1git-reset(1) 2============ 3 4NAME 5---- 6git-reset - Reset current HEAD to the specified state 7 8SYNOPSIS 9-------- 10[verse] 11'git reset' [-q] [<tree-ish>] [--] <paths>... 12'git reset' (--patch | -p) [<tree-ish>] [--] [<paths>...] 13'git reset' [--soft | --mixed [-N] | --hard | --merge | --keep] [-q] [<commit>] 14 15DESCRIPTION 16----------- 17In the first and second form, copy entries from `<tree-ish>` to the index. 18In the third form, set the current branch head (`HEAD`) to `<commit>`, 19optionally modifying index and working tree to match. 20The `<tree-ish>`/`<commit>` defaults to `HEAD` in all forms. 21 22'git reset' [-q] [<tree-ish>] [--] <paths>...:: 23 This form resets the index entries for all `<paths>` to their 24 state at `<tree-ish>`. (It does not affect the working tree or 25 the current branch.) 26+ 27This means that `git reset <paths>` is the opposite of `git add 28<paths>`. This command is equivalent to 29`git restore [--source=<tree-ish>] --staged <paths>...`. 30+ 31After running `git reset <paths>` to update the index entry, you can 32use linkgit:git-checkout[1] to check the contents out of the index to 33the working tree. 34Alternatively, using linkgit:git-checkout[1] and specifying a commit, you 35can copy the contents of a path out of a commit to the index and to the 36working tree in one go. 37 38'git reset' (--patch | -p) [<tree-ish>] [--] [<paths>...]:: 39 Interactively select hunks in the difference between the index 40 and `<tree-ish>` (defaults to `HEAD`). The chosen hunks are applied 41 in reverse to the index. 42+ 43This means that `git reset -p` is the opposite of `git add -p`, i.e. 44you can use it to selectively reset hunks. See the ``Interactive Mode'' 45section of linkgit:git-add[1] to learn how to operate the `--patch` mode. 46 47'git reset' [<mode>] [<commit>]:: 48 This form resets the current branch head to `<commit>` and 49 possibly updates the index (resetting it to the tree of `<commit>`) and 50 the working tree depending on `<mode>`. If `<mode>` is omitted, 51 defaults to `--mixed`. The `<mode>` must be one of the following: 52+ 53-- 54--soft:: 55 Does not touch the index file or the working tree at all (but 56 resets the head to `<commit>`, just like all modes do). This leaves 57 all your changed files "Changes to be committed", as `git status` 58 would put it. 59 60--mixed:: 61 Resets the index but not the working tree (i.e., the changed files 62 are preserved but not marked for commit) and reports what has not 63 been updated. This is the default action. 64+ 65If `-N` is specified, removed paths are marked as intent-to-add (see 66linkgit:git-add[1]). 67 68--hard:: 69 Resets the index and working tree. Any changes to tracked files in the 70 working tree since `<commit>` are discarded. 71 72--merge:: 73 Resets the index and updates the files in the working tree that are 74 different between `<commit>` and `HEAD`, but keeps those which are 75 different between the index and working tree (i.e. which have changes 76 which have not been added). 77 If a file that is different between `<commit>` and the index has 78 unstaged changes, reset is aborted. 79+ 80In other words, `--merge` does something like a `git read-tree -u -m <commit>`, 81but carries forward unmerged index entries. 82 83--keep:: 84 Resets index entries and updates files in the working tree that are 85 different between `<commit>` and `HEAD`. 86 If a file that is different between `<commit>` and `HEAD` has local 87 changes, reset is aborted. 88-- 89 90See "Reset, restore and revert" in linkgit:git[1] for the differences 91between the three commands. 92 93 94OPTIONS 95------- 96 97-q:: 98--quiet:: 99--no-quiet:: 100 Be quiet, only report errors. The default behavior is set by the 101 `reset.quiet` config option. `--quiet` and `--no-quiet` will 102 override the default behavior. 103 104 105EXAMPLES 106-------- 107 108Undo add:: 109+ 110------------ 111$ edit <1> 112$ git add frotz.c filfre.c 113$ mailx <2> 114$ git reset <3> 115$ git pull git://info.example.com/ nitfol <4> 116------------ 117+ 118<1> You are happily working on something, and find the changes 119 in these files are in good order. You do not want to see them 120 when you run `git diff`, because you plan to work on other files 121 and changes with these files are distracting. 122<2> Somebody asks you to pull, and the changes sound worthy of merging. 123<3> However, you already dirtied the index (i.e. your index does 124 not match the `HEAD` commit). But you know the pull you are going 125 to make does not affect `frotz.c` or `filfre.c`, so you revert the 126 index changes for these two files. Your changes in working tree 127 remain there. 128<4> Then you can pull and merge, leaving `frotz.c` and `filfre.c` 129 changes still in the working tree. 130 131Undo a commit and redo:: 132+ 133------------ 134$ git commit ... 135$ git reset --soft HEAD^ <1> 136$ edit <2> 137$ git commit -a -c ORIG_HEAD <3> 138------------ 139+ 140<1> This is most often done when you remembered what you 141 just committed is incomplete, or you misspelled your commit 142 message, or both. Leaves working tree as it was before "reset". 143<2> Make corrections to working tree files. 144<3> "reset" copies the old head to `.git/ORIG_HEAD`; redo the 145 commit by starting with its log message. If you do not need to 146 edit the message further, you can give `-C` option instead. 147+ 148See also the `--amend` option to linkgit:git-commit[1]. 149 150Undo a commit, making it a topic branch:: 151+ 152------------ 153$ git branch topic/wip <1> 154$ git reset --hard HEAD~3 <2> 155$ git switch topic/wip <3> 156------------ 157+ 158<1> You have made some commits, but realize they were premature 159 to be in the `master` branch. You want to continue polishing 160 them in a topic branch, so create `topic/wip` branch off of the 161 current `HEAD`. 162<2> Rewind the master branch to get rid of those three commits. 163<3> Switch to `topic/wip` branch and keep working. 164 165Undo commits permanently:: 166+ 167------------ 168$ git commit ... 169$ git reset --hard HEAD~3 <1> 170------------ 171+ 172<1> The last three commits (`HEAD`, `HEAD^`, and `HEAD~2`) were bad 173 and you do not want to ever see them again. Do *not* do this if 174 you have already given these commits to somebody else. (See the 175 "RECOVERING FROM UPSTREAM REBASE" section in linkgit:git-rebase[1] 176 for the implications of doing so.) 177 178Undo a merge or pull:: 179+ 180------------ 181$ git pull <1> 182Auto-merging nitfol 183CONFLICT (content): Merge conflict in nitfol 184Automatic merge failed; fix conflicts and then commit the result. 185$ git reset --hard <2> 186$ git pull . topic/branch <3> 187Updating from 41223... to 13134... 188Fast-forward 189$ git reset --hard ORIG_HEAD <4> 190------------ 191+ 192<1> Try to update from the upstream resulted in a lot of 193 conflicts; you were not ready to spend a lot of time merging 194 right now, so you decide to do that later. 195<2> "pull" has not made merge commit, so `git reset --hard` 196 which is a synonym for `git reset --hard HEAD` clears the mess 197 from the index file and the working tree. 198<3> Merge a topic branch into the current branch, which resulted 199 in a fast-forward. 200<4> But you decided that the topic branch is not ready for public 201 consumption yet. "pull" or "merge" always leaves the original 202 tip of the current branch in `ORIG_HEAD`, so resetting hard to it 203 brings your index file and the working tree back to that state, 204 and resets the tip of the branch to that commit. 205 206Undo a merge or pull inside a dirty working tree:: 207+ 208------------ 209$ git pull <1> 210Auto-merging nitfol 211Merge made by recursive. 212 nitfol | 20 +++++---- 213 ... 214$ git reset --merge ORIG_HEAD <2> 215------------ 216+ 217<1> Even if you may have local modifications in your 218 working tree, you can safely say `git pull` when you know 219 that the change in the other branch does not overlap with 220 them. 221<2> After inspecting the result of the merge, you may find 222 that the change in the other branch is unsatisfactory. Running 223 `git reset --hard ORIG_HEAD` will let you go back to where you 224 were, but it will discard your local changes, which you do not 225 want. `git reset --merge` keeps your local changes. 226 227 228Interrupted workflow:: 229+ 230Suppose you are interrupted by an urgent fix request while you 231are in the middle of a large change. The files in your 232working tree are not in any shape to be committed yet, but you 233need to get to the other branch for a quick bugfix. 234+ 235------------ 236$ git switch feature ;# you were working in "feature" branch and 237$ work work work ;# got interrupted 238$ git commit -a -m "snapshot WIP" <1> 239$ git switch master 240$ fix fix fix 241$ git commit ;# commit with real log 242$ git switch feature 243$ git reset --soft HEAD^ ;# go back to WIP state <2> 244$ git reset <3> 245------------ 246+ 247<1> This commit will get blown away so a throw-away log message is OK. 248<2> This removes the 'WIP' commit from the commit history, and sets 249 your working tree to the state just before you made that snapshot. 250<3> At this point the index file still has all the WIP changes you 251 committed as 'snapshot WIP'. This updates the index to show your 252 WIP files as uncommitted. 253+ 254See also linkgit:git-stash[1]. 255 256Reset a single file in the index:: 257+ 258Suppose you have added a file to your index, but later decide you do not 259want to add it to your commit. You can remove the file from the index 260while keeping your changes with git reset. 261+ 262------------ 263$ git reset -- frotz.c <1> 264$ git commit -m "Commit files in index" <2> 265$ git add frotz.c <3> 266------------ 267+ 268<1> This removes the file from the index while keeping it in the working 269 directory. 270<2> This commits all other changes in the index. 271<3> Adds the file to the index again. 272 273Keep changes in working tree while discarding some previous commits:: 274+ 275Suppose you are working on something and you commit it, and then you 276continue working a bit more, but now you think that what you have in 277your working tree should be in another branch that has nothing to do 278with what you committed previously. You can start a new branch and 279reset it while keeping the changes in your working tree. 280+ 281------------ 282$ git tag start 283$ git switch -c branch1 284$ edit 285$ git commit ... <1> 286$ edit 287$ git switch -c branch2 <2> 288$ git reset --keep start <3> 289------------ 290+ 291<1> This commits your first edits in `branch1`. 292<2> In the ideal world, you could have realized that the earlier 293 commit did not belong to the new topic when you created and switched 294 to `branch2` (i.e. `git switch -c branch2 start`), but nobody is 295 perfect. 296<3> But you can use `reset --keep` to remove the unwanted commit after 297 you switched to `branch2`. 298 299Split a commit apart into a sequence of commits:: 300+ 301Suppose that you have created lots of logically separate changes and committed 302them together. Then, later you decide that it might be better to have each 303logical chunk associated with its own commit. You can use git reset to rewind 304history without changing the contents of your local files, and then successively 305use `git add -p` to interactively select which hunks to include into each commit, 306using `git commit -c` to pre-populate the commit message. 307+ 308------------ 309$ git reset -N HEAD^ <1> 310$ git add -p <2> 311$ git diff --cached <3> 312$ git commit -c HEAD@{1} <4> 313... <5> 314$ git add ... <6> 315$ git diff --cached <7> 316$ git commit ... <8> 317------------ 318+ 319<1> First, reset the history back one commit so that we remove the original 320 commit, but leave the working tree with all the changes. The -N ensures 321 that any new files added with `HEAD` are still marked so that `git add -p` 322 will find them. 323<2> Next, we interactively select diff hunks to add using the `git add -p` 324 facility. This will ask you about each diff hunk in sequence and you can 325 use simple commands such as "yes, include this", "No don't include this" 326 or even the very powerful "edit" facility. 327<3> Once satisfied with the hunks you want to include, you should verify what 328 has been prepared for the first commit by using `git diff --cached`. This 329 shows all the changes that have been moved into the index and are about 330 to be committed. 331<4> Next, commit the changes stored in the index. The `-c` option specifies to 332 pre-populate the commit message from the original message that you started 333 with in the first commit. This is helpful to avoid retyping it. The 334 `HEAD@{1}` is a special notation for the commit that `HEAD` used to be at 335 prior to the original reset commit (1 change ago). 336 See linkgit:git-reflog[1] for more details. You may also use any other 337 valid commit reference. 338<5> You can repeat steps 2-4 multiple times to break the original code into 339 any number of commits. 340<6> Now you've split out many of the changes into their own commits, and might 341 no longer use the patch mode of `git add`, in order to select all remaining 342 uncommitted changes. 343<7> Once again, check to verify that you've included what you want to. You may 344 also wish to verify that git diff doesn't show any remaining changes to be 345 committed later. 346<8> And finally create the final commit. 347 348 349DISCUSSION 350---------- 351 352The tables below show what happens when running: 353 354---------- 355git reset --option target 356---------- 357 358to reset the `HEAD` to another commit (`target`) with the different 359reset options depending on the state of the files. 360 361In these tables, `A`, `B`, `C` and `D` are some different states of a 362file. For example, the first line of the first table means that if a 363file is in state `A` in the working tree, in state `B` in the index, in 364state `C` in `HEAD` and in state `D` in the target, then `git reset --soft 365target` will leave the file in the working tree in state `A` and in the 366index in state `B`. It resets (i.e. moves) the `HEAD` (i.e. the tip of 367the current branch, if you are on one) to `target` (which has the file 368in state `D`). 369 370.... 371working index HEAD target working index HEAD 372---------------------------------------------------- 373 A B C D --soft A B D 374 --mixed A D D 375 --hard D D D 376 --merge (disallowed) 377 --keep (disallowed) 378.... 379 380.... 381working index HEAD target working index HEAD 382---------------------------------------------------- 383 A B C C --soft A B C 384 --mixed A C C 385 --hard C C C 386 --merge (disallowed) 387 --keep A C C 388.... 389 390.... 391working index HEAD target working index HEAD 392---------------------------------------------------- 393 B B C D --soft B B D 394 --mixed B D D 395 --hard D D D 396 --merge D D D 397 --keep (disallowed) 398.... 399 400.... 401working index HEAD target working index HEAD 402---------------------------------------------------- 403 B B C C --soft B B C 404 --mixed B C C 405 --hard C C C 406 --merge C C C 407 --keep B C C 408.... 409 410.... 411working index HEAD target working index HEAD 412---------------------------------------------------- 413 B C C D --soft B C D 414 --mixed B D D 415 --hard D D D 416 --merge (disallowed) 417 --keep (disallowed) 418.... 419 420.... 421working index HEAD target working index HEAD 422---------------------------------------------------- 423 B C C C --soft B C C 424 --mixed B C C 425 --hard C C C 426 --merge B C C 427 --keep B C C 428.... 429 430`reset --merge` is meant to be used when resetting out of a conflicted 431merge. Any mergy operation guarantees that the working tree file that is 432involved in the merge does not have local change wrt the index before 433it starts, and that it writes the result out to the working tree. So if 434we see some difference between the index and the target and also 435between the index and the working tree, then it means that we are not 436resetting out from a state that a mergy operation left after failing 437with a conflict. That is why we disallow `--merge` option in this case. 438 439`reset --keep` is meant to be used when removing some of the last 440commits in the current branch while keeping changes in the working 441tree. If there could be conflicts between the changes in the commit we 442want to remove and the changes in the working tree we want to keep, 443the reset is disallowed. That's why it is disallowed if there are both 444changes between the working tree and `HEAD`, and between `HEAD` and the 445target. To be safe, it is also disallowed when there are unmerged 446entries. 447 448The following tables show what happens when there are unmerged 449entries: 450 451.... 452working index HEAD target working index HEAD 453---------------------------------------------------- 454 X U A B --soft (disallowed) 455 --mixed X B B 456 --hard B B B 457 --merge B B B 458 --keep (disallowed) 459.... 460 461.... 462working index HEAD target working index HEAD 463---------------------------------------------------- 464 X U A A --soft (disallowed) 465 --mixed X A A 466 --hard A A A 467 --merge A A A 468 --keep (disallowed) 469.... 470 471`X` means any state and `U` means an unmerged index. 472 473GIT 474--- 475Part of the linkgit:git[1] suite