DESCRIPTION
-----------
In the first and second form, copy entries from <commit> to the index.
-In the third form, set the current branch to <commit>, optionally
-modifying index and worktree to match. The <commit> defaults to HEAD
+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 the <commit>. (It does not affect the worktree, nor
+ 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 linkgit:git-checkout[1] to check the contents out of the index to
+the working tree.
+Alternatively, using linkgit: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
linkgit:git-add[1]).
'git reset' [--<mode>] [<commit>]::
- This form points the current branch to <commit> and then
- updates index and working tree according to <mode>, which must
- be one of the following:
+ 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
- requires them to be in a good order. This leaves all your changed
- files "Changes to be committed", as 'git status' would
- put it.
+ 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.
--mixed::
Resets the index but not the working tree (i.e., the changed files
been updated. This is the default action.
--hard::
- Matches the working tree and index to that of the tree being
- switched to. Any changes to tracked files in the working tree
- since <commit> are lost.
+ Resets the index and working tree. Any changes to tracked files in the
+ working tree since <commit> are discarded.
--merge::
- Resets the index to match the tree recorded by the named commit,
- and updates the files that are different between the named commit
- and the current commit in the working tree.
+ 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::
- Reset the index to the given commit, keeping local changes in
- the working tree since the current commit, while updating
- working tree files without local changes to what appears in
- the given commit. If a file that is different between the
- current commit and the given commit has local changes, reset
- is aborted.
+ Resets the index, updates files in the working tree that are
+ different between <commit> and HEAD, but keeps those
+ which are different between HEAD and the working tree (i.e.
+ which have local changes).
+ If a file that is different between <commit> and HEAD has local changes,
+ reset is aborted.
++
+In other words, --keep does a 2-way merge between <commit> and HEAD followed by
+'git reset --mixed <commit>'.
--
If you want to undo a commit other than the latest on a branch,
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 work tree::
+Undo a merge or pull inside a dirty working tree::
+
------------
$ git pull <1>
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 commited previously. You can start a new branch and
-reset it while keeping the changes in your work tree.
+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
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 put the file in state A in the working tree, in state B
-in the index and in state D in HEAD.
+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
----------------------------------------------------
--keep B C C
"reset --merge" is meant to be used when resetting out of a conflicted
-merge. Any mergy operation guarantees that the work tree file that is
+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 work tree. So if
+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 work tree, then it means that we are not
+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.