Git reference

Git Commands Cheat Sheet

Everyday and advanced Git commands for commits, branches, remotes, worktrees, recovery, configuration, and maintenance.

121 command references13 topic sections

⌘ K

13 of 13 sections

Basic Commands

Command	Description
`git init`	Initialize a new Git repository.
`git clone <repo>`	Clone a repository.
`git status`	Show working tree status.
`git add <file>`	Stage a file.
`git add .`	Stage all changes.
`git add -p`	Interactively stage parts of files.
`git commit -m "message"`	Commit staged changes.
`git commit -a -m "message"`	Stage tracked files and commit.
`git commit --amend`	Modify the previous commit.
`git commit --amend --no-edit`	Add staged changes to the previous commit without changing its message.
`git log`	View commit history.
`git log --oneline`	Compact commit history.
`git log --graph --all --decorate`	Visualize the complete commit graph.
`git diff`	Show unstaged changes.
`git diff --cached`	Show staged changes.
`git diff HEAD`	Show all changes since last commit.
`git diff <commit1> <commit2>`	Compare two commits.
`git shortlog -sn`	Show commit counts per contributor.

Branching

Command	Description
`git branch`	List branches.
`git branch -a`	List local and remote branches.
`git branch <branch>`	Create a branch.
`git checkout <branch>`	Switch branches.
`git checkout -b <branch>`	Create and switch to a branch.
`git switch <branch>`	Switch branches (modern alternative).
`git switch -c <branch>`	Create and switch to a new branch.
`git merge <branch>`	Merge a branch.
`git merge --no-ff <branch>`	Force a merge commit.
`git rebase <branch>`	Rebase onto another branch.
`git rebase -i HEAD~5`	Interactive rebase of the last 5 commits.
`git cherry-pick <commit>`	Apply a specific commit.
`git branch -d <branch>`	Delete a merged branch.
`git branch -D <branch>`	Force delete a branch.
`git branch -m <new-name>`	Rename current branch.

Remote Repositories

Command	Description
`git remote -v`	Show remotes.
`git remote add <name> <url>`	Add a remote.
`git remote remove <name>`	Remove a remote.
`git remote rename <old> <new>`	Rename a remote.
`git remote show <remote>`	Show remote details.
`git fetch`	Fetch all remotes.
`git fetch --all --prune`	Fetch all remotes and remove deleted remote branches.
`git pull`	Fetch and merge.
`git pull --rebase`	Fetch and rebase instead of merge.
`git push`	Push current branch.
`git push -u origin <branch>`	Push and set upstream branch.
`git push --force-with-lease`	Safer force push.
`git push origin --delete <branch>`	Delete remote branch.

Git Worktrees

Git Worktrees allow you to work on multiple branches simultaneously without creating multiple clones.

Command	Description
`git worktree list`	List all worktrees.
`git worktree add ../feature feature-branch`	Create a worktree for an existing branch.
`git worktree add -b feature ../feature`	Create a new branch and worktree.
`git worktree remove ../feature`	Remove a worktree.
`git worktree prune`	Remove stale worktree metadata.
`git worktree lock`	Prevent a worktree from being pruned.
`git worktree unlock`	Unlock a worktree.
`git worktree repair`	Repair broken worktree metadata.

Example

git checkout main

git worktree add ../feature-login feature/login

cd ../feature-login

# main and feature/login are now open simultaneously

Benefits

Work on multiple branches simultaneously.
No need to stash changes when switching tasks.
Faster than cloning repositories.
Great for code reviews and hotfixes.

Stashing Changes

Command	Description
`git stash`	Stash current changes.
`git stash push -m "message"`	Stash with a message.
`git stash -u`	Include untracked files.
`git stash list`	List stashes.
`git stash show`	Show stash summary.
`git stash show -p`	Show full stash diff.
`git stash apply`	Apply a stash.
`git stash pop`	Apply and remove latest stash.
`git stash drop`	Delete a stash.
`git stash clear`	Delete all stashes.

Viewing Changes

Command	Description
`git show <commit>`	Show commit details.
`git show HEAD`	Show latest commit.
`git blame <file>`	Show line authorship.
`git log --stat`	Show commit statistics.
`git log --name-only`	Show modified files.
`git log --follow <file>`	Track file history across renames.
`git diff --word-diff`	Show word-level changes.
`git whatchanged`	Show changed files for each commit.

Undoing Changes

Command	Description
`git restore <file>`	Restore a file.
`git restore --staged <file>`	Unstage a file.
`git checkout -- <file>`	Discard changes (legacy).
`git reset <file>`	Unstage a file.
`git reset --soft HEAD~1`	Undo last commit and keep changes staged.
`git reset HEAD~1`	Undo last commit and keep changes unstaged.
`git reset --hard HEAD`	Reset everything to the latest commit.
`git revert <commit>`	Undo a commit with a new commit.
`git clean -fd`	Remove untracked files and directories.
`git clean -fdx`	Remove ignored files as well.

Command	Description
`git tag`	List tags.
`git tag <tag>`	Create a lightweight tag.
`git tag -a <tag> -m "message"`	Create an annotated tag.
`git show <tag>`	Show tag details.
`git push origin <tag>`	Push a tag.
`git push --tags`	Push all tags.
`git tag -d <tag>`	Delete a local tag.
`git push origin --delete <tag>`	Delete a remote tag.

Advanced Commands

Command	Description
`git reflog`	View all HEAD movements (excellent for recovering lost commits).
`git bisect start`	Start binary search for a bug.
`git bisect good`	Mark a commit as good.
`git bisect bad`	Mark a commit as bad.
`git bisect reset`	Finish bisect session.
`git cherry -v`	Show commits not yet merged upstream.
`git describe --tags`	Show the nearest tag to the current commit.
`git archive`	Create a ZIP/TAR archive of the repository.
`git fsck`	Verify repository integrity.
`git gc`	Optimize and clean the repository.
`git maintenance run`	Run Git maintenance tasks.
`git sparse-checkout init`	Enable sparse checkout.
`git sparse-checkout set <dir>`	Check out only selected directories.
`git submodule update --init --recursive`	Initialize and update submodules.
`git submodule foreach git pull`	Pull updates in all submodules.

Configuration

Command	Description
`git config --global user.name "Name"`	Set your username.
`git config --global user.email "email@example.com"`	Set your email.
`git config --list`	Display current configuration.
`git config --global alias.st status`	Create a Git alias.
`git config --global core.editor "code --wait"`	Set default editor.
`git config --global init.defaultBranch main`	Set default branch name.

Helpful Aliases

Alias	Expands To
`git st`	`git status`
`git co`	`git checkout`
`git sw`	`git switch`
`git br`	`git branch`
`git ci`	`git commit`
`git lg`	`git log --graph --decorate --oneline --all`
`git last`	`git log -1 HEAD`

Configure aliases

git config --global alias.st status
git config --global alias.co checkout
git config --global alias.sw switch
git config --global alias.br branch
git config --global alias.ci commit
git config --global alias.last "log -1 HEAD"
git config --global alias.lg "log --graph --decorate --oneline --all"

Help

Command	Description
`git help`	Show Git help.
`git <command> --help`	Show help for a specific command.
`git config --help`	Configuration documentation.

Professional Tips

Use git pull --rebase to maintain a cleaner commit history.
Use git push --force-with-lease instead of --force.
Learn git reflog—it's one of Git's most valuable recovery tools.
Use Git Worktrees to work on multiple branches simultaneously.
Clean up your commit history with git rebase -i before opening a pull request.
Use git bisect to quickly identify the commit that introduced a bug.
Consider sparse checkout when working in very large monorepositories.

Source content from github.com/Nikoo-Asadnejad/Git_Comands_Cheat_Sheet.