Git Cheat Sheet with 40+ commands & concepts

Tapajyoti Bose - Nov 13 '22 - - Dev Community

Tired of memorizing git commands? Here is a cheat sheet with 40+ commands to simplify your life.

1. Initialize a local repository 

git init <directory>
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The <directory> is optional. If you don't specify it, the current directory will be used.

2. Clone a remote repository 

git clone <url>
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3. Add a file to the staging area 

git add <file>
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To add all files in the current directory, use . in place of <file>.

git add .
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4. Commit changes 

git commit -m "<message>"
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If you want to add all changes made to tracked files & commit

git commit -a -m "<message>"

# or

git commit -am "<message>"
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5. Remove a file from the staging area 

git reset <file>
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6. Move or rename a file 

git mv <current path> <new path>
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7. Remove a file from the repository 

git rm <file>
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You can also remove it from staging area only using --cached flag

git rm --cached <file>
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Basic Git Concepts

  1. Default branch name: main
  2. Default remote name: origin
  3. Current branch reference: HEAD
  4. Parent of HEAD: HEAD^ or HEAD~1
  5. Grandparent of HEAD: HEAD^^ or HEAD~2

13. Display branches 

git branch
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Useful flags:

  • -a: Display all branches (local & remote)
  • -r: Display remote branches
  • -v: Display branches with last commit

14. Create a branch 

git branch <branch>
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You can create a branch and switch to it using the checkout command.

git checkout -b <branch>
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15. Switch to a branch 

git checkout <branch>
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16. Delete a branch 

git branch -d <branch>
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You can also force delete a branch using the -D flag.

git branch -D <branch>
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17. Merge a branch 

git merge <branch to merge into HEAD>
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Useful flags:

  • --no-ff: Create a merge commit even if the merge resolves as a fast-forward
  • --squash: Squash all commits from the specified branch into a single commit

Fast forward Merge

Fast-forward-merge

Non-Fast forward Merge

No-fast-forward-merge

It is suggested to not use the --squash flag as it will squash all commits into a single commit, leading to a messy commit history.

18. Rebase a branch

Rebasing is the process of moving or combining a sequence of commits to a new base commit

Rebase

git rebase <branch to rebase from>
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19. Checkout a previous commit 

git checkout <commit id>
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20. Revert a commit 

git revert <commit id>
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21. Reset a commit 

git reset <commit id>
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You can also add the --hard flag to delete all changes, but use it with caution.

git reset --hard <commit id>
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22. Check out the status of the repository 

git status
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23. Display the commit history 

git log
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24. Display the changes to unstaged files 

git diff
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You can also use the --staged flag to display the changes to staged files.

git diff --staged
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25. Display the changes between two commits 

git diff <commit id 01> <commit id 02>
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26. Stash changes

The stash allows you to temporarily store changes without committing them.

git stash
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You can also add a message to the stash.

git stash save "<message>"
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27. List stashes 

git stash list
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28. Apply a stash

Applying the stash will NOT remove it from the stash list.

git stash apply <stash id>
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If you do not specify the <stash id>, the latest stash will be applied (Valid for all similar stash commands)

You can also use the format stash@{<index>} to apply a stash (Valid for all similar stash commands)

git stash apply stash@{0}
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29. Remove a stash 

git stash drop <stash id>
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30. Remove all stashes 

git stash clear
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31. Apply and remove a stash 

git stash pop <stash id>
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32. Display the changes in a stash 

git stash show <stash id>
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33. Add a remote repository 

git remote add <remote name> <url>
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34. Display remote repositories 

git remote
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Add a -v flag to display the URLs of the remote repositories.

git remote -v
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35. Remove a remote repository 

git remote remove <remote name>
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36 Rename a remote repository 

git remote rename <old name> <new name>
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37. Fetch changes from a remote repository 

git fetch <remote name>
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38. Fetch changes from a particular branch 

git fetch <remote name> <branch>
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39. Pull changes from a remote repository 

git pull <remote name> <branch>
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40. Push changes to a remote repository 

git push <remote name>
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41. Push changes to a particular branch 

git push <remote name> <branch>
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That's all folks! 🎉

Thanks for reading

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FAQ

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