Reference

A quick-reference list of common Git commands. All commands are prefixed with git.

Setup

Command	Description
config --global user.name "Name"	Set your name (used in commits)
config --global user.email "mail"	Set your email (used in commits)
init	Initialize a new repo in the current folder
clone [url]	Clone a remote repository locally

Inspecting state

Command	Description
status	Show changed, staged, and untracked files
log	Show commit history
log --oneline	Compact commit history, one line per commit
diff	Show unstaged changes
diff --staged	Show staged changes (what will be committed)
reflog	Show history of HEAD movements — useful for recovering lost commits

Staging and committing

Command	Description
add [file]	Stage a specific file
add -A	Stage all changed files
commit -m "message"	Commit staged changes with a message
commit --amend	Modify the last commit (only before pushing)

Branching

Command	Description
branch	List all local branches
branch [name]	Create a new branch
branch -d [name]	Delete a branch (safe — refuses if unmerged)
branch -D [name]	Delete a branch (force)
checkout [name]	Switch to a branch
checkout -b [name]	Create a new branch and switch to it

Pushing and pulling

Command	Description
push -u origin [branch]	Push branch to remote and set upstream
push	Push to the configured upstream branch
pull	Fetch and merge changes from the remote
fetch	Download changes from remote without merging

Warning

Avoid git push -f (force push). It overwrites remote history and can destroy your collaborators’ work. Never force push to main. If you need to overwrite a remote feature branch after a local rebase, use git push --force-with-lease instead — it will abort if someone else has pushed since you last fetched.

Rebasing

Command	Description
rebase [branch]	Replay your commits on top of another branch
rebase --continue	Continue after resolving a conflict
rebase --abort	Abort the rebase and return to the original state
rebase -i HEAD~[n]	Interactively edit the last n commits

In interactive rebase, each commit can be given one of the following actions:

• pick — keep the commit as-is

• reword — keep the commit but edit the message

• squash — fold into the commit above (combines messages)

• fixup — fold into the commit above (discards this message)

• drop — remove the commit entirely

Undoing things

Command	Description
revert [commit]	Create a new commit that undoes a previous one (safe, preserves history)
reset --soft [commit]	Move HEAD back, keep changes staged
reset --mixed [commit]	Move HEAD back, keep changes unstaged
reset --hard [commit]	Move HEAD back and discard all changes (destructive)
checkout -- [file]	Discard unstaged changes to a file

Note

Prefer git revert over git reset when undoing changes that have already been pushed to a shared remote. revert is safe because it adds a new commit rather than rewriting history.