1 git-reset(1)
2 ============
4 NAME
5 ----
6 git-reset - Reset current HEAD to the specified state
8 SYNOPSIS
9 --------
10 [verse]
11 'git reset' [--soft | --mixed | --hard | --merge | --keep] [-q] [<commit>]
12 'git reset' [-q] [<commit>] [--] <paths>...
13 'git reset' --patch [<commit>] [--] [<paths>...]
15 DESCRIPTION
16 -----------
17 Sets the current head to the specified commit and optionally resets the
18 index and working tree to match.
20 This command is useful if you notice some small error in a recent
21 commit (or set of commits) and want to redo that part without showing
22 the undo in the history.
24 If you want to undo a commit other than the latest on a branch,
25 linkgit:git-revert[1] is your friend.
27 The second and third forms with 'paths' and/or --patch are used to
28 revert selected paths in the index from a given commit, without moving
29 HEAD.
32 OPTIONS
33 -------
34 --soft::
35 Does not touch the index file nor the working tree at all, but
36 requires them to be in a good order. This leaves all your changed
37 files "Changes to be committed", as 'git status' would
38 put it.
40 --mixed::
41 Resets the index but not the working tree (i.e., the changed files
42 are preserved but not marked for commit) and reports what has not
43 been updated. This is the default action.
45 --hard::
46 Matches the working tree and index to that of the tree being
47 switched to. Any changes to tracked files in the working tree
48 since <commit> are lost.
50 --merge::
51 Resets the index to match the tree recorded by the named commit,
52 and updates the files that are different between the named commit
53 and the current commit in the working tree.
55 --keep::
56 Reset the index to the given commit, keeping local changes in
57 the working tree since the current commit, while updating
58 working tree files without local changes to what appears in
59 the given commit. If a file that is different between the
60 current commit and the given commit has local changes, reset
61 is aborted.
63 -p::
64 --patch::
65 Interactively select hunks in the difference between the index
66 and <commit> (defaults to HEAD). The chosen hunks are applied
67 in reverse to the index.
68 +
69 This means that `git reset -p` is the opposite of `git add -p` (see
70 linkgit:git-add[1]).
72 -q::
73 --quiet::
74 Be quiet, only report errors.
76 <commit>::
77 Commit to make the current HEAD. If not given defaults to HEAD.
79 DISCUSSION
80 ----------
82 The tables below show what happens when running:
84 ----------
85 git reset --option target
86 ----------
88 to reset the HEAD to another commit (`target`) with the different
89 reset options depending on the state of the files.
91 In these tables, A, B, C and D are some different states of a
92 file. For example, the first line of the first table means that if a
93 file is in state A in the working tree, in state B in the index, in
94 state C in HEAD and in state D in the target, then "git reset --soft
95 target" will put the file in state A in the working tree, in state B
96 in the index and in state D in HEAD.
98 working index HEAD target working index HEAD
99 ----------------------------------------------------
100 A B C D --soft A B D
101 --mixed A D D
102 --hard D D D
103 --merge (disallowed)
104 --keep (disallowed)
106 working index HEAD target working index HEAD
107 ----------------------------------------------------
108 A B C C --soft A B C
109 --mixed A C C
110 --hard C C C
111 --merge (disallowed)
112 --keep A C C
114 working index HEAD target working index HEAD
115 ----------------------------------------------------
116 B B C D --soft B B D
117 --mixed B D D
118 --hard D D D
119 --merge D D D
120 --keep (disallowed)
122 working index HEAD target working index HEAD
123 ----------------------------------------------------
124 B B C C --soft B B C
125 --mixed B C C
126 --hard C C C
127 --merge C C C
128 --keep B C C
130 working index HEAD target working index HEAD
131 ----------------------------------------------------
132 B C C D --soft B C D
133 --mixed B D D
134 --hard D D D
135 --merge (disallowed)
136 --keep (disallowed)
138 working index HEAD target working index HEAD
139 ----------------------------------------------------
140 B C C C --soft B C C
141 --mixed B C C
142 --hard C C C
143 --merge B C C
144 --keep B C C
146 "reset --merge" is meant to be used when resetting out of a conflicted
147 merge. Any mergy operation guarantees that the work tree file that is
148 involved in the merge does not have local change wrt the index before
149 it starts, and that it writes the result out to the work tree. So if
150 we see some difference between the index and the target and also
151 between the index and the work tree, then it means that we are not
152 resetting out from a state that a mergy operation left after failing
153 with a conflict. That is why we disallow --merge option in this case.
155 "reset --keep" is meant to be used when removing some of the last
156 commits in the current branch while keeping changes in the working
157 tree. If there could be conflicts between the changes in the commit we
158 want to remove and the changes in the working tree we want to keep,
159 the reset is disallowed. That's why it is disallowed if there are both
160 changes between the working tree and HEAD, and between HEAD and the
161 target. To be safe, it is also disallowed when there are unmerged
162 entries.
164 The following tables show what happens when there are unmerged
165 entries:
167 working index HEAD target working index HEAD
168 ----------------------------------------------------
169 X U A B --soft (disallowed)
170 --mixed X B B
171 --hard B B B
172 --merge B B B
173 --keep (disallowed)
175 working index HEAD target working index HEAD
176 ----------------------------------------------------
177 X U A A --soft (disallowed)
178 --mixed X A A
179 --hard A A A
180 --merge A A A
181 --keep (disallowed)
183 X means any state and U means an unmerged index.
185 Examples
186 --------
188 Undo a commit and redo::
189 +
190 ------------
191 $ git commit ...
192 $ git reset --soft HEAD^ <1>
193 $ edit <2>
194 $ git commit -a -c ORIG_HEAD <3>
195 ------------
196 +
197 <1> This is most often done when you remembered what you
198 just committed is incomplete, or you misspelled your commit
199 message, or both. Leaves working tree as it was before "reset".
200 <2> Make corrections to working tree files.
201 <3> "reset" copies the old head to .git/ORIG_HEAD; redo the
202 commit by starting with its log message. If you do not need to
203 edit the message further, you can give -C option instead.
204 +
205 See also the --amend option to linkgit:git-commit[1].
207 Undo commits permanently::
208 +
209 ------------
210 $ git commit ...
211 $ git reset --hard HEAD~3 <1>
212 ------------
213 +
214 <1> The last three commits (HEAD, HEAD^, and HEAD~2) were bad
215 and you do not want to ever see them again. Do *not* do this if
216 you have already given these commits to somebody else. (See the
217 "RECOVERING FROM UPSTREAM REBASE" section in linkgit:git-rebase[1] for
218 the implications of doing so.)
220 Undo a commit, making it a topic branch::
221 +
222 ------------
223 $ git branch topic/wip <1>
224 $ git reset --hard HEAD~3 <2>
225 $ git checkout topic/wip <3>
226 ------------
227 +
228 <1> You have made some commits, but realize they were premature
229 to be in the "master" branch. You want to continue polishing
230 them in a topic branch, so create "topic/wip" branch off of the
231 current HEAD.
232 <2> Rewind the master branch to get rid of those three commits.
233 <3> Switch to "topic/wip" branch and keep working.
235 Undo add::
236 +
237 ------------
238 $ edit <1>
239 $ git add frotz.c filfre.c
240 $ mailx <2>
241 $ git reset <3>
242 $ git pull git://info.example.com/ nitfol <4>
243 ------------
244 +
245 <1> You are happily working on something, and find the changes
246 in these files are in good order. You do not want to see them
247 when you run "git diff", because you plan to work on other files
248 and changes with these files are distracting.
249 <2> Somebody asks you to pull, and the changes sounds worthy of merging.
250 <3> However, you already dirtied the index (i.e. your index does
251 not match the HEAD commit). But you know the pull you are going
252 to make does not affect frotz.c nor filfre.c, so you revert the
253 index changes for these two files. Your changes in working tree
254 remain there.
255 <4> Then you can pull and merge, leaving frotz.c and filfre.c
256 changes still in the working tree.
258 Undo a merge or pull::
259 +
260 ------------
261 $ git pull <1>
262 Auto-merging nitfol
263 CONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in nitfol
264 Automatic merge failed; fix conflicts and then commit the result.
265 $ git reset --hard <2>
266 $ git pull . topic/branch <3>
267 Updating from 41223... to 13134...
268 Fast-forward
269 $ git reset --hard ORIG_HEAD <4>
270 ------------
271 +
272 <1> Try to update from the upstream resulted in a lot of
273 conflicts; you were not ready to spend a lot of time merging
274 right now, so you decide to do that later.
275 <2> "pull" has not made merge commit, so "git reset --hard"
276 which is a synonym for "git reset --hard HEAD" clears the mess
277 from the index file and the working tree.
278 <3> Merge a topic branch into the current branch, which resulted
279 in a fast-forward.
280 <4> But you decided that the topic branch is not ready for public
281 consumption yet. "pull" or "merge" always leaves the original
282 tip of the current branch in ORIG_HEAD, so resetting hard to it
283 brings your index file and the working tree back to that state,
284 and resets the tip of the branch to that commit.
286 Undo a merge or pull inside a dirty work tree::
287 +
288 ------------
289 $ git pull <1>
290 Auto-merging nitfol
291 Merge made by recursive.
292 nitfol | 20 +++++----
293 ...
294 $ git reset --merge ORIG_HEAD <2>
295 ------------
296 +
297 <1> Even if you may have local modifications in your
298 working tree, you can safely say "git pull" when you know
299 that the change in the other branch does not overlap with
300 them.
301 <2> After inspecting the result of the merge, you may find
302 that the change in the other branch is unsatisfactory. Running
303 "git reset --hard ORIG_HEAD" will let you go back to where you
304 were, but it will discard your local changes, which you do not
305 want. "git reset --merge" keeps your local changes.
308 Interrupted workflow::
309 +
310 Suppose you are interrupted by an urgent fix request while you
311 are in the middle of a large change. The files in your
312 working tree are not in any shape to be committed yet, but you
313 need to get to the other branch for a quick bugfix.
314 +
315 ------------
316 $ git checkout feature ;# you were working in "feature" branch and
317 $ work work work ;# got interrupted
318 $ git commit -a -m "snapshot WIP" <1>
319 $ git checkout master
320 $ fix fix fix
321 $ git commit ;# commit with real log
322 $ git checkout feature
323 $ git reset --soft HEAD^ ;# go back to WIP state <2>
324 $ git reset <3>
325 ------------
326 +
327 <1> This commit will get blown away so a throw-away log message is OK.
328 <2> This removes the 'WIP' commit from the commit history, and sets
329 your working tree to the state just before you made that snapshot.
330 <3> At this point the index file still has all the WIP changes you
331 committed as 'snapshot WIP'. This updates the index to show your
332 WIP files as uncommitted.
333 +
334 See also linkgit:git-stash[1].
336 Reset a single file in the index::
337 +
338 Suppose you have added a file to your index, but later decide you do not
339 want to add it to your commit. You can remove the file from the index
340 while keeping your changes with git reset.
341 +
342 ------------
343 $ git reset -- frotz.c <1>
344 $ git commit -m "Commit files in index" <2>
345 $ git add frotz.c <3>
346 ------------
347 +
348 <1> This removes the file from the index while keeping it in the working
349 directory.
350 <2> This commits all other changes in the index.
351 <3> Adds the file to the index again.
353 Keep changes in working tree while discarding some previous commits::
354 +
355 Suppose you are working on something and you commit it, and then you
356 continue working a bit more, but now you think that what you have in
357 your working tree should be in another branch that has nothing to do
358 with what you commited previously. You can start a new branch and
359 reset it while keeping the changes in your work tree.
360 +
361 ------------
362 $ git tag start
363 $ git checkout -b branch1
364 $ edit
365 $ git commit ... <1>
366 $ edit
367 $ git checkout -b branch2 <2>
368 $ git reset --keep start <3>
369 ------------
370 +
371 <1> This commits your first edits in branch1.
372 <2> In the ideal world, you could have realized that the earlier
373 commit did not belong to the new topic when you created and switched
374 to branch2 (i.e. "git checkout -b branch2 start"), but nobody is
375 perfect.
376 <3> But you can use "reset --keep" to remove the unwanted commit after
377 you switched to "branch2".
379 Author
380 ------
381 Written by Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com> and Linus Torvalds <torvalds@osdl.org>
383 Documentation
384 --------------
385 Documentation by Junio C Hamano and the git-list <git@vger.kernel.org>.
387 GIT
388 ---
389 Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite