git-reset
(1)
Name
git-reset - Reset current HEAD to the specified state
Synopsis
git reset [-q] [<commit>] [--] <paths>...
git reset (--patch | -p) [<commit>] [--] [<paths>...]
git reset (--soft | --mixed | --hard | --merge | --keep) [-q] [<commit>]
Description
Git Manual GIT-RESET(1)
NAME
git-reset - Reset current HEAD to the specified state
SYNOPSIS
git reset [-q] [<commit>] [--] <paths>...
git reset (--patch | -p) [<commit>] [--] [<paths>...]
git reset (--soft | --mixed | --hard | --merge | --keep) [-q] [<commit>]
DESCRIPTION
In the first and second form, copy entries from <commit> to
the index. In the third form, set the current branch head
(HEAD) to <commit>, optionally modifying index and working
tree to match. The <commit> defaults to HEAD in all forms.
git reset [-q] [<commit>] [--] <paths>...
This form resets the index entries for all <paths> to
their state at <commit>. (It does not affect the working
tree, nor the current branch.)
This means that git reset <paths> is the opposite of git
add <paths>.
After running git reset <paths> to update the index
entry, you can use git-checkout(1) to check the contents
out of the index to the working tree. Alternatively,
using git-checkout(1) and specifying a commit, you can
copy the contents of a path out of a commit to the index
and to the working tree in one go.
git reset (--patch | -p) [<commit>] [--] [<paths>...]
Interactively select hunks in the difference between the
index and <commit> (defaults to HEAD). The chosen hunks
are applied in reverse to the index.
This means that git reset -p is the opposite of git add
-p, i.e. you can use it to selectively reset hunks. See
the "Interactive Mode" section of git-add(1) to learn
how to operate the --patch mode.
git reset --<mode> [<commit>]
This form resets the current branch head to <commit> and
possibly updates the index (resetting it to the tree of
<commit>) and the working tree depending on <mode>,
which must be one of the following:
--soft
Does not touch the index file nor the working tree
at all (but resets the head to <commit>, just like
all modes do). This leaves all your changed files
"Changes to be committed", as git status would put
it.
Git 1.7.9.2 Last change: 02/22/2012 1
Git Manual GIT-RESET(1)
--mixed
Resets the index but not the working tree (i.e., the
changed files are preserved but not marked for
commit) and reports what has not been updated. This
is the default action.
--hard
Resets the index and working tree. Any changes to
tracked files in the working tree since <commit> are
discarded.
--merge
Resets the index and updates the files in the
working tree that are different between <commit> and
HEAD, but keeps those which are different between
the index and working tree (i.e. which have changes
which have not been added). If a file that is
different between <commit> and the index has
unstaged changes, reset is aborted.
In other words, --merge does something like a git
read-tree -u -m <commit>, but carries forward
unmerged index entries.
--keep
Resets index entries and updates files in the
working tree that are different between <commit> and
HEAD. If a file that is different between <commit>
and HEAD has local changes, reset is aborted.
If you want to undo a commit other than the latest on a
branch, git-revert(1) is your friend.
OPTIONS
-q, --quiet
Be quiet, only report errors.
EXAMPLES
Undo add
$ edit (1)
$ git add frotz.c filfre.c
$ mailx (2)
$ git reset (3)
$ git pull git://info.example.com/ nitfol (4)
1. You are happily working on something, and find the
changes in these files are in good order. You do not
want to see them when you run "git diff", because you
plan to work on other files and changes with these files
are distracting.
2. Somebody asks you to pull, and the changes sounds
Git 1.7.9.2 Last change: 02/22/2012 2
Git Manual GIT-RESET(1)
worthy of merging.
3. However, you already dirtied the index (i.e. your
index does not match the HEAD commit). But you know the
pull you are going to make does not affect frotz.c nor
filfre.c, so you revert the index changes for these two
files. Your changes in working tree remain there.
4. Then you can pull and merge, leaving frotz.c and
filfre.c changes still in the working tree.
Undo a commit and redo
$ git commit ...
$ git reset --soft HEAD^ (1)
$ edit (2)
$ git commit -a -c ORIG_HEAD (3)
1. This is most often done when you remembered what you
just committed is incomplete, or you misspelled your
commit message, or both. Leaves working tree as it was
before "reset".
2. Make corrections to working tree files.
3. "reset" copies the old head to .git/ORIG_HEAD; redo
the commit by starting with its log message. If you do
not need to edit the message further, you can give -C
option instead.
See also the --amend option to git-commit(1).
Undo a commit, making it a topic branch
$ git branch topic/wip (1)
$ git reset --hard HEAD~3 (2)
$ git checkout topic/wip (3)
1. You have made some commits, but realize they were
premature to be in the "master" branch. You want to
continue polishing them in a topic branch, so create
"topic/wip" branch off of the current HEAD.
2. Rewind the master branch to get rid of those three
commits.
3. Switch to "topic/wip" branch and keep working.
Undo commits permanently
$ git commit ...
$ git reset --hard HEAD~3 (1)
1. The last three commits (HEAD, HEAD^, and HEAD~2) were
bad and you do not want to ever see them again. Do not
do this if you have already given these commits to
somebody else. (See the "RECOVERING FROM UPSTREAM
REBASE" section in git-rebase(1) for the implications of
Git 1.7.9.2 Last change: 02/22/2012 3
Git Manual GIT-RESET(1)
doing so.)
Undo a merge or pull
$ git pull (1)
Auto-merging nitfol
CONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in nitfol
Automatic merge failed; fix conflicts and then commit the result.
$ git reset --hard (2)
$ git pull . topic/branch (3)
Updating from 41223... to 13134...
Fast-forward
$ git reset --hard ORIG_HEAD (4)
1. Try to update from the upstream resulted in a lot of
conflicts; you were not ready to spend a lot of time
merging right now, so you decide to do that later.
2. "pull" has not made merge commit, so "git reset
--hard" which is a synonym for "git reset --hard HEAD"
clears the mess from the index file and the working
tree.
3. Merge a topic branch into the current branch, which
resulted in a fast-forward.
4. But you decided that the topic branch is not ready
for public consumption yet. "pull" or "merge" always
leaves the original tip of the current branch in
ORIG_HEAD, so resetting hard to it brings your index
file and the working tree back to that state, and resets
the tip of the branch to that commit.
Undo a merge or pull inside a dirty working tree
$ git pull (1)
Auto-merging nitfol
Merge made by recursive.
nitfol | 20 +++++----
...
$ git reset --merge ORIG_HEAD (2)
1. Even if you may have local modifications in your
working tree, you can safely say "git pull" when you
know that the change in the other branch does not
overlap with them.
2. After inspecting the result of the merge, you may
find that the change in the other branch is
unsatisfactory. Running "git reset --hard ORIG_HEAD"
will let you go back to where you were, but it will
discard your local changes, which you do not want. "git
reset --merge" keeps your local changes.
Interrupted workflow
Suppose you are interrupted by an urgent fix request
Git 1.7.9.2 Last change: 02/22/2012 4
Git Manual GIT-RESET(1)
while you are in the middle of a large change. The files
in your working tree are not in any shape to be
committed yet, but you need to get to the other branch
for a quick bugfix.
$ git checkout feature ;# you were working in "feature" branch and
$ work work work ;# got interrupted
$ git commit -a -m "snapshot WIP" (1)
$ git checkout master
$ fix fix fix
$ git commit ;# commit with real log
$ git checkout feature
$ git reset --soft HEAD^ ;# go back to WIP state (2)
$ git reset (3)
1. This commit will get blown away so a throw-away log
message is OK.
2. This removes the WIP commit from the commit history,
and sets your working tree to the state just before you
made that snapshot.
3. At this point the index file still has all the WIP
changes you committed as snapshot WIP. This updates the
index to show your WIP files as uncommitted.
See also git-stash(1).
Reset a single file in the index
Suppose you have added a file to your index, but later
decide you do not want to add it to your commit. You can
remove the file from the index while keeping your
changes with git reset.
$ git reset -- frotz.c (1)
$ git commit -m "Commit files in index" (2)
$ git add frotz.c (3)
1. This removes the file from the index while keeping it
in the working directory.
2. This commits all other changes in the index.
3. Adds the file to the index again.
Keep changes in working tree while discarding some previous
commits
Suppose you are working on something and you commit it,
and then you continue working a bit more, but now you
think that what you have in your working tree should be
in another branch that has nothing to do with what you
committed previously. You can start a new branch and
reset it while keeping the changes in your working tree.
$ git tag start
$ git checkout -b branch1
Git 1.7.9.2 Last change: 02/22/2012 5
Git Manual GIT-RESET(1)
$ edit
$ git commit ... (1)
$ edit
$ git checkout -b branch2 (2)
$ git reset --keep start (3)
1. This commits your first edits in branch1.
2. In the ideal world, you could have realized that the
earlier commit did not belong to the new topic when you
created and switched to branch2 (i.e. "git checkout -b
branch2 start"), but nobody is perfect.
3. But you can use "reset --keep" to remove the unwanted
commit after you switched to "branch2".
DISCUSSION
The tables below show what happens when running:
git reset --option target
to reset the HEAD to another commit (target) with the
different reset options depending on the state of the files.
In these tables, A, B, C and D are some different states of
a file. For example, the first line of the first table means
that if a file is in state A in the working tree, in state B
in the index, in state C in HEAD and in state D in the
target, then "git reset --soft target" will leave the file
in the working tree in state A and in the index in state B.
It resets (i.e. moves) the HEAD (i.e. the tip of the current
branch, if you are on one) to "target" (which has the file
in state D).
working index HEAD target working index HEAD
----------------------------------------------------
A B C D --soft A B D
--mixed A D D
--hard D D D
--merge (disallowed)
--keep (disallowed)
working index HEAD target working index HEAD
----------------------------------------------------
A B C C --soft A B C
--mixed A C C
--hard C C C
--merge (disallowed)
--keep A C C
working index HEAD target working index HEAD
----------------------------------------------------
B B C D --soft B B D
Git 1.7.9.2 Last change: 02/22/2012 6
Git Manual GIT-RESET(1)
--mixed B D D
--hard D D D
--merge D D D
--keep (disallowed)
working index HEAD target working index HEAD
----------------------------------------------------
B B C C --soft B B C
--mixed B C C
--hard C C C
--merge C C C
--keep B C C
working index HEAD target working index HEAD
----------------------------------------------------
B C C D --soft B C D
--mixed B D D
--hard D D D
--merge (disallowed)
--keep (disallowed)
working index HEAD target working index HEAD
----------------------------------------------------
B C C C --soft B C C
--mixed B C C
--hard C C C
--merge B C C
--keep B C C
"reset --merge" is meant to be used when resetting out of a
conflicted merge. Any mergy operation guarantees that the
working tree file that is involved in the merge does not
have local change wrt the index before it starts, and that
it writes the result out to the working tree. So if we see
some difference between the index and the target and also
between the index and the working tree, then it means that
we are not resetting out from a state that a mergy operation
left after failing with a conflict. That is why we disallow
--merge option in this case.
"reset --keep" is meant to be used when removing some of the
last commits in the current branch while keeping changes in
the working tree. If there could be conflicts between the
changes in the commit we want to remove and the changes in
the working tree we want to keep, the reset is disallowed.
That's why it is disallowed if there are both changes
between the working tree and HEAD, and between HEAD and the
target. To be safe, it is also disallowed when there are
unmerged entries.
The following tables show what happens when there are
unmerged entries:
Git 1.7.9.2 Last change: 02/22/2012 7
Git Manual GIT-RESET(1)
working index HEAD target working index HEAD
----------------------------------------------------
X U A B --soft (disallowed)
--mixed X B B
--hard B B B
--merge B B B
--keep (disallowed)
working index HEAD target working index HEAD
----------------------------------------------------
X U A A --soft (disallowed)
--mixed X A A
--hard A A A
--merge A A A
--keep (disallowed)
X means any state and U means an unmerged index.
GIT
Part of the git(1) suite
ATTRIBUTES
See attributes(5) for descriptions of the following
attributes:
+---------------+--------------------------+
|ATTRIBUTE TYPE | ATTRIBUTE VALUE |
+---------------+--------------------------+
|Availability | developer/versioning/git |
+---------------+--------------------------+
|Stability | Uncommitted |
+---------------+--------------------------+
NOTES
This software was built from source available at
https://java.net/projects/solaris-userland. The original
community source was downloaded from http://git-
core.googlecode.com/files/git-1.7.9.2.tar.gz
Further information about this software can be found on the
open source community website at http://git-scm.com/.
Git 1.7.9.2 Last change: 02/22/2012 8