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215a7ad1 JH |
1 | git-checkout(1) |
2 | =============== | |
7fc9d69f JH |
3 | |
4 | NAME | |
5 | ---- | |
76ce9462 | 6 | git-checkout - Checkout a branch or paths to the working tree |
7fc9d69f JH |
7 | |
8 | SYNOPSIS | |
9 | -------- | |
71bb1033 | 10 | [verse] |
76cfadfc | 11 | 'git checkout' [-q] [-f] [-m] [<branch>] |
32669671 | 12 | 'git checkout' [-q] [-f] [-m] [--detach] [<commit>] |
02ac9837 | 13 | 'git checkout' [-q] [-f] [-m] [[-b|-B|--orphan] <new_branch>] [<start_point>] |
eac5a401 | 14 | 'git checkout' [-f|--ours|--theirs|-m|--conflict=<style>] [<tree-ish>] [--] <paths>... |
4f353658 | 15 | 'git checkout' --patch [<tree-ish>] [--] [<paths>...] |
7fc9d69f JH |
16 | |
17 | DESCRIPTION | |
18 | ----------- | |
b831deda JN |
19 | Updates files in the working tree to match the version in the index |
20 | or the specified tree. If no paths are given, 'git checkout' will | |
21 | also update `HEAD` to set the specified branch as the current | |
76cfadfc | 22 | branch. |
4aaa7027 | 23 | |
b831deda | 24 | 'git checkout' [<branch>]:: |
02ac9837 | 25 | 'git checkout' -b|-B <new_branch> [<start point>]:: |
32669671 | 26 | 'git checkout' [--detach] [<commit>]:: |
4aaa7027 | 27 | |
b831deda | 28 | This form switches branches by updating the index, working |
32669671 | 29 | tree, and HEAD to reflect the specified branch or commit. |
c5b41519 | 30 | + |
b831deda JN |
31 | If `-b` is given, a new branch is created as if linkgit:git-branch[1] |
32 | were called and then checked out; in this case you can | |
33 | use the `--track` or `--no-track` options, which will be passed to | |
34 | 'git branch'. As a convenience, `--track` without `-b` implies branch | |
35 | creation; see the description of `--track` below. | |
02ac9837 TRC |
36 | + |
37 | If `-B` is given, <new_branch> is created if it doesn't exist; otherwise, it | |
38 | is reset. This is the transactional equivalent of | |
39 | + | |
40 | ------------ | |
41 | $ git branch -f <branch> [<start point>] | |
42 | $ git checkout <branch> | |
43 | ------------ | |
44 | + | |
45 | that is to say, the branch is not reset/created unless "git checkout" is | |
46 | successful. | |
bb0ceb62 | 47 | |
b831deda | 48 | 'git checkout' [--patch] [<tree-ish>] [--] <pathspec>...:: |
4aaa7027 | 49 | |
442cb08f LT |
50 | When <paths> or `--patch` are given, 'git checkout' does *not* |
51 | switch branches. It updates the named paths in the working tree | |
52 | from the index file or from a named <tree-ish> (most often a | |
53 | commit). In this case, the `-b` and `--track` options are | |
54 | meaningless and giving either of them results in an error. The | |
55 | <tree-ish> argument can be used to specify a specific tree-ish | |
56 | (i.e. commit, tag or tree) to update the index for the given | |
57 | paths before updating the working tree. | |
c5b41519 | 58 | + |
b831deda JN |
59 | The index may contain unmerged entries because of a previous failed merge. |
60 | By default, if you try to check out such an entry from the index, the | |
db941099 | 61 | checkout operation will fail and nothing will be checked out. |
b831deda | 62 | Using `-f` will ignore these unmerged entries. The contents from a |
38901a48 | 63 | specific side of the merge can be checked out of the index by |
b831deda JN |
64 | using `--ours` or `--theirs`. With `-m`, changes made to the working tree |
65 | file can be discarded to re-create the original conflicted merge result. | |
7fc9d69f JH |
66 | |
67 | OPTIONS | |
68 | ------- | |
6124aee5 | 69 | -q:: |
f7aec129 | 70 | --quiet:: |
2be7fcb4 | 71 | Quiet, suppress feedback messages. |
6124aee5 | 72 | |
0270f7c5 | 73 | -f:: |
f7aec129 | 74 | --force:: |
db941099 JH |
75 | When switching branches, proceed even if the index or the |
76 | working tree differs from HEAD. This is used to throw away | |
77 | local changes. | |
78 | + | |
79 | When checking out paths from the index, do not fail upon unmerged | |
80 | entries; instead, unmerged entries are ignored. | |
0270f7c5 | 81 | |
38901a48 JH |
82 | --ours:: |
83 | --theirs:: | |
84 | When checking out paths from the index, check out stage #2 | |
85 | ('ours') or #3 ('theirs') for unmerged paths. | |
0270f7c5 LAS |
86 | |
87 | -b:: | |
2b1f4247 | 88 | Create a new branch named <new_branch> and start it at |
76cfadfc | 89 | <start_point>; see linkgit:git-branch[1] for details. |
7fc9d69f | 90 | |
02ac9837 TRC |
91 | -B:: |
92 | Creates the branch <new_branch> and start it at <start_point>; | |
93 | if it already exists, then reset it to <start_point>. This is | |
94 | equivalent to running "git branch" with "-f"; see | |
95 | linkgit:git-branch[1] for details. | |
96 | ||
3240240f SB |
97 | -t:: |
98 | --track:: | |
26d22dc6 JK |
99 | When creating a new branch, set up "upstream" configuration. See |
100 | "--track" in linkgit:git-branch[1] for details. | |
bb0ceb62 | 101 | + |
c7cb12b8 | 102 | If no '-b' option is given, the name of the new branch will be |
29b9a66f | 103 | derived from the remote-tracking branch. If "remotes/" or "refs/remotes/" |
c7cb12b8 | 104 | is prefixed it is stripped away, and then the part up to the |
9188ed89 AR |
105 | next slash (which would be the nickname of the remote) is removed. |
106 | This would tell us to use "hack" as the local branch when branching | |
107 | off of "origin/hack" (or "remotes/origin/hack", or even | |
108 | "refs/remotes/origin/hack"). If the given name has no slash, or the above | |
109 | guessing results in an empty name, the guessing is aborted. You can | |
971e8352 | 110 | explicitly give a name with '-b' in such a case. |
0746d19a PB |
111 | |
112 | --no-track:: | |
167d7445 | 113 | Do not set up "upstream" configuration, even if the |
70e96647 | 114 | branch.autosetupmerge configuration variable is true. |
0746d19a | 115 | |
969d326d | 116 | -l:: |
26d22dc6 JK |
117 | Create the new branch's reflog; see linkgit:git-branch[1] for |
118 | details. | |
969d326d | 119 | |
32669671 JH |
120 | --detach:: |
121 | Rather than checking out a branch to work on it, check out a | |
122 | commit for inspection and discardable experiments. | |
123 | This is the default behavior of "git checkout <commit>" when | |
124 | <commit> is not a branch name. See the "DETACHED HEAD" section | |
125 | below for details. | |
126 | ||
9db5ebf4 | 127 | --orphan:: |
feb98d13 EM |
128 | Create a new 'orphan' branch, named <new_branch>, started from |
129 | <start_point> and switch to it. The first commit made on this | |
130 | new branch will have no parents and it will be the root of a new | |
131 | history totally disconnected from all the other branches and | |
132 | commits. | |
9db5ebf4 | 133 | + |
feb98d13 EM |
134 | The index and the working tree are adjusted as if you had previously run |
135 | "git checkout <start_point>". This allows you to start a new history | |
136 | that records a set of paths similar to <start_point> by easily running | |
137 | "git commit -a" to make the root commit. | |
9db5ebf4 | 138 | + |
feb98d13 EM |
139 | This can be useful when you want to publish the tree from a commit |
140 | without exposing its full history. You might want to do this to publish | |
141 | an open source branch of a project whose current tree is "clean", but | |
142 | whose full history contains proprietary or otherwise encumbered bits of | |
143 | code. | |
144 | + | |
145 | If you want to start a disconnected history that records a set of paths | |
146 | that is totally different from the one of <start_point>, then you should | |
147 | clear the index and the working tree right after creating the orphan | |
148 | branch by running "git rm -rf ." from the top level of the working tree. | |
149 | Afterwards you will be ready to prepare your new files, repopulating the | |
150 | working tree, by copying them from elsewhere, extracting a tarball, etc. | |
9db5ebf4 | 151 | |
1be0659e | 152 | -m:: |
eac5a401 | 153 | --merge:: |
0cf8581e JH |
154 | When switching branches, |
155 | if you have local modifications to one or more files that | |
71bb1033 JL |
156 | are different between the current branch and the branch to |
157 | which you are switching, the command refuses to switch | |
158 | branches in order to preserve your modifications in context. | |
159 | However, with this option, a three-way merge between the current | |
1be0659e JH |
160 | branch, your working tree contents, and the new branch |
161 | is done, and you will be on the new branch. | |
162 | + | |
163 | When a merge conflict happens, the index entries for conflicting | |
164 | paths are left unmerged, and you need to resolve the conflicts | |
d7f078b8 SP |
165 | and mark the resolved paths with `git add` (or `git rm` if the merge |
166 | should result in deletion of the path). | |
0cf8581e JH |
167 | + |
168 | When checking out paths from the index, this option lets you recreate | |
169 | the conflicted merge in the specified paths. | |
1be0659e | 170 | |
eac5a401 JH |
171 | --conflict=<style>:: |
172 | The same as --merge option above, but changes the way the | |
173 | conflicting hunks are presented, overriding the | |
174 | merge.conflictstyle configuration variable. Possible values are | |
175 | "merge" (default) and "diff3" (in addition to what is shown by | |
176 | "merge" style, shows the original contents). | |
1be0659e | 177 | |
4f353658 TR |
178 | -p:: |
179 | --patch:: | |
180 | Interactively select hunks in the difference between the | |
181 | <tree-ish> (or the index, if unspecified) and the working | |
182 | tree. The chosen hunks are then applied in reverse to the | |
183 | working tree (and if a <tree-ish> was specified, the index). | |
184 | + | |
185 | This means that you can use `git checkout -p` to selectively discard | |
186 | edits from your current working tree. | |
187 | ||
0270f7c5 | 188 | <branch>:: |
0808723b JK |
189 | Branch to checkout; if it refers to a branch (i.e., a name that, |
190 | when prepended with "refs/heads/", is a valid ref), then that | |
191 | branch is checked out. Otherwise, if it refers to a valid | |
192 | commit, your HEAD becomes "detached" and you are no longer on | |
193 | any branch (see below for details). | |
696acf45 | 194 | + |
dcb11263 | 195 | As a special case, the `"@\{-N\}"` syntax for the N-th last branch |
696acf45 | 196 | checks out the branch (instead of detaching). You may also specify |
dcb11263 | 197 | `-` which is synonymous with `"@\{-1\}"`. |
873c3472 | 198 | + |
b9190e79 | 199 | As a further special case, you may use `"A\...B"` as a shortcut for the |
873c3472 MG |
200 | merge base of `A` and `B` if there is exactly one merge base. You can |
201 | leave out at most one of `A` and `B`, in which case it defaults to `HEAD`. | |
5e1a2e8c | 202 | |
76cfadfc JK |
203 | <new_branch>:: |
204 | Name for the new branch. | |
205 | ||
206 | <start_point>:: | |
207 | The name of a commit at which to start the new branch; see | |
208 | linkgit:git-branch[1] for details. Defaults to HEAD. | |
209 | ||
210 | <tree-ish>:: | |
211 | Tree to checkout from (when paths are given). If not specified, | |
212 | the index will be used. | |
213 | ||
214 | ||
5e1a2e8c | 215 | |
32669671 | 216 | DETACHED HEAD |
5e1a2e8c | 217 | ------------- |
be8ef33c JS |
218 | HEAD normally refers to a named branch (e.g. 'master'). Meanwhile, each |
219 | branch refers to a specific commit. Let's look at a repo with three | |
220 | commits, one of them tagged, and with branch 'master' checked out: | |
5e1a2e8c | 221 | |
be8ef33c JS |
222 | ------------ |
223 | HEAD (refers to branch 'master') | |
224 | | | |
225 | v | |
226 | a---b---c branch 'master' (refers to commit 'c') | |
227 | ^ | |
228 | | | |
229 | tag 'v2.0' (refers to commit 'b') | |
230 | ------------ | |
231 | ||
232 | When a commit is created in this state, the branch is updated to refer to | |
233 | the new commit. Specifically, 'git commit' creates a new commit 'd', whose | |
234 | parent is commit 'c', and then updates branch 'master' to refer to new | |
235 | commit 'd'. HEAD still refers to branch 'master' and so indirectly now refers | |
236 | to commit 'd': | |
5e1a2e8c JH |
237 | |
238 | ------------ | |
be8ef33c JS |
239 | $ edit; git add; git commit |
240 | ||
241 | HEAD (refers to branch 'master') | |
242 | | | |
243 | v | |
244 | a---b---c---d branch 'master' (refers to commit 'd') | |
245 | ^ | |
246 | | | |
247 | tag 'v2.0' (refers to commit 'b') | |
5e1a2e8c JH |
248 | ------------ |
249 | ||
be8ef33c JS |
250 | It is sometimes useful to be able to checkout a commit that is not at |
251 | the tip of any named branch, or even to create a new commit that is not | |
252 | referenced by a named branch. Let's look at what happens when we | |
253 | checkout commit 'b' (here we show two ways this may be done): | |
cec8d146 JH |
254 | |
255 | ------------ | |
be8ef33c JS |
256 | $ git checkout v2.0 # or |
257 | $ git checkout master^^ | |
258 | ||
259 | HEAD (refers to commit 'b') | |
260 | | | |
261 | v | |
262 | a---b---c---d branch 'master' (refers to commit 'd') | |
263 | ^ | |
264 | | | |
265 | tag 'v2.0' (refers to commit 'b') | |
266 | ------------ | |
5e1a2e8c | 267 | |
be8ef33c JS |
268 | Notice that regardless of which checkout command we use, HEAD now refers |
269 | directly to commit 'b'. This is known as being in detached HEAD state. | |
270 | It means simply that HEAD refers to a specific commit, as opposed to | |
271 | referring to a named branch. Let's see what happens when we create a commit: | |
cec8d146 | 272 | |
cec8d146 | 273 | ------------ |
be8ef33c JS |
274 | $ edit; git add; git commit |
275 | ||
276 | HEAD (refers to commit 'e') | |
277 | | | |
278 | v | |
279 | e | |
280 | / | |
281 | a---b---c---d branch 'master' (refers to commit 'd') | |
282 | ^ | |
283 | | | |
284 | tag 'v2.0' (refers to commit 'b') | |
cec8d146 | 285 | ------------ |
7fc9d69f | 286 | |
be8ef33c JS |
287 | There is now a new commit 'e', but it is referenced only by HEAD. We can |
288 | of course add yet another commit in this state: | |
7fc9d69f | 289 | |
be8ef33c JS |
290 | ------------ |
291 | $ edit; git add; git commit | |
292 | ||
293 | HEAD (refers to commit 'f') | |
294 | | | |
295 | v | |
296 | e---f | |
297 | / | |
298 | a---b---c---d branch 'master' (refers to commit 'd') | |
299 | ^ | |
300 | | | |
301 | tag 'v2.0' (refers to commit 'b') | |
302 | ------------ | |
303 | ||
304 | In fact, we can perform all the normal git operations. But, let's look | |
305 | at what happens when we then checkout master: | |
306 | ||
307 | ------------ | |
308 | $ git checkout master | |
309 | ||
310 | HEAD (refers to branch 'master') | |
311 | e---f | | |
312 | / v | |
313 | a---b---c---d branch 'master' (refers to commit 'd') | |
314 | ^ | |
315 | | | |
316 | tag 'v2.0' (refers to commit 'b') | |
317 | ------------ | |
318 | ||
319 | It is important to realize that at this point nothing refers to commit | |
320 | 'f'. Eventually commit 'f' (and by extension commit 'e') will be deleted | |
321 | by the routine git garbage collection process, unless we create a reference | |
322 | before that happens. If we have not yet moved away from commit 'f', | |
323 | any of these will create a reference to it: | |
324 | ||
325 | ------------ | |
326 | $ git checkout -b foo <1> | |
327 | $ git branch foo <2> | |
328 | $ git tag foo <3> | |
329 | ------------ | |
330 | ||
331 | <1> creates a new branch 'foo', which refers to commit 'f', and then | |
332 | updates HEAD to refer to branch 'foo'. In other words, we'll no longer | |
333 | be in detached HEAD state after this command. | |
334 | ||
335 | <2> similarly creates a new branch 'foo', which refers to commit 'f', | |
336 | but leaves HEAD detached. | |
337 | ||
338 | <3> creates a new tag 'foo', which refers to commit 'f', | |
339 | leaving HEAD detached. | |
340 | ||
341 | If we have moved away from commit 'f', then we must first recover its object | |
342 | name (typically by using git reflog), and then we can create a reference to | |
343 | it. For example, to see the last two commits to which HEAD referred, we | |
344 | can use either of these commands: | |
345 | ||
346 | ------------ | |
347 | $ git reflog -2 HEAD # or | |
348 | $ git log -g -2 HEAD | |
349 | ------------ | |
4aaa7027 | 350 | |
1be0659e JH |
351 | EXAMPLES |
352 | -------- | |
4aaa7027 | 353 | |
1be0659e | 354 | . The following sequence checks out the `master` branch, reverts |
4aaa7027 JH |
355 | the `Makefile` to two revisions back, deletes hello.c by |
356 | mistake, and gets it back from the index. | |
1be0659e | 357 | + |
4aaa7027 | 358 | ------------ |
48aeecdc SE |
359 | $ git checkout master <1> |
360 | $ git checkout master~2 Makefile <2> | |
4aaa7027 | 361 | $ rm -f hello.c |
48aeecdc SE |
362 | $ git checkout hello.c <3> |
363 | ------------ | |
364 | + | |
1e2ccd3a | 365 | <1> switch branch |
c7cb12b8 | 366 | <2> take a file out of another commit |
ce8936c3 | 367 | <3> restore hello.c from the index |
1be0659e | 368 | + |
48aeecdc SE |
369 | If you have an unfortunate branch that is named `hello.c`, this |
370 | step would be confused as an instruction to switch to that branch. | |
371 | You should instead write: | |
1be0659e | 372 | + |
4aaa7027 JH |
373 | ------------ |
374 | $ git checkout -- hello.c | |
375 | ------------ | |
376 | ||
c7cb12b8 | 377 | . After working in the wrong branch, switching to the correct |
71bb1033 | 378 | branch would be done using: |
1be0659e JH |
379 | + |
380 | ------------ | |
381 | $ git checkout mytopic | |
382 | ------------ | |
383 | + | |
384 | However, your "wrong" branch and correct "mytopic" branch may | |
c7cb12b8 | 385 | differ in files that you have modified locally, in which case |
1be0659e JH |
386 | the above checkout would fail like this: |
387 | + | |
388 | ------------ | |
389 | $ git checkout mytopic | |
142183d0 | 390 | error: You have local changes to 'frotz'; not switching branches. |
1be0659e JH |
391 | ------------ |
392 | + | |
393 | You can give the `-m` flag to the command, which would try a | |
394 | three-way merge: | |
395 | + | |
396 | ------------ | |
397 | $ git checkout -m mytopic | |
398 | Auto-merging frotz | |
399 | ------------ | |
400 | + | |
401 | After this three-way merge, the local modifications are _not_ | |
402 | registered in your index file, so `git diff` would show you what | |
403 | changes you made since the tip of the new branch. | |
404 | ||
405 | . When a merge conflict happens during switching branches with | |
406 | the `-m` option, you would see something like this: | |
407 | + | |
408 | ------------ | |
409 | $ git checkout -m mytopic | |
410 | Auto-merging frotz | |
1be0659e JH |
411 | ERROR: Merge conflict in frotz |
412 | fatal: merge program failed | |
413 | ------------ | |
414 | + | |
415 | At this point, `git diff` shows the changes cleanly merged as in | |
416 | the previous example, as well as the changes in the conflicted | |
417 | files. Edit and resolve the conflict and mark it resolved with | |
d7f078b8 | 418 | `git add` as usual: |
1be0659e JH |
419 | + |
420 | ------------ | |
421 | $ edit frotz | |
d7f078b8 | 422 | $ git add frotz |
1be0659e JH |
423 | ------------ |
424 | ||
7fc9d69f JH |
425 | GIT |
426 | --- | |
9e1f0a85 | 427 | Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite |