Git tips

Collection of git-tips, want to add your tips? Checkout contributing.md

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Tools:

git-tip - A handy CLI to make optimum use of these tips. (Here in a Docker container .)

Table of contents

All these commands were tested on git version 2.7.4 (Apple Git-66).

1. Everyday Git in twenty commands or so
2. Show helpful guides that come with Git
3. Search change by content
4. Remove sensitive data from history, after a push
5. Sync with remote, overwrite local changes
6. List of all files till a commit
7. Git reset first commit
8. List all the conflicted files
9. List of all files changed in a commit
10. Unstaged changes since last commit
11. Changes staged for commit
12. Show both staged and unstaged changes
13. List all branches that are already merged into master
14. Quickly switch to the previous branch
15. Remove branches that have already been merged with master
16. List all branches and their upstreams, as well as last commit on branch
17. Track upstream branch
18. Delete local branch
19. Delete remote branch
20. Delete local tag
21. Delete remote tag
22. Undo local changes with the last content in head
23. Revert: Undo a commit by creating a new commit
24. Reset: Discard commits, advised for private branch
25. Reword the previous commit message
26. See commit history for just the current branch
27. Amend author.
28. Reset author, after author has been changed in the global config.
29. Changing a remote's URL
30. Get list of all remote references
31. Get list of all local and remote branches
32. Get only remote branches
33. Stage parts of a changed file, instead of the entire file
34. Get git bash completion
35. What changed since two weeks?
36. See all commits made since forking from master
37. Pick commits across branches using cherry-pick
38. Find out branches containing commit-hash
39. Git Aliases
40. Saving current state of tracked files without commiting
41. Saving current state of unstaged changes to tracked files
42. Saving current state including untracked files
43. Saving current state with message
44. Saving current state of all files (ignored, untracked, and tracked)
45. Show list of all saved stashes
46. Apply any stash without deleting from the stashed list
47. Apply last stashed state and delete it from stashed list
48. Delete all stored stashes
49. Grab a single file from a stash
50. Show all tracked files
51. Show all untracked files
52. Show all ignored files
53. Create new working tree from a repository (git 2.5)
54. Create new working tree from HEAD state
55. Untrack files without deleting
56. Before deleting untracked files/directory, do a dry run to get the list of these files/directories
57. Forcefully remove untracked files
58. Forcefully remove untracked directory
59. Update all the submodules
60. Show all commits in the current branch yet to be merged to master
61. Rename a branch
62. Rebases 'feature' to 'master' and merges it in to master
63. Archive the master branch
64. Modify previous commit without modifying the commit message
65. Prunes references to remote branches that have been deleted in the remote.
66. Retrieve the commit hash of the initial revision.
67. Visualize the version tree.
68. Deploying git tracked subfolder to gh-pages
69. Adding a project to repo using subtree
70. Get latest changes in your repo for a linked project using subtree
71. Export a branch with history to a file.
72. Import from a bundle
73. Get the name of current branch.
74. Ignore one file on commit (e.g. Changelog).
75. Stash changes before rebasing
76. Fetch pull request by ID to a local branch
77. Show the most recent tag on the current branch.
78. Show inline word diff.
79. Show changes using common diff tools.
80. Don’t consider changes for tracked file.
81. Undo assume-unchanged.
82. Clean the files from .gitignore.
83. Restore deleted file.
84. Restore file to a specific commit-hash
85. Always rebase instead of merge on pull.
86. List all the alias and configs.
87. Make git case sensitive.
88. Add custom editors.
89. Auto correct typos.
90. Check if the change was a part of a release.
91. Dry run. (any command that supports dry-run flag should do.)
92. Marks your commit as a fix of a previous commit.
93. Squash fixup commits normal commits.
94. Skip staging area during commit.
95. Interactive staging.
96. List ignored files.
97. Status of ignored files.
98. Commits in Branch1 that are not in Branch2
99. List n last commits
100. Reuse recorded resolution, record and reuse previous conflicts resolutions.
101. Open all conflicted files in an editor.
102. Count unpacked number of objects and their disk consumption.
103. Prune all unreachable objects from the object database.
104. Instantly browse your working repository in gitweb.
105. View the GPG signatures in the commit log
106. Remove entry in the global config.
107. Checkout a new branch without any history
108. Extract file from another branch.
109. List only the root and merge commits.
110. Change previous two commits with an interactive rebase.
111. List all branch is WIP
112. Find guilty with binary search
113. Bypass pre-commit and commit-msg githooks
114. List commits and changes to a specific file (even through renaming)
115. Clone a single branch
116. Create and switch new branch
117. Ignore file mode changes on commits
118. Turn off git colored terminal output
119. Specific color settings
120. Show all local branches ordered by recent commits
121. Find lines matching the pattern (regex or string) in tracked files
122. Clone a shallow copy of a repository
123. Search Commit log across all branches for given text
124. Get first commit in a branch (from master)
125. Unstaging Staged file
126. Force push to Remote Repository
127. Adding Remote name
128. Show the author, time and last revision made to each line of a given file
129. Group commits by authors and title
130. Forced push but still ensure you don't overwrite other's work
131. Show how many lines does an author contribute
132. Revert: Reverting an entire merge
133. Number of commits in a branch
134. Alias: git undo
135. Add object notes
136. Show all the git-notes
137. Apply commit from another repository
138. Specific fetch reference
139. Find common ancestor of two branches
140. List unpushed git commits
141. Add everything, but whitespace changes
142. Edit [local/global] git config
143. blame on certain range
144. Show a Git logical variable.
145. Preformatted patch file.
146. Get the repo name.
147. logs between date range
148. Exclude author from logs
149. Generates a summary of pending changes
150. List references in a remote repository
151. Backup untracked files.
152. List all git aliases
153. Show git status short
154. Checkout a commit prior to a day ago
155. Push a new local branch to remote repository and track
156. Change a branch base

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Everyday Git in twenty commands or so

git help everyday

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Show helpful guides that come with Git

git help -g

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Search change by content

git log -S'<a term in the source>'

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Remove sensitive data from history, after a push

git filter-branch --force --index-filter 'git rm --cached --ignore-unmatch <path-to-your-file>' --prune-empty --tag-name-filter cat -- --all && git push origin --force --all

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Sync with remote, overwrite local changes

git fetch origin && git reset --hard origin/master && git clean -f -d

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List of all files till a commit

git ls-tree --name-only -r <commit-ish>

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Git reset first commit

git update-ref -d HEAD

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List all the conflicted files

git diff --name-only --diff-filter=U

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List of all files changed in a commit

git diff-tree --no-commit-id --name-only -r <commit-ish>

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Unstaged changes since last commit

git diff

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Changes staged for commit

git diff --cached

Alternatives:

git diff --staged

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Show both staged and unstaged changes

git diff HEAD

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List all branches that are already merged into master

git branch --merged master

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Quickly switch to the previous branch

git checkout -

Alternatives:

git checkout @{-1}

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Remove branches that have already been merged with master

git branch --merged master | grep -v '^\*' | xargs -n 1 git branch -d

Alternatives:

git branch --merged master | grep -v '^\*\|  master' | xargs -n 1 git branch -d # will not delete master if master is not checked out

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List all branches and their upstreams, as well as last commit on branch

git branch -vv

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Track upstream branch

git branch -u origin/mybranch

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Delete local branch

git branch -d <local_branchname>

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Delete remote branch

git push origin --delete <remote_branchname>

Alternatives:

git push origin :<remote_branchname>

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Delete local tag

git tag -d <tag-name>

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Delete remote tag

git push origin :refs/tags/<tag-name>

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Undo local changes with the last content in head

git checkout -- <file_name>

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Revert: Undo a commit by creating a new commit

git revert <commit-ish>

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Reset: Discard commits, advised for private branch

git reset <commit-ish>

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Reword the previous commit message

git commit -v --amend

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See commit history for just the current branch

git cherry -v master

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Amend author.

git commit --amend --author='Author Name <[email protected]>'

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Reset author, after author has been changed in the global config.

git commit --amend --reset-author --no-edit

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Changing a remote's URL

git remote set-url origin <URL>

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Get list of all remote references

git remote

Alternatives:

git remote show

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Get list of all local and remote branches

git branch -a

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Get only remote branches

git branch -r

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Stage parts of a changed file, instead of the entire file

git add -p

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Get git bash completion

curl http://git.io/vfhol > ~/.git-completion.bash && echo '[ -f ~/.git-completion.bash ] && . ~/.git-completion.bash' >> ~/.bashrc

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What changed since two weeks?

git log --no-merges --raw --since='2 weeks ago'

Alternatives:

git whatchanged --since='2 weeks ago'

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See all commits made since forking from master

git log --no-merges --stat --reverse master..

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Pick commits across branches using cherry-pick

git checkout <branch-name> && git cherry-pick <commit-ish>

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Find out branches containing commit-hash

git branch -a --contains <commit-ish>

Alternatives:

git branch --contains <commit-ish>

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Git Aliases

git config --global alias.<handle> <command> 
git config --global alias.st status

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Saving current state of tracked files without commiting

git stash

Alternatives:

git stash save

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Saving current state of unstaged changes to tracked files

git stash -k

Alternatives:

git stash --keep-index

git stash save --keep-index

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Saving current state including untracked files

git stash -u

Alternatives:

git stash save -u

git stash save --include-untracked

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Saving current state with message

git stash save <message>

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Saving current state of all files (ignored, untracked, and tracked)

git stash -a

Alternatives:

git stash --all

git stash save --all

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Show list of all saved stashes

git stash list

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Apply any stash without deleting from the stashed list

git stash apply <stash@{n}>

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Apply last stashed state and delete it from stashed list

git stash pop

Alternatives:

git stash apply stash@{0} && git stash drop stash@{0}

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Delete all stored stashes

git stash clear

Alternatives:

git stash drop <stash@{n}>

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Grab a single file from a stash

git checkout <stash@{n}> -- <file_path>

Alternatives:

git checkout stash@{0} -- <file_path>

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Show all tracked files

git ls-files -t

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Show all untracked files

git ls-files --others

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Show all ignored files

git ls-files --others -i --exclude-standard

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Create new working tree from a repository (git 2.5)

git worktree add -b <branch-name> <path> <start-point>

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Create new working tree from HEAD state

git worktree add --detach <path> HEAD

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Untrack files without deleting

git rm --cached <file_path>

Alternatives:

git rm --cached -r <directory_path>

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Before deleting untracked files/directory, do a dry run to get the list of these files/directories

git clean -n

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Forcefully remove untracked files

git clean -f

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Forcefully remove untracked directory

git clean -f -d

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Update all the submodules

git submodule foreach git pull

Alternatives:

git submodule update --init --recursive

git submodule update --remote

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Show all commits in the current branch yet to be merged to master

git cherry -v master

Alternatives:

git cherry -v master <branch-to-be-merged>

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Rename a branch

git branch -m <new-branch-name>

Alternatives:

git branch -m [<old-branch-name>] <new-branch-name>

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Rebases 'feature' to 'master' and merges it in to master

git rebase master feature && git checkout master && git merge -

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Archive the master branch

git archive master --format=zip --output=master.zip

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Modify previous commit without modifying the commit message

git add --all && git commit --amend --no-edit

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Prunes references to remote branches that have been deleted in the remote.

git fetch -p

Alternatives:

git remote prune origin

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Retrieve the commit hash of the initial revision.

 git rev-list --reverse HEAD | head -1

Alternatives:

git rev-list --max-parents=0 HEAD

git log --pretty=oneline | tail -1 | cut -c 1-40

git log --pretty=oneline --reverse | head -1 | cut -c 1-40

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Visualize the version tree.

git log --pretty=oneline --graph --decorate --all

Alternatives:

gitk --all

git log --graph --pretty=format:'%C(auto) %h | %s | %an | %ar%d'

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Deploying git tracked subfolder to gh-pages

git subtree push --prefix subfolder_name origin gh-pages

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Adding a project to repo using subtree

git subtree add --prefix=<directory_name>/<project_name> --squash [email protected]:<username>/<project_name>.git master

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Get latest changes in your repo for a linked project using subtree

git subtree pull --prefix=<directory_name>/<project_name> --squash [email protected]:<username>/<project_name>.git master

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Export a branch with history to a file.

git bundle create <file> <branch-name>

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Import from a bundle

git clone repo.bundle <repo-dir> -b <branch-name>

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Get the name of current branch.

git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD

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Ignore one file on commit (e.g. Changelog).

git update-index --assume-unchanged Changelog; git commit -a; git update-index --no-assume-unchanged Changelog

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Stash changes before rebasing

git rebase --autostash

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Fetch pull request by ID to a local branch

git fetch origin pull/<id>/head:<branch-name>

Alternatives:

git pull origin pull/<id>/head:<branch-name>

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Show the most recent tag on the current branch.

git describe --tags --abbrev=0

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Show inline word diff.

git diff --word-diff

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Show changes using common diff tools.

git difftool [-t <tool>] <commit1> <commit2> <path>

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Don’t consider changes for tracked file.

git update-index --assume-unchanged <file_name>

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Undo assume-unchanged.

git update-index --no-assume-unchanged <file_name>

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Clean the files from .gitignore.

git clean -X -f

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Restore deleted file.

git checkout <deleting_commit>^ -- <file_path>

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Restore file to a specific commit-hash

git checkout <commit-ish> -- <file_path>

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Always rebase instead of merge on pull.

git config --global pull.rebase true

Alternatives:

#git < 1.7.9
git config --global branch.autosetuprebase always

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List all the alias and configs.

git config --list

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Make git case sensitive.

git config --global core.ignorecase false

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Add custom editors.

git config --global core.editor '$EDITOR'

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Auto correct typos.

git config --global help.autocorrect 1

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Check if the change was a part of a release.

git name-rev --name-only <SHA-1>

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Dry run. (any command that supports dry-run flag should do.)

git clean -fd --dry-run

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Marks your commit as a fix of a previous commit.

git commit --fixup <SHA-1>

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Squash fixup commits normal commits.

git rebase -i --autosquash

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Skip staging area during commit.

git commit --only <file_path>

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Interactive staging.

git add -i

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List ignored files.

git check-ignore *

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Status of ignored files.

git status --ignored

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Commits in Branch1 that are not in Branch2

git log Branch1 ^Branch2

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List n last commits

git log -<n>

Alternatives:

git log -n <n>

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Reuse recorded resolution, record and reuse previous conflicts resolutions.

git config --global rerere.enabled 1

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Open all conflicted files in an editor.

git diff --name-only | uniq | xargs $EDITOR

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Count unpacked number of objects and their disk consumption.

git count-objects --human-readable

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Prune all unreachable objects from the object database.

git gc --prune=now --aggressive

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Instantly browse your working repository in gitweb.

git instaweb [--local] [--httpd=<httpd>] [--port=<port>] [--browser=<browser>]

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View the GPG signatures in the commit log

git log --show-signature

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Remove entry in the global config.

git config --global --unset <entry-name>

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Checkout a new branch without any history

git checkout --orphan <branch_name>

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Extract file from another branch.

git show <branch_name>:<file_name>

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List only the root and merge commits.

git log --first-parent

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Change previous two commits with an interactive rebase.

git rebase --interactive HEAD~2

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List all branch is WIP

git checkout master && git branch --no-merged

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Find guilty with binary search

git bisect start                    # Search start 
git bisect bad                      # Set point to bad commit 
git bisect good v2.6.13-rc2         # Set point to good commit|tag 
git bisect bad                      # Say current state is bad 
git bisect good                     # Say current state is good 
git bisect reset                    # Finish search 

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Bypass pre-commit and commit-msg githooks

git commit --no-verify

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List commits and changes to a specific file (even through renaming)

git log --follow -p -- <file_path>

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Clone a single branch

git clone -b <branch-name> --single-branch https://github.com/user/repo.git

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Create and switch new branch

git checkout -b <branch-name>

Alternatives:

git branch <branch-name> && git checkout <branch-name>

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Ignore file mode changes on commits

git config core.fileMode false

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Turn off git colored terminal output

git config --global color.ui false

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Specific color settings

git config --global <specific command e.g branch, diff> <true, false or always>

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Show all local branches ordered by recent commits

git for-each-ref --sort=-committerdate --format='%(refname:short)' refs/heads/

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Find lines matching the pattern (regex or string) in tracked files

git grep --heading --line-number 'foo bar'

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Clone a shallow copy of a repository

git clone https://github.com/user/repo.git --depth 1

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Search Commit log across all branches for given text

git log --all --grep='<given-text>'

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Get first commit in a branch (from master)

git log master..<branch-name> --oneline | tail -1

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Unstaging Staged file

git reset HEAD <file-name>

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Force push to Remote Repository

git push -f <remote-name> <branch-name>

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Adding Remote name

git remote add <remote-nickname> <remote-url>

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Show the author, time and last revision made to each line of a given file

git blame <file-name>

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Group commits by authors and title

git shortlog

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Forced push but still ensure you don't overwrite other's work

git push --force-with-lease <remote-name> <branch-name>

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Show how many lines does an author contribute

git log --author='_Your_Name_Here_' --pretty=tformat: --numstat | gawk '{ add += <!-- @doxie.inject start -->; subs += <!-- @doxie.inject end -->; loc += <!-- @doxie.inject start --> - <!-- @doxie.inject end --> } END { printf "added lines: %s removed lines: %s total lines: %s
", add, subs, loc }' -

Alternatives:

git log --author='_Your_Name_Here_' --pretty=tformat: --numstat | awk '{ add += <!-- @doxie.inject start -->; subs += <!-- @doxie.inject end -->; loc += <!-- @doxie.inject start --> - <!-- @doxie.inject end --> } END { printf "added lines: %s, removed lines: %s, total lines: %s
", add, subs, loc }' - # on Mac OSX

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Revert: Reverting an entire merge

git revert -m 1 <commit-ish>

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Number of commits in a branch

git rev-list --count <branch-name>

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Alias: git undo

git config --global alias.undo '!f() { git reset --hard $(git rev-parse --abbrev-ref HEAD)@{${1-1}}; }; f'

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Add object notes

git notes add -m 'Note on the previous commit....'

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Show all the git-notes

git log --show-notes='*'

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Apply commit from another repository

git --git-dir=<source-dir>/.git format-patch -k -1 --stdout <SHA1> | git am -3 -k

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Specific fetch reference

git fetch origin master:refs/remotes/origin/mymaster

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Find common ancestor of two branches

diff -u <(git rev-list --first-parent BranchA) <(git rev-list --first-parent BranchB) | sed -ne 's/^ //p' | head -1

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List unpushed git commits

git log --branches --not --remotes

Alternatives:

git log @{u}..

git cherry -v

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Add everything, but whitespace changes

git diff --ignore-all-space | git apply --cached

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Edit [local/global] git config

git config [--global] --edit

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blame on certain range

git blame -L <start>,<end>

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Show a Git logical variable.

git var -l | <variable>

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Preformatted patch file.

git format-patch -M upstream..topic

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Get the repo name.

git rev-parse --show-toplevel

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logs between date range

git log --since='FEB 1 2017' --until='FEB 14 2017'

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Exclude author from logs

git log --perl-regexp --author='^((?!excluded-author-regex).*)

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Generates a summary of pending changes

git request-pull v1.0 https://git.ko.xz/project master:for-linus

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List references in a remote repository

git ls-remote git://git.kernel.org/pub/scm/git/git.git

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Backup untracked files.

git ls-files --others -i --exclude-standard | xargs zip untracked.zip

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List all git aliases

git config -l | grep alias | sed 's/^alias\.//g'

Alternatives:

git config -l | grep alias | cut -d '.' -f 2

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Show git status short

git status --short --branch

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Checkout a commit prior to a day ago

git checkout master@{yesterday}

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Push a new local branch to remote repository and track

git push -u origin <branch_name>

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Change a branch base

git rebase --onto <new_base> <old_base>