UPGRADE TO GET UP TO 85% OFF GITKRAKEN PRO
Search
Close this search box.

Git Commands

A Reference Guide

Git Branch Commands

  • git branch – Display a list of the local branches in your Git repository.
  • git branch -a – Display a list of both local branches and remote branches in your Git repository.
  • git branch -c – Copy a Git branch.
  • git branch -d <branch-name> – Delete a local Git branch. This command will not work if the branch you are attempting to delete has unmerged changes.
  • git branch -D <branch-name> – Delete a local Git branch with unmerged changes.
  • git branch -m <branch-name> <new-branch-name> – Rename a Git branch.
  • git branch -r – Display a list of the remote branches in your Git repository.
  • git push <remote> --delete <remote-branch-name> – Delete a remote Git branch.
  • git push --set-upstream <remote> <branch> – Set an upstream branch. Running this command will push your local branch to the new remote branch.

Git Checkout Commands


Git Cherry Pick Commands


Git Clone Commands

  • git clone <repository-url> – Clone a specified remote repository. See Git-SCM’s best practices for remote URL format.
  • git clone <repository-url> <directory-name> – Clone a repository and name the local directory.
  • git clone <repository-url> --origin <name> – Clone a repository and name the remote (<name>). If you do not wish to name the remote, Git will provide the default name origin.
  • git clone <repository-url> --branch <branch-name> – Clone a repository and checkout the specific branch. 
  • git clone <repository-url> --depth <depth> – Clone a repository with a specified number of commits (<depth>). 
  • git clone <repository-url> --no-tags – Clone a repository without copying the repo’s tags.

Git Commit Commands

  • git status – Display a list of files in your staging directory with accompanying file status.
  • git add – Stage file changes. Running this command with an associated file name will stage the file changes to your staging directory.
  • git commit – Save changes to your Git repository. Running this command with an associated file name will save the file changes to your repo.
  • git commit -a – Add all modified and deleted files in your working directory to the current commit.
  • git commit --amend – Amend a Git commit. Edit a Git commit message by adding a message in quotation marks after the command.
  • git commit -m – Add a Git commit message. Add your message in quotation marks following the command.

Git Config Commands

  • git config --global –  Customize configurations stored in your home directory, and can overwrite Git config system settings.
  • git config --email – Sets the email associated with your Git commits and other Git actions.
  • git config --system – Customize configuration settings for your operating system.
  • git --config user.name – Sets the username associated with your Git commits and other Git actions.
  • git config --list – View all of your Git config settings including the local, global, and system levels.
  • git config --local – Customize settings that are Git repository specific and overwrite Git configurations on the global and system level.

Git Merge Commands

  • git merge – Combine two or more development histories together. Used in combination with fetch, this will combine the fetched history from a remote branch into the currently checked out local branch.
  • git merge <branch-name> – Merge changes from one branch into the branch you currently have checked out.
  • git merge --abort – Aborts the merge process and restores the project’s state to before the merge was attempted. This works as a failsafe when a conflict occurs.
  • git merge --continue – Attempt to complete a merge that was stopped due to file conflicts after resolving the merge conflict.
  • git merge --squash – Combine all changes from the branch being merged into a single commit rather than preserving them as individual commits.
  • git merge --no-commit – Combine branch into the current branch, but do not make a new commit.
  • git merge --no-ff – Creates a merge commit instead of attempting a fast-forward.

Git Pull Commands

  • git pull – This will perform a git fetch followed by a git merge FETCH_HEAD, and will allow you to fetch from and integrate with another repository or a local branch.
  • git pull --quiet – Suppress the output text after both git fetch and git merge.
  • git pull --verbose – Expand the output text after both git fetch and git merge.

Git Pull Commands Related to Merge

  • git pull --squash – Combine all changes from the branch being merged into a single commit, rather than preserving the individual commits.
  • git pull --no-commit – Combine the currently checked out branch with the remote upstream branch.
  • git pull --no-ff –  Create a merge commit in all cases, even when the merge could instead be resolved as a fast-forward.

Git Pull Commands Related to Fetch

  • git pull --all  – Fetch all remotes. 
  • git pull --depth=<depth> – Fetch a limited number of commits. 
  • git pull --dry-run – Show the action that would be completed without actually making changes to your repo.
  • git pull --prune – Remove all remote references that no longer exist on the remote.
  • git pull --no-tags – Do not fetch tags.

Git Push Commands

  • git push  – Push the current checked out branch to the default remote origin
  • git push <remote><branch> – Push the specified branch along with all of its necessary commits to your destination remote repository. 
  • git push <remote> --force – Force a Git push in a non-fast-forward merge. This option forces the update of a remote ref even when that is not the ancestor of the local ref. This can cause the remote repository to loose commits, so use with care.
  • git push <remote> --all – Push all local branches to a specified remote.
  • git push <remote> --tags – Push all local tags to a specified remote. Tags are not automatically sent when using --all.

Git Rebase Commands

  • git rebase <target branch name> – Rebase your currently checked out branch onto a target branch. This rewrites a commit(s) from the source branch and applies it on the top of the target branch.
  • git rebase --continue – Proceed with a Git rebase after you have resolved a conflict between files.
  • git rebase --skip – Skip an action that results in a conflict to proceed with a Git rebase.
  • git rebase --abort – Cancel a Git rebase. Your branch will be back in the state it was before you started the rebase.
  • git rebase <target branch name> -i – Initiate interactive rebase from your currently checked out branch onto a target branch.

Git Stash Commands

  • git stash – Create a stash with local modifications and revert back to the head commit.
  • git stash list – Display a list of all stashes in your repository.
  • git stash show – View the content of your most recent stash. This will show your stashed changes as a diff between the stashed content and the commit from back when the stash was created.
  • git stash drop <stash> – Remove a stash from the list of stashes in your repository.
  • git stash pop <stash> – Apply a stash to the top of the current working tree and remove it from your list of stashes.
  • git stash apply <stash> – Apply a stash on top of the current working tree. The stash will not be removed from your list of stashes.
  • git stash clear – Remove all stashes from your repository.

Download our free Git commands cheat sheet PDF to have the most common CLI commands and actions at your fingertips.

Get the Free Git Cheat Sheet

Subscribe to learn Git

Git Tips straight to your inbox

Make Git Easier, Safer &
More Powerful

with GitKraken

Visual Studio Code is required to install GitLens.

Don’t have Visual Studio Code? Get it now.

Team Collaboration Services

Secure cloud-backed services that span across all products in the DevEx platform to keep your workflows connected across projects, repos, and team members
Launchpad – All your PRs, issues, & tasks in one spot to kick off a focused, unblocked day. Code Suggest – Real code suggestions anywhere in your project, as simple as in Google Docs. Cloud Patches – Speed up PR reviews by enabling early collaboration on work-in-progress. Workspaces – Group & sync repos to simplify multi-repo actions, & get new devs coding faster. DORA Insights – Data-driven code insights to track & improve development velocity. Security & Admin – Easily set up SSO, manage access, & streamline IdP integrations.
winget install gitkraken.cli