The git reset is a command that allows you to undo or discard changes made in a previous commit or series of commits. It can be used in several different ways, depending on the specific use case.
git reset HEAD~1
This command will undo the changes made in the last commit and move the HEAD pointer one commit back. It will also keep the changes made in the last commit in the working tree, allowing you to make additional changes before committing again.
Example:
$ git log
commit 2a468b8 (HEAD -> master)
Author: XAbirHasan
Date: Mon Jan 2 12:00:00 2023
Added new feature
commit 8b291ab
Author: XAbirHasan
Date: Sat Jan 1 12:00:00 2023
Fixed bug
:(more)
$ git reset HEAD~1
$ git log
commit 8b291ab
Author: XAbirHasan
Date: Sat Jan 1 12:00:00 2023
Fixed bug
In this example, the last commit added a new feature but it was not ready to be pushed. So, we used git reset to undo the changes and move the HEAD pointer one commit back.
git reset HEAD~n
This command will undo the changes made in the last “n” commits and move the HEAD pointer “n” commits back. It will also keep the changes made in the last “n” commits in the working tree, allowing you to make additional changes before committing again.
Example:
$ git log
commit 2a468b8 (HEAD -> master)
Author: XAbirHasan
Date: Mon Jan 2 12:00:00 2023
Added new feature
commit 8b291ab
Author: XAbirHasan
Date: Sat Jan 1 12:00:00 2023
Fixed bug
commit 21b912b
Author: XAbirHasan
Date: Fri Dec 31 12:00:00 2022
Initial commit
$ git reset HEAD~2
$ git log
commit 21b912b
Author: XAbirHasan
Date: Fri Dec 31 12:00:00 2022
Initial commit
In this example, the last two commits added a new feature and fixed a bug but they were not ready to be pushed. So, we used git reset to undo the changes and move the HEAD pointer two commits back.
git reset has three different modes: --soft, --hard, and --mixed.
--soft: This mode does not reset the index or working tree files. It only moves the HEAD pointer to the specified commit and keeps the changes made in the commits in the working tree. This mode allows you to make additional changes before committing again.
--hard: This mode resets the index and the working tree files to the state of the specified commit. It also moves the HEAD pointer to the specified commit. This mode discards all changes made in the commits and cannot be undone.
--mixed: This mode is the default mode and is similar to --soft. It resets the index to the state of the specified commit but keeps the changes made in the commits in the working tree. This mode allows you to make additional changes before committing again.
git reset origin/<branch-name>
This command will reset the local branch to match the state of the specified branch on the remote repository. It will also move the HEAD pointer to the latest commit of the specified branch. This can be useful if you want to bring your local branch up to date with the remote branch or if you want to discard local changes that were made but not yet committed.
Example:
$ git branch -a
* master
remotes/origin/master
remotes/origin/feature
$ git log
commit 2a468b8 (HEAD -> master)
Author: XAbirHasan
Date: Mon Jan 2 12:00:00 2023
Added new feature
$ git reset origin/feature
$ git log
commit 8b291ab
Author: Jane Doe
Date: Sat Jan 1 12:00:00 2023
Fixed bug
In this example, we have a local branch called “master” and two remote branches, “origin/master” and “origin/feature”. We have made some changes in the local branch that were not ready to be pushed yet. But we want to reset our local branch to match the state of the “origin/feature” branch. So, we used git reset “origin/feature” to reset the local branch to match the state of the remote branch.
git reset --merge HEAD~1
This command will undo the changes made in the last merge commit and move the HEAD pointer one commit back. It will also keep the changes made in the last merge commit in the working tree, allowing you to make additional changes before committing again.
git reset --merge
This command will undo all changes made during the merge process and restore the state of the branches before the merge.
Alternatively, you can use the command:
git merge --abort
This command will also undo all changes made during the merge process and restore the state of the branches before the merge.
Both of these commands can be useful if you realize during a merge process that there are conflicts or errors that cannot be resolved, and you want to start over.
git reset <file>
This command will reset a specific file to its state in the last commit. This can be useful if you made changes to a file that you want to discard.
Example:
$ git status
modified: index.html
$ git reset index.html
$ git status
nothing to commit, working tree clean
In this example, we made changes to the file index.html but decided to discard them. So, we used git reset index.html to reset the file to its state in the last commit.
git reset <commit> <file>
This command will reset a specific file to its state in a specific commit. This can be useful if you want to revert a file to a previous state without affecting other files or commits. Example:
$ git log
commit 2a468b8 (HEAD -> master)
Author: XAbirHasan
Date: Mon Jan 2 12:00:00 2023
Added new feature
commit 8b291ab
Author: XAbirHasan
Date: Sat Jan 1 12:00:00 2023
Fixed bug
$ git reset 8b291ab index.html
In this example, we have two commits, one that added a new feature and another that fixed a bug. We decided to revert the file index.html to its state in the commit that fixed the bug, so we used git reset 8b291ab index.html to reset the file to its state in that commit.
git reset -- <file>
This command is a shortcut for git reset HEAD <file>. It will reset a specific file to its state in the last commit.
Example:
$ git status
modified: index.html
$ git reset -- index.html
$ git status
nothing to commit, working tree clean
In this example, we made changes to the file index.html but decided to discard them. So, we used git reset -- index.html as a shortcut for git reset HEAD index.html to reset the file to its state in the last commit.
git reset <remote>/<branch> <file>
This command will reset a specific file to its state in a specific branch on a remote repository. This can be useful if you want to update a file from a remote branch without affecting other files or commits. Example:
$ git log
commit 2a468b8 (HEAD -> master)
Author: XAbirHasan
Date: Mon Jan 2 12:00:00 2023
Added new feature
$ git reset origin/develop index.html
In this example, we have a local branch called master and a remote branch called “origin/develop”. We decided to update the file index.html from the remote branch “origin/develop”, so we used git reset origin/develop index.html to reset the file to its state in that branch.
In summary, git reset is a powerful command that allows you to undo or discard changes made in a previous commit or series of commits. It has several options and modes that can be used depending on the specific use case. It’s important to understand the different modes and use cases before using this command, as it can be irreversible and may lead to loss of data.
It’s important to note that all of these commands will discard changes and cannot be undone easily, so it’s always a good idea to make a backup or use git stash before using them.
Don’t worry 😃; Even if you messed up with git, there is a way to recover everything.(checkout git reflog)