moved away from commit `f`, |
be8ef33c JS |
437 | any of these will create a reference to it: |
438 | ||
439 | ------------ | |
440 | $ git checkout -b foo <1> | |
441 | $ git branch foo <2> | |
442 | $ git tag foo <3> | |
443 | ------------ | |
444 | ||
181e3725 NTND |
445 | <1> creates a new branch `foo`, which refers to commit `f`, and then |
446 | updates `HEAD` to refer to branch `foo`. In other words, we'll no longer | |
447 | be in detached `HEAD` state after this command. | |
be8ef33c | 448 | |
181e3725 NTND |
449 | <2> similarly creates a new branch `foo`, which refers to commit `f`, |
450 | but leaves `HEAD` detached. | |
be8ef33c | 451 | |
181e3725 NTND |
452 | <3> creates a new tag `foo`, which refers to commit `f`, |
453 | leaving `HEAD` detached. | |
be8ef33c | 454 | |
181e3725 | 455 | If we have moved away from commit `f`, then we must first recover its object |
be8ef33c | 456 | name (typically by using git reflog), and then we can create a reference to |
181e3725 | 457 | it. For example, to see the last two commits to which `HEAD` referred, we |
be8ef33c JS |
458 | can use either of these commands: |
459 | ||
460 | ------------ | |
461 | $ git reflog -2 HEAD # or | |
462 | $ git log -g -2 HEAD | |
463 | ------------ | |
4aaa7027 | 464 | |
19e56563 NTND |
465 | ARGUMENT DISAMBIGUATION |
466 | ----------------------- | |
467 | ||
181e3725 NTND |
468 | When there is only one argument given and it is not `--` (e.g. `git |
469 | checkout abc`), and when the argument is both a valid `<tree-ish>` | |
470 | (e.g. a branch `abc` exists) and a valid `<pathspec>` (e.g. a file | |
19e56563 NTND |
471 | or a directory whose name is "abc" exists), Git would usually ask |
472 | you to disambiguate. Because checking out a branch is so common an | |
181e3725 | 473 | operation, however, `git checkout abc` takes "abc" as a `<tree-ish>` |
19e56563 NTND |
474 | in such a situation. Use `git checkout -- <pathspec>` if you want |
475 | to checkout these paths out of the index. | |
476 | ||
1be0659e JH |
477 | EXAMPLES |
478 | -------- | |
4aaa7027 | 479 | |
1be0659e | 480 | . The following sequence checks out the `master` branch, reverts |
181e3725 | 481 | the `Makefile` to two revisions back, deletes `hello.c` by |
ba170517 | 482 | mistake, and gets it back from the index. |
1be0659e | 483 | + |
4aaa7027 | 484 | ------------ |
48aeecdc SE |
485 | $ git checkout master <1> |
486 | $ git checkout master~2 Makefile <2> | |
4aaa7027 | 487 | $ rm -f hello.c |
48aeecdc SE |
488 | $ git checkout hello.c <3> |
489 | ------------ | |
490 | + | |
1e2ccd3a | 491 | <1> switch branch |
c7cb12b8 | 492 | <2> take a file out of another commit |
181e3725 | 493 | <3> restore `hello.c` from the index |
1be0659e | 494 | + |
caae319e JH |
495 | If you want to check out _all_ C source files out of the index, |
496 | you can say | |
497 | + | |
498 | ------------ | |
499 | $ git checkout -- '*.c' | |
500 | ------------ | |
501 | + | |
502 | Note the quotes around `*.c`. The file `hello.c` will also be | |
503 | checked out, even though it is no longer in the working tree, | |
504 | because the file globbing is used to match entries in the index | |
505 | (not in the working tree by the shell). | |
506 | + | |
48aeecdc SE |
507 | If you have an unfortunate branch that is named `hello.c`, this |
508 | step would be confused as an instruction to switch to that branch. | |
509 | You should instead write: | |
1be0659e | 510 | + |
4aaa7027 JH |
511 | ------------ |
512 | $ git checkout -- hello.c | |
513 | ------------ | |
514 | ||
c7cb12b8 | 515 | . After working in the wrong branch, switching to the correct |
ba170517 | 516 | branch would be done using: |
1be0659e JH |
517 | + |
518 | ------------ | |
519 | $ git checkout mytopic | |
520 | ------------ | |
521 | + | |
181e3725 | 522 | However, your "wrong" branch and correct `mytopic` branch may |
c7cb12b8 | 523 | differ in files that you have modified locally, in which case |
1be0659e JH |
524 | the above checkout would fail like this: |
525 | + | |
526 | ------------ | |
527 | $ git checkout mytopic | |
142183d0 | 528 | error: You have local changes to 'frotz'; not switching branches. |
1be0659e JH |
529 | ------------ |
530 | + | |
531 | You can give the `-m` flag to the command, which would try a | |
532 | three-way merge: | |
533 | + | |
534 | ------------ | |
535 | $ git checkout -m mytopic | |
536 | Auto-merging frotz | |
537 | ------------ | |
538 | + | |
539 | After this three-way merge, the local modifications are _not_ | |
540 | registered in your index file, so `git diff` would show you what | |
541 | changes you made since the tip of the new branch. | |
542 | ||
543 | . When a merge conflict happens during switching branches with | |
ba170517 | 544 | the `-m` option, you would see something like this: |
1be0659e JH |
545 | + |
546 | ------------ | |
547 | $ git checkout -m mytopic | |
548 | Auto-merging frotz | |
1be0659e JH |
549 | ERROR: Merge conflict in frotz |
550 | fatal: merge program failed | |
551 | ------------ | |
552 | + | |
553 | At this point, `git diff` shows the changes cleanly merged as in | |
554 | the previous example, as well as the changes in the conflicted | |
555 | files. Edit and resolve the conflict and mark it resolved with | |
d7f078b8 | 556 | `git add` as usual: |
1be0659e JH |
557 | + |
558 | ------------ | |
559 | $ edit frotz | |
d7f078b8 | 560 | $ git add frotz |
1be0659e JH |
561 | ------------ |
562 | ||
d787d311 NTND |
563 | SEE ALSO |
564 | -------- | |
565 | linkgit:git-switch[1] | |
566 | ||
7fc9d69f JH |
567 | GIT |
568 | --- | |
9e1f0a85 | 569 | Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite |